South Carolina’s laws vaguely state any game involving dice or cards could be considered a gambling game, even if you’re not playing for money. Over the last two years, several arrests and fines made it to the news.

So it’s a nice turn to see that one of these cases finally went before a judge, who ruled that there is overwhelming evidence that Texas Hold’em is a skill game, not a gambling game. This follows a similar ruling from Pennsylvania last month.

It didn’t stop the judge from finding the particular defendants guilty, however, for reasons I don’t entirely understand (elucidation would be appreciated).

(source)