Talking Points



With the arrival of poker on television and on the internet, the game has quickly become popular, with a much wider audience. There are now a large number of people and organisations, including 2003 Act premises licence holders, seeking to cash in on that increased popularity. This has become a matter of concern for the police and licensing authorities. The law on the matter is far from clear, and you won’t be surprised to hear that the 2003 Act has done little to clarify it.

This is our understanding of the current law in relation to the playing of poker in pubs (or indeed, related or similar games). We’d like to hear your views and experiences, particularly if they’ve resulted in prosecutions. Please visit The Forum if you would like to learn from the experience of others or have a point that you would like to make.

You’ll probably know that the Government has been talking about making regulations under the 2005 Act to permit poker in pubs, which isn’t likely to help matters.

Some provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 relevant to poker were brought into force on 1st October 2005. These are the definitions of “gaming” (section 6) and “equal chance gaming” (section 8)
The provisions relating to gaming on 2003 Act licensed premises (sections 278 to 280) have not yet come into force.
Sections 33 and 37 (the provisions creating criminal offences under the 2005 Act) have not yet been brought into force

That leaves us (for the time being) with poker being defined by the 2005 Act, but regulated by the 1968 and the 2003 Acts. So:

As the law stands at the moment, “gaming” means playing a game of chance for a prize (which can be a prize provided, or winning money that’s been staked). A game of chance can be both skill and chance, or just chance. “Equal-chance gaming” requires that there is no bank, and that everyone playing has an equal chance of winning. Poker, in whatever form, would seem to fall into either one or the other or both categories. The definitions in the 2005 Act are not in fact very different from those in the Gaming Act 1968.

The question of whether poker can be organised so as to remove it from these categories into being just a game of skill is more difficult to answer. In our view, the shuffling and dealing of the cards introduces a sufficient degree of chance to bring the game squarely within section 6 of the 2005 Act, and in particular sub-sections 6(2)(a)(ii) and (iii)



Section 5 of the 1968 Act prohibits gaming in public places. The section defines “public place” as being, amongst other things, “ place to which, upon payment or otherwise, the public have access”
Section 6 of the same Act exempts dominoes and cribbage from that prohibition, and also premises that have been granted an order (under section 6(3)) permitting games other than dominoes or crib.
Section 6(3) provided for an order to be made by the licensing justices, and was amended by the Licensing Act 2003 so that the licensing authority could do it. Sub-section 6(2) was amended by the 2003 Act, and sub-section 2A added. Sub-section 2 was re-amended by the Gambling Act 2005

It follows, then, that (provided that the premises in question don’t fall outside the definition of “public place”), and unless an order under section 6(3) of the Gaming Act 1968 (as amended) has been made, that playing poker in pubs is illegal.


This is what the first three parts of section 6 of the Gaming Act 1968 should now read (until they’re repealed when the 2005 Act comes fully into force). You should also note that they seem to have left sub-section 6(4) alone. That empowers the licensing justices to add conditions to a section 6(3) order in order to prevent playing for high stakes and people going to the premises just to play gamble. Which can’t be right.:

6 General provisions as to gaming on premises licensed for retail sale of liquor

(1) The restriction imposed by section 5(1) (prohibition of gaming in public places) of this Act does not apply-

(a) to the playing of dominoes or cribbage an any premises to which this section applies, or
(b) in the case of any particular premises to which this section applies, to the playing of any other game which is authorised to be played on those premises by an order under subsection (3) of this section which is for the time being in force.

(2) This section applies to any premises in England and Wales-

(a) in respect of which a premises licence under Part 3 of the Licensing Act 2003 (c.17) has effect.

(b) which contain a bar at which alcohol is served fro consumption on the premises (without a requirement that alcohol is served only with food), and

(c) at a time when alcohol may be supplied in reliance on the premises licence under Part 3 of the Licensing Act 2003

(2A) This section also applies to any premises in Scotland …..

(3) On the application of

(a) the holder of the licence which has effect in respect of any premises to which this section applies

(b) the relevant licensing authority, or, in Scotland, the licensing board for the licensing area in which the premises are situated

may by order authorise the playing on those premises of a game specified in the order, other than dominoes or cribbage


As to what the law will be, once the 2005 Act comes fully into force, see sections 277 to 280 of the Act. Section 279 exempts the provision of facilities for equal-chance gaming from being offences (under either s33, 37, or both), provided that certain conditions are met:

limits on stakes and prizes meet the limits to be imposed by Regulations
no amount is deducted or levied from stakes or amounts won
no participation fee is charged
the game is played on one set of premises and not linked to a game played on another set of premises
children and young persons are excluded from participation