More legal issues -- looks like I'm about to be a felon

[Tony Cheval]

Poker is a game of skill with chance elements involved.

Now consider that horse racing is lumped squarely in the 'gambling' set and regulated thusly.

Which one of these would you say involves less 'chance'?

[Talking Poker]

This is a good point. But remember, when you are betting on horses, you are betting with odds - odds that ensure the house turns a profit in the end. Because of this (and any time you are betting against lines), you have -EV and are in fact gambling.

If every single horse paid out on the same odds (fair odds too - no juice for the house), then betting on horses would be a game of skill and absolutely could not be considered gambling, IMO.

[Tony Cheval]

Actually you are incorrect here, and as a poker player I would think you'd know better. To sum up:

Horse Racing: House takes X% of the betting pool, then leaves it to the bettors.

Poker: House takes X% of the betting pool, then...you see.

Just as you find poker players who are just 'goofing around' or don't really understand pot odds and other factors, so you find horseplayers who bet on a horse who looks pretty, or a jockey with the same name as a relative, etc. Same thing, you are capitalizing on mistakes made by your competition to derive a long-term profit.

Perhaps a simple way to explain the difference is, in horse racing the cards are all face up, and you can only bet before the community cards are dealt.

[Tony Cheval]

Oh yeah, and please don't make the mistake of assuming that a court of law would consider this issue the exact same way we're doing now.

[Aequitas58]

I believe he rested his case earlier in the thread. So, I guess it's too late for that.

[Tony Cheval]

Objection!