TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

It would seem, based on the fair warnings given by Green Bay police these past few weeks, that it is illegal in Wisconsin for bars to sponsor games of chance.

Oddly enough, games of skill, such as darts and pool, are permitted — even though it’s always more about luck than skill for some of us who throw or shoot only occasionally.

A few years ago, if police were out discouraging card tournaments around here, they probably would have found people playing sheepshead rather than poker.

But in the past year or so, televised poker tournaments have grown in popularity.

Skill or luck?

In particular, a game called Texas Hold ’Em has become the rage. Players are dealt two cards in this game and then must play from five community cards to form a poker hand.

California officials have ruled that poker is more a game of skill than a game of luck. Elsewhere, the opinion is different.

Any debate over whether poker is a game of skill or luck would not be anything new for this country, according to a Kewaunee County man whose hobby is collecting books on the history of gambling and billiards.

Jevon Jaconi, 31, of Luxemburg has read a short story by Mark Twain written in 1871. This piece, “Science vs. Luck,’’ tells of a court proceeding in Kentucky where six jurors who believe a card came called Seven-Up is a game of chance play against six jurors who are professional gamblers and believe it is science.

They play cards for hours. Finally, after the “chance’’ men have lost all their money to the “science’’ men, they emerge with this verdict:

“It is the deliberate opinion of this jury that the ‘chance’ theory concerning Seven-Up is a pernicious doctrine, and calculated to inflict untold suffering and pecuniary loss upon any community that takes stock in it.’’

Combination of both

Jaconi, who said his interest in cards goes back to boyhood penny-ante games of sheepshead and poker, thinks it is fair to land on the side of skill being more important than luck in this discussion.

“For example, you consider a game of roulette or craps, where basically you throw the die, there’s no physical control,’’ he said. “I believe poker is a combination of skill and luck more than a game of pure skill like chess.’’

To some extent, Jaconi said, poker can be compared to pool or darts.

“If you go to a pool tournament, there’s going to be the same people that are going to win week in and week out and it’s the same with darts,’’ he said.

“I think with poker, when you look at the World Series of Poker, it’s the same group of people that are in the top rankings,’’ he said. “You won’t find that with roulette or slot machines or dice.’’

Whether Wisconsin truly takes on the issue of chance versus science, it’s not as if there aren’t a lot of gaming opportunities in this state.