New Zealand Rules Poker Gambling Ads Legal - 07-14-10

July 14 - A ruling by Judge David Harvey of the New Zealand District Court has stated that live poker is not gambling and that ads for it and for certain online poker educational sites are legal according to New Zealand law.

A case was brought against TV3 and C4 TV stations by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs regarding advertisements that they ran during the show, Celebrity Joker Poker.

The ads involved were for Pokerstars.net and for the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. The Department of Internal Affiars claimed that the ads were illegal according to the New Zealand law which states that online gambling is illegal (although online gambling via a foreign operator is legal."

Regarding the advertisements for Pokerstars.net Judge Harvey ruled that: "The nature of the material in the advertisement made it clear that what was being advertised was free websites that do not involve gambling." He ruling continued: "The navigational realities of the Internet mean that there is a very significant difference between web addresses of any nature, be they .net, .com and org. even though they may be associated with a similar domain name."

Regarding the advertisement that for the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, Judge Harvey found that the ads were within the law, because the tournament "does not involve payment of consideration based upon the outcome of the game. It involves the splitting of a sum of money derived from the payment of the entry fees between the winning players."

He continued : "They are conducting a competition involving the game and play of poker."

The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs is expected to appeal the decision of the District Court.

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