The UK’s department of Culture Media and Sport is being challenged by the UK Poker Clubs Association (UKPCA), which is calling the Department’s treatment of poker clubs ‘totally irrational’. Spokesperson Barry Martin also protested that the government was not listening to the industry, despite attempts at communication.
This echoes the protests of Penny Cobham of the British Casino Association (BCA), who pointed out that legislation covering the development of seventeen new casinos in the UK was “introduced without a formal and specific consultation with the industry and other stakeholders.”
Martin defended poker clubs, explaining that “Venues not set up for poker, without trained staff, or proper facilities, where the main activity may often be gambling, will be able to play for unlimited stakes and prizes, but poker clubs will not – it is ridiculous.” He went on to predict that an increase in ‘underground’ poker would draw players into an unregulated environment.
To fight the DCMS’s decision, the UKPCA has applied for a judicial review. While the UKPCA have a far stronger case, the experience of casino owners may be something of a cautionary tale. Gala, Rank Group, Grosvenor, Harrah's and Genting Stanley Casinos, who own nearly 90% of the UK’s existing venues, challenged the DCMS’s plans to build more casinos on the grounds that it would lead to loss of revenue. However, Justice Langstaff of the High Court rejected the claims on all counts, stating that the denial of commercial opportunity due to competition was simply not a matter of law.