Virginia Laws Unclear

The problem isn’t that gambling is legal or illegal in Virginia; it is that most people don’t understand the law on gambling as it is currently written. Take for example the fact that the VA Fraternal Order of Police has been running a poker tournament in a bingo hall. They have raised almost $90,000 for various charities over the past year. Now they are stopping.

For a year they have been able to operate them, but the government is now questioning whether or not it is legal so they are stopping the games. They say that they promised the city that if they ever told them to stop that they would, so they are stopping. But that still doesn’t answer the question.

For months now officials in the city and state have been trying to figure out what VA law really is. The official law states that "the making of any bet... of money or other thing of value made in exchange for a chance to win a prize, stake or thing of value... the outcome of which is uncertain, or a matter of chance" is illegal. So are the games that people are playing chance games or are they skill games? Many would argue that it takes skill to play poker of any kind, and that something like slot machines would be chance.

Gamblers in the state say that they want a clear ruling on the law, since it really does seem to infer that games of skill such as poker would then be legal, and that games like slot machines would not be. They say that the Attorney General or some other lawmakers need to step forward and give a definitive ruling once and for all.

Some think that there should be a ruling that allows games of skill for charities and other organizations that raise money for charities – as long as the money is being given away to a good cause. However, the main Senator behind it is retiring and the bill that would make charity gambling legal is just sitting there, and will probably never see the light of day.

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