Proposed gambling bill in Israel could legalise poker

Knesset, the legislature in Israel, could legalise poker in the country soon after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that poker is a game of skill rather than luck.

Likud MK Sharren Haskel, a member of Knesset, proposed a legislation that would remove poker from the list of illegal gambling activity. If the bill is passed, poker players can play the game without the threat of up to 1-year imprisonment.

Poker tournament organisers, on the other hand, can go about their business without the fear of a three-year prison sentence.

Until then, poker remains illegal in Israel.

Despite this, many underground poker games are held in what are dubbed as “clubs” but are just apartments.

Cruise ships, on the other hand, host poker tournaments the moment they start sailing out to international waters. This takes advantage of one of the loopholes in the law and has so far spared cruise ships from prosecutions.