Categoria: UK Poker

Until recently, the only place you could go to get a live game of poker in the United Kingdom was in a land-based casino (unless of course you knew of a private game) and most of these casinos didn’t even have poker rooms. Just before the poker boom started, one of the big UK casino chains closed most of its cardrooms. One of the rooms to be closed was at a casino in Russell Square, London, leaving its regular players unhappy and looking for somewhere else to play. Disgruntled, they set up the Gutshot poker club, so the players could meet a few times a week in the upstairs room of a nearby pub to play their favourite game. The membership of this private club grew so much that the founders of the club decided to lease their own premises, open a bar and restaurant and run a 24-hour poker room with cash games and daily tournaments to suit all bankrolls.

However, the legality of the club has always been questioned as UK gaming law states that poker games can only be run for profit in licensed venues, i.e. casinos. Three years later they have ended up in court and are fighting for their survival. Their defence is based on the premise that poker is a game of skill not luck, so it should be exempt from outdated gaming laws that seek to regulate other games of chance.