Judge cites Kenny Rogers tune in gambling case

A federal judge took the unusual step of citing lyrics from country music legend Kenny Rogers this week in deciding the fate of an Israeli man who was ordered to leave Canada because he was wanted on gamblingrelated charges back home.

The case turned on a central question: Is Texas hold ’ em poker a game of skill or chance?

Ofer Cohen came to visit a friend in Canada in April 2013, but was ordered deported after an Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) adjudicator deemed him inadmissible on the grounds he had engaged in serious criminality in Israel.

In 2009, Cohen and two business partners developed an online poker platform geared to the Israeli market, but it shut down the same year after one of the partners was arrested on drug charges. The other two were also charged and later pleaded guilty to offences related to online gambling.

Israeli authorities issued a warrant for Cohen’s arrest, but he had left to work in Europe. The outstanding warrant popped up when he entered Canada. He was allowed to remain in the country, pending the outcome of an IRB admissibility hearing.

A board adjudicator concluded last year Cohen’s actions constituted a criminal offence in Israel and, if committed in Canada, would also constitute an offence in this country. He was returned to Israel.

But on appeal, Federal Court Judge Sean Harrington was not convinced the Texas hold ’ em website Cohen had created was illegal in Israel. Under Israeli law, a “prohibited game” is one whose outcome depends “more on chance than on understanding or ability.”

The judge also said the IRB adjudicator had put too much stock in an article written by Israeli lawyers that stated Israeli courts have held “certain forms of poker constitute a ‘prohibited game.’ ” Nowhere in the article, Harrington said, did it say Texas hold ’ em is a prohibited game.

In overturning the IRB decision, the judge said even though Cohen has long left the country, his situation is “not moot in that he could have been prevented from ever returning here.” He then went on to cite lyrics from the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler:

If you’re gonna play the game, boy You better learn to play it right You got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’ em Know when to walk away …