Washington, DC (February 23, 2010) – The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide and over 25,000 members in Massachusetts, will testify today before the Massachusetts State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies as the committee considers H4069, which would classify poker as a game of skill in the state of Massachusetts.

Is poker a game of skill or luck? For regular players that's a no-brainer, but showing that skill wins out has proven surprisingly difficult for mathematicians. Now two studies that tapped the vast amounts of data available from online casinos have provided some of the best evidence yet that poker is skill-based.

Using a formula which has been part of the Dutch government's official determination for games of skill when compared to games of chance, Dutch mathematics professor Ben van der Genugten has criticized the Netherlands' official position regarding poker, which was put into place in a 1998 court decision which granted the exclusive rights to offer poker within the country to Holland Casino.

According to a leading German lawyer, skill games and entertainment portals could provide online operators looking to enter the German gaming market with viable opportunities. Wulf Hambach of law firm Hambach and Hambach believes that Germany may be close to opening up its gaming market due to pressure from the European Commission (EC). However, he stated that there remains non-regulated gambling sectors in Germany...