In what’s becoming a disappointing saga for local poker players, the Gujarat high court didn’t hear an appeal by local operators on Monday.
The latest failure to debate whether poker could also be a game of skill follows similar postponements in January and February.
The pattern of delays has persisted since 2017 when the high court ruled that poker could also be a game of chance. That classification makes poker a kind of gambling and, therefore, illegal under Gujarat state law.
The Indian Poker Association and various gaming entities challenged the ruling in 2018. Filing letters of appeal, the groups are waiting over two years for a hearing.
Following the previous postponement in Feb. 2020, there was hope the appeal would finally move forward. judge Vikram Nath and Justice AJ Shastri said proceedings would start on March 9. The intention was also to hold daily hearings and expedite the tactic .
However, when the maturity came to visit , the two judges postponed the matter another time . the only hope for players is that a replacement division of the supreme court may hear the case.
What’s more, instead of a month, the high court representatives set a subsequent hearing for May 5, 2020. This extended delay may give the state’s legal experts time to review the problem in additional depth before considering the appeal.
With a population of over one billion and a rising economy, India could also be a possible hot-spot for poker. However, the shortage of agreement between states on whether it’s a kind of gambling or a game of skill continues to hamper progress.
Indian poker players and businesses in Gujarat will still argue for the latter definition. the important problem, however, is whether or not or not high court judges are willing to concentrate or not.
