One of B.C.'s top police gaming experts is betting that he's come up with a way to legalize on-line poker.
Vancouver police Det. Randy Peterson says his game eliminates chance and focuses on skill alone, making it legal.
Calling his brand of play "skill poker," Peterson has sold the concept and it can now be found at www.skillpoker.com, where it is being beta tested.
So will he soon be rolling in gambling-generated dough?
"I doubt it," he said, explaining that he had to sell the idea because he couldn't develop it alone.
Still, he's kept his hand in as a consultant and he holds a block of shares in the company that runs the game on the Internet.
"If the likes of Yahoo were to implement my methodology it would probably be pretty good, especially for the company that bought it."
Peterson said gambling is legally defined as a game of chance that's played for money and players pay to play: "If you remove any one of the three elements then it's no longer considered gambling."
In his version of poker, players play the same cards.
"The one who handles his cards the best wins," he said.
The idea, he said, resembles duplicate bridge. He acknowledged that many players like the idea of chance playing a part in the game.
Peterson said his method can be applied to other games as varied as bingo, cribbage, backgammon and even Scrabble.
Peterson said he's been interested in gambling over his 25 years with the VPD and stints in Hong Kong and New Zealand.
He worked on "Casinogate," which ended the career of former NDP Premier Glen Clark, and Starnet Communications Inc., an illegal Internet gaming firm operating in Vancouver.
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Vancouver police Det. Randy Peterson says his game eliminates chance and focuses on skill alone, making it legal.
Calling his brand of play "skill poker," Peterson has sold the concept and it can now be found at www.skillpoker.com, where it is being beta tested.
So will he soon be rolling in gambling-generated dough?
"I doubt it," he said, explaining that he had to sell the idea because he couldn't develop it alone.
Still, he's kept his hand in as a consultant and he holds a block of shares in the company that runs the game on the Internet.
"If the likes of Yahoo were to implement my methodology it would probably be pretty good, especially for the company that bought it."
Peterson said gambling is legally defined as a game of chance that's played for money and players pay to play: "If you remove any one of the three elements then it's no longer considered gambling."
In his version of poker, players play the same cards.
"The one who handles his cards the best wins," he said.
The idea, he said, resembles duplicate bridge. He acknowledged that many players like the idea of chance playing a part in the game.
Peterson said his method can be applied to other games as varied as bingo, cribbage, backgammon and even Scrabble.
Peterson said he's been interested in gambling over his 25 years with the VPD and stints in Hong Kong and New Zealand.
He worked on "Casinogate," which ended the career of former NDP Premier Glen Clark, and Starnet Communications Inc., an illegal Internet gaming firm operating in Vancouver.
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