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Latest Poker News
France takes a step closer to legalised poker, while Israel regresses.
The French Government has finally taken positive steps towards legalising online gaming. Currently the French state has monolopy over gambling and is contravention of European Free Trade law. Pressure from both the gaming firms and the EU itself has finally provided the momentum for change and the hope is operators will be able to operate gambling products in France by 2010. However, operators may be put off by the 2% tax for running poker games and 7.5% for sports betting services. Nonetheless, its a postive move and we hope to be welcoming more French poker players to the fold soon.
While France is moving in the right direction, Israel have regressed. The IPA (Israeli Poker Association, not Indian Pale Ale. Shame.) recently tried to run their national championship in Tel Aviv but were stopped by the police. Apparently, the police were uncertain whether poker is solely a game of chance or a game of skill (we think its fairly obviously that poker is a mixture of the two...) As such, the championships were shut down before even starting. However, the IPA are remaining upbeat and have appealed, bringing in a professor of mathematics to help defend them and to prove, maybe once and for all, that poker is a game of skill..
So, for what it's worth, the Rough Guide to Poker team would like to congratulate France and wish the IPA the best of luck in Israel.
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