Nebraska state Rep. Tyson Larson, chairman of the legislature’s General Affairs Committee, has introduced a bill that would legalize draw and hold ‘em poker by calling them games of skill, not chance. The state constitution prohibits lawmakers from authorizing games of chance but says nothing about games of skill played for money.
“You can be a professional poker player; you cannot be a professional coin flipper. You can lose a poker game on purpose; you can’t lose a coin flip on purpose. You can have the worst hand in poker but be the best player. The math is there, the statistics are there. Poker is a game of skill. It is not a game of chance,” Larson said, adding that legalizing poker would generate revenue that would offer property tax relief, local government assistance and help for problem gamblers.
Larson, 28, who became the legislature’s youngest member when he was elected in 2010, also offered bills allowing bars to stay open 24/7 and eliminating the required 5-minute break between keno games.
State Senator Paul Schumacher also has proposed a constitutional amendment that would undo the gambling ban. Schumacher owns Lotto Nebraska which operates keno games in small Nebraska towns. However, Schumacher said he does not expect the amendment to succeed this year. State Senator Beau McCoy already has moved to have it indefinitely postponed.
Pat Loontjer, executive director of the anti-gambling group Gambling With the Good Life, said, “Those are the same bills that they drag up every year. We’re gonna fight it no matter what form of expanded gambling it is. We’ve got enough.” Governor Pete Ricketts is a former Gambling With the Good Life board member, and Lieutenant Governor Mike Foley also has spoken out against gambling.
A hearing on Larson’s poker bill hasn’t been scheduled, but he said the committee will likely advance it to the full Legislature for debate.
Loontjer has allies in the executive branch: Gov. Pete Ricketts is a former board member at Gambling With the Good Life and has spoken as governor against expanded gambling. Lt. Gov. Mike Foley has done the same as a former state senator.
