Judge Duffy Jr. Allows Defense for "Mount Pleasant Five" to Proceed

On December 20th, 2008, a South Carolina judge is giving permission to an attorney to argue that the case against 5 of his clients who were caught in a poker raid should be thrown out because Texas Holdem poker is a game of skill, not a game of luck. Municipal Court Judge J. Lawrence Duffy Jr. has agreed to permit both the prosecution and defense to present any type of evidence that they can so the judge can correctly decide on whether Texas Holdem poker is a game of luck as defined by the existing definition on a state law. The bench trial will happen sometime in January.

Never before a U.S. judge has decided on whether Texas Hold'em should be considered as a game of luck or skill. If Duffy decides that Texas Holdem is a game of luck, then the prosecution will triumph this round. But if he decides that Texas Holdem is a game of skill and he will be given mounds of evidence that it is a game of skill-the objective of the 5 men, to have the existing South Carolina law they are accused of violating changed, will be well on its way of being accomplished. It would also force the state to review their antiquated gambling laws and change them in a way that would protect the game of Texas Holdem.

Texas Holdem is the only variation of poker that lawyers are trying to recognize as a game of skill. Judge Duffy is giving the defense the opportunity to prove that Texas holdem poker is considered a game of skill because the prosecution is saying that the poker game that the suspects are playing is considered a game of chance, which is no different than the game of craps. Jeff Phillips, the lawyer representing the 5 suspects were arrested along with several others as a part of a poker raid conducted by the Mount Pleasant, S.C., police in April 2006, said that the August charges should be dismissed.

The main reason behind the proposed dismissal of the charges by the defense was the 200 year-old gaming law of South Carolina, which does not allow cards and dice games. The defense said that it is too outdated for the modern times. The Judge refused to dismiss the case. Months later, the defense managed to convince Judge Duffy to permit them to argue the case from the skill vs. luck point of view.

Bob Chimento, Scott Richards, Michael Williamson, Jeremy Brestel and John Taylor Willis were all arrested in an April 2006 poker raid that arrested a total of sixty players. All of the other suspects settled with the courts by pleading guilty on the charges and paying fines of less than $300. The five men are not fighting the charges because of the fines that they need to pay. They are hoping that their efforts will have some effect on the existing South Carolina gaming law to permit Texas Holdem to be legally played.

March 01, 2009
Pauline Davis