1.

We can often tell whether a skill element exists in a game if it is

possible to lose, intentionally. Think about a game that most
would agree to be pure chance, such as roulette. Can we
intentionally lose a game of roulette? Not at all. No matter how
hard we try, there will always be some kind of chance we could
win. This illustrates the point that our decisions do have an impact
on how profitable the game turns out to be for us.
Roulette is another game of chance which you can find in nearly every online or land-based
casino in the world. You might even have to wait to play in an brick-and-mortar casino
because the tables are so packed with people. This is not the case on the internet, and you
can find tons of different variations of the original roulette game on the internet as well.
All you need to do in roulette is place wagers on certain numbers to hit. There are also
options to bet on red, black, even, or odd numbers. When the little white ball lands on your
number, you will be paid out according to the odds for the specific bet that you made.

2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/judge-rules-that-poker-is-a-game-of-skill-poker-
pro-says-duh/2010/08/25/gJQA88nIbY_story.html?noredirect=on
There are 52 cards, with more than 2.5 million possible five-card
combinations. Texas Hold 'Em uses seven cards so there are around
133 million combinations. Plus, you know, fixing the deals really
messes with those probabilities. Randal D. Heeb is an economist and
statistician (and avid poker player) who analyzed 415 million hands
online of no-limit Texas Hold 'Em and found that the skill of a player
"had a statistically significant effect on the amount of money won or
lost." https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/08/poker-game-skill-
chart-proves-it/324148/

3. https://www.goodwingaming.com/2013/09/04/second-circuit-reverses-judge-weinsteins-
decision-in-dicristina-authorizing-poker/

a. The Public Gambling Act of 1867 was passed by the

British, 150 years back, prohibiting gambling. However,
this Act is still prevalent in India. Even the penalty is not
revised, it is approx. 200 rupees or 3 months of
imprisonment or both. Pakistan chose to not enforce this
law in their country after partition. This Act has been
amended over time, however, it is still very vague and
unclear. Section 12 of the acts read as-“12. Act not to apply
to certain games. Nothing in the foregoing provisions of
this Act contained shall be held to apply to any game of
mere skill wherever played”.Cricket being a game
depending upon the skill is not covered within this
definition. But isn't poker also a game of skill? This
definition has been very vague. In 1996, Supreme Court of
India clarified the definition and stated that"The
 competitions where success depends on a
substantial degree of skill are not “gambling” and
despite there being an element of a chance if a game
is preponderantly a game of skill it would
nevertheless be a game of “mere skill”. However,
even after this definition, it was not clear what
games are not included within the ambit of “mere
skill.”
4. In 1968, the Indian judiciary declared rummy to be a skilled game. The Court ruled that to
expertise rummy one has to memorize the fall of the cards, thus it could not be said that it is
entirely based on luck or chance.
5. There have been some one-off judgments abroad (some Danish, Swedish, Russian
and U.S. state courts have recognized poker as a skill-based sport), where poker has
been construed as a game involving a “substantial degree of skill” and hence
excluded from the ambit of gambling, the prevailing mood globally is to brand all
card games as gambling.

6. The Supreme Court in the landmark case State of Andhra Pradesh v. K.

Satyanarayana and others (1968 AIR 825 1968 SCR (2) 387) while looking
into whether playing rummy in clubs charging fee for the same can be
construed as gambling observed:

7. “The game of Rummy is not a game entirely of chance like the ‘three-card’
game mentioned in the Madras case to which we were referred. The ‘three card’
game which goes under different names such as ‘flush’, ‘brag’ etc. is a game of
pure chance. Rummy, on the other hand, requires certain amount of skill
because the fall of the cards has to be memorised and the building up of
Rummy requires considerable skill in holding and discarding cards. We cannot,
therefore, say that the game of Rummy is a game of entire chance. It is mainly
and preponderantly a game of skill.”

8. Dr. K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu and Another (1996 AIR 1153), the Supreme Court
while deciding on the degree of skill required in betting on horse-races observed: “Horse
racing has been universally recognised as a sport. Horsemanship involves considerable skill,
technique and knowledge and jockeys have to be specially trained over a period of years.
Whether a particular horse wins at the race or not, is not dependent on mere chance or
accident but is determined by numerous factors, such as the pedigree of the animal, the
training given to it as well as the rider, its current form, the nature of the race, etc. Horse
racing has been held judicially to be a game of skill unlike pure games of chance like Roulette
or a Lottery.” Extending the arguments used by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in these two
decisions and using statistical analysis by various poker experts including David Sklansky (the
author of the bestselling book “The Theory of Poker”) and others, it can be appropriate to
say that no game of poker can be won without a certain degree of intellect, analytical skills
and understanding of the game and thus requires a very high degree of skill. Those amateurs
 who are of the opinion that poker is a game of luck can try and play some games with
experienced professionals and lose their stakes.This degree of intellect and skill will not be
required in roulette, lottery or other slot games and everyone (experienced or not) would
stand an equal chance of winning.
9.  The Calcutta High Court in a ruling in July 2015 exempted Poker from being
punishable under gambling laws. In October 2013, Karnataka High Court
decriminalized playing Poker in recreational clubs
10. In June 2017, the state of Telangana issued two decrees modifying the Telangana’s
Gaming Act of 1974, making gambling illegal as well as any form of online betting
illegal. The ordinance also added a new definition of “cyber space”. Another setback
for poker players was the deletion of the second amendment, Section 15 of the
Gaming Act of 1974. This amendment earlier exempted ‘games of skill’ from the
ambit of gambling. However, with the deletion of this amendment, playing online
poker and rummy for money were deemed illegal. Three online rummy companies
challenged the constitutional validity of the ordinance in the Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana High Court. They submitted that banning rummy goes against the
Supreme Court verdict that recognized rummy as a game of skill and termed it legal
in August 2015.
11. They further argue that top universities like the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard
have included poker in their syllabus to teach students
negotiation skills, game theory and mathematics.
12.  that they seriously encroached on the fundamental right of the petitioners to
carry on business; that they could not be supported under Art. 19(6) of the
Constitution as they were unreasonable and amounted, in effect, to a prohibition
and not merely a regulation of the business; that even if the provisions could be
regarded as reasonable restrictions as regards competitions which are in the
nature of gambling, they could not be supported as regards competitions
wherein success depended to a substantial extent on skill,
13. that gambling activities are not trade or business within the meaning of that
expression in Art. 19(1)(g), trade and commerce protected by Art. 19(1)
(g) and Art. 301 are only those activities which could be regarded as lawful
trading activities, that gambling is not trade but res extra commercium, and that
it does not fall within the purview of those Articles.
14. As regards competitions which involve substantial skill, however, different
considerations arise. They are business activities, the protection of which is
guaranteed by Art. 19(1)(g)
15. Section 2(d) in The Prize Competitions Act, 1955
(d) " prize competition" means any competition (whether called a cross- word prize
competition, a missing- word prize competition, a picture prize competition or by any
other name) in which prizes are offered for the solution of any puzzle based upon the
building up, arrangement, combination or permutation, of letters, words, or figures.

GAME OF SKILL
 Game of skill refers to any game, contest, or amusement of any description in
which the designating element of the outcome is the judgment, skill, or
deftness of the participant in the contest and not chance. In a game of skill,
outcome is determined mainly by mental or physical skill, rather than by pure
chance. They are a means of exploring one's own capabilities. These types of
games encourage the player to look at, understand, and experience things.

The following is an example of a case law on game of skill:

Game of skill refers to any game, contest, or amusement of any description in

which the designating element of the outcome is the judgment, skill, or
adroitness of the participant in the contest and not chance. [Wedges/Ledges
of California v. City of Phoenix, 24 F.3d 56, 63 (9th Cir. 1994)]

GAME OF CHANCE
A game of chance is, by definition, a game where the outcome is strongly influenced by a random
number generator in which contestants may choose to bet money on the outcome. These require no
skill whatsoever.Games of chance involve so much luck that they are truly not beatable no matter
what strategy you try to employ. There is no level of skill that can overcome the inevitable losing result
that will come from playing a game of chance for a long period of time.

Stratagies
1. We never discover what our opponents’ hole cards are unless they are required to reveal
them at showdown or they choose to flash them at us for whatever reason they see fit.
Poker is a game played with incomplete information due to players having hole cards that
are hidden from our line of sight. This means we must look for other snippets of
information and clues as to what our opponents are holding such as their bet sizing, the
speed with which they act, and how they have played hands previously. The most
important thing in poker is your position. You need to know when you are out of
position and when you are in position to play. When you play before 2,3 players or
more you should call much less times than if you are for example one of the blinds.
You get the point. These are basically strategies

Knowledge

2. Good poker player always lookout for information that you can use to build up a
knowledge base of those players at your table whenever you play poker. The one time that
you make a big call or fold on the river based on one of your notes and discover that you
made the correct play, you suddenly realize that having knowledge is power in the world of
poker. A disciplined player knows when to play and when to quit. He recognizes when he
is on tilt and is aware when a game is too juicy to just quit while ahead. Good poker
players understand they need to be more risk-averse with their overall bankroll than their
stack at the table.