Is poker a game of skill or a game of chance if all poker enthusiasts have their own ideas, the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Toulouse has just about it a landmark decision. Indeed on July 20, the judges delivered their verdict in a difficult case involving gambling players including Jean-Pierre Glaze, accused of keeping a gambling house from 2005 to 2006.

Against all odds, the jury acquitted the defendants: the defense lawyers were able to show that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance, and that with the help of a professor of mathematics, a poker player and a bridge player.

According to them, the only element of chance in poker is in the cards, the outcome of the game depending only on skills and strategies of the players.

Although an appeal may be filed by the prosecution, this landmark decision could set a precedent on French territory and added to the verdict of the Court of Appeal of Versailles in September 2009, had already left suggested that the poker game had a hand casting address.

The consequences for French poker players are twofold. First of all, poker gains could be taxed under the income tax, to the dismay of a growing discontent in the poker community.

In addition, this decision begins a reflection on the existence of the ARIEL, which is supposed to control the activities of gambling. What about its role if it turns out that poker is ultimately a game of skill.