Kansas poker guru challenges law

17 November 2008

WICHITA, Kansas -- As reported by the Kansas City Star: "Wichita entrepreneur Shawn Riley thinks he's found the profitable sweet spot between free bar poker and the real thing, played for money, that is both legal and unregulated.

"But Riley and his partners in the patent-pending poker endeavor will almost certainly first have to survive some strict scrutiny in coming days from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.

"Co-founder of the five-year old World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League bar circuit that claims 150,000 members in 19 states, Riley in recent weeks rolled out his "Kandu Challenge" game at four tables set up in his father's newly opened Highlands Gastropub & Cardroom restaurant here.

"...'We've eliminated the chance' element of the game, he said. And, under well-settled gambling law that Riley recites with accuracy, a game without chance is only a game, not gambling.

"...The difference between Kandu and poker is the 'flash,' a two- or three-second glimpse of the shuffled deck that each player gets as the dealer fans every card in the deck face up across the table before the cut and deal. After the cut the bottom card in the deck is also exposed.

"The idea is that skilled players can spot their own cards, the flop cards and other vital clues like where the aces are hiding.

"...There's a few other differences to the game, including the terminology. Each hand is a "challenge" that any player can opt out of after seeing the cards and before paying the "entry fee," formerly known as the ante.

"There are no blinds, but betting, raising and checking proceeds as normal. The winner wins a 'purse,' formerly known as the pot..."