Gamblers in Colorado found Not Guilty

Not Guilty was the finding at a criminal trial in Colorado in the case of Colorado versus Kevin Raley. This verdict has helped strengthen the viewing of poker as a game of skill and not chance. Police raided a poker game that was being held at Rafferty’s Bar in Greeley, Colorado. The game was advertised on and off the internet and involved around 30 players who played as a social group. Raley and four other people who were either poker dealers or the organizers of the game were charged with “Professional Gambling” last August.

Poker Players Alliance aided in the case by providing significant evidence that poker is a game of skill and is not a game involving gambling thereby not breaking any Colorado state laws. University of Denver’s professor of statistics, Robert Hannum, stated that poker has a high skill element which weighed heavily with the jury’s decision. He is also the author of the book “Practical Casino Math.” Gary Reed is the PPA’s state director for Colorado and he assisted in giving statistical evidence for the accused.

Greeley’s bar ran the game twice a week. The initial report stated that the undercover officers joined the game to gain evidence. The bar did not directly run the poker game but was organized by a private poker club. Colorado revenue officials believed that having the game in a location that served alcohol was against the ban on games of chance. The game could have been considered it as a social gambling had there not been liquor involved. The jury disregarded the revenue official’s claims. The jury agreed with Raley that the game was just a game between friends and nothing more.

Now that statistical proof documenting the factor of skill in poker has become part of public record, it will pave the way for more bar-leagues in Colorado. Raley is a PPA member and is very thankful for the PPA’s involvement in the case.

Raley said “The five of us all assumed that once all the facts were known to the DA, they would drop the charges. We never assumed we would go clear to court."

The other four arrested with Raley still face their charges.