Could Israel Become the New Location for High Rollers?

Macau and the Philippines may have some competition in the near future for digital high rollers.

A new bill is making the rounds that would legalize online poker in Israel [3]. The bill, presented by Likud MK Sharren Haskel, seeks to return the right of poker operators to function within the country.

Israel's Current Poker Law

Under the current law of Israel, any person caught playing poker could be punished by up to one year in prison. Anyone caught organizing a tournament, including online operators who ran poker websites, would risk forfeiture of all funds and up to three years in prison. Because of these laws, online poker became virtually nonexistent [4] in Israel starting in 2016. However, some politicians immediately began to note the loss of tax revenue that the new laws caused.

Poker is Now Legally a "Game of Skill" in Israel

The ball for the new bill started rolling after the Israeli Supreme Court recently found that poker is not a game of luck, but of skill. This new definition places poker alongside online sport betting [5] in legal terms, away from the classification of "gambling." Israel is basically concerned that the underlying game in any betting environment must create a level playing field for all participants. Games that are defined as "based in luck" provide too great of an opportunity for unbridled corruption. Judge Neal Handel was the judicial officer who caused poker to be defined legally as a game of skill. He based his ruling on an observation of poker tournaments outside of Israel, noting that these tournaments seemed to have a hierarchy of players based on skill level. Games of luck, he reasoned, would see random people winning at any given time. Obviously, this is not the case in the world of professional poker.

Israeli Poker Still Alive

Although poker is outlawed in Israel, the culture is still very much alive. Even with the strict punishments imposed upon poker players and tournament organizers, there is still a huge underground culture for both poker players and aficionados. Many organizers from Israel will take their tournaments into international waters outside of the jurisdiction of the country.

Because of this underground culture, poker in Israel [6] still has a political structure to it. The Israeli Poker Players Association is a forced to be reckoned with, with enough power to negotiate with the Israeli Minister of Finance over tax laws that involve poker.

The underground culture of Israeli poker also continues to cultivate globally top ranked poker players. In the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe, three Israeli players finished with bracelets. One of these players, Timur Margolin, won over US $153,000 in prizes. Players like Amir Lehavot have become multimillionaires even as Israel outlaws the sport that made him rich.

Progress for the bill looks promising. If passed, poker could regain its legal status as early as 2019. Under the rules proposed by the bill, poker would actually have a leg up on the online sports betting industry. Sports betting and all lotteries are run by the state, which has a monopoly on all gaming that is considered gambling.