The Colorado Supreme Court has decided against ruling on the issue of whether the game of Poker is gambling under Colorado law. In 2008, a Colorado Bureau Of Investigations Probe into a $20-buy-in game of Texas Hold'em at a Greeley bar resulted in five arrests for illegal gambling. The only case to go to trial resulted in an acquittal, and chargers against the other four defendant's were dropped. During the trial, a defense expert testified that Poker is a game of skill. The defense also argued that the players involved had a "bona fide" relationship - which is an exception to the law. In August, 2009, Weld County District Court Judge James Hartmann ruled that the trial judge erred in allowing the defense's expert to testify that poker is a game of skill because it is already considered a game of chance under Colorado law. The defendant, with support from the Poker Players Alliance, an advocacy group, then asked the state Supreme Court to review the case - which it declined to do.
