Appeals court upholds ban on Idaho tribe’s poker contests

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a request by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to dismiss a state lawsuit aiming to prevent Texas Hold ‘em poker tournaments at the tribe’s casino.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld an injunction issued in September that blocks the contests while the lawsuit moves forward.

Tribal officials didn’t return a call from The Associated Press, and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, which is suing the tribe, declined to comment Wednesday.

Idaho officials sued last year over the tribe’s plan to offer poker tournaments at its casino in Worley on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation.

Much of the lawsuit centers on a 1992 compact that the tribe and Idaho signed under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Idaho officials argued that because poker is illegal in the state, it is banned under the compact.

The tribe contends that Hold ‘em is legal.

The appeals court agreed with a lower-court judge that Hold ‘em is illegal because the state’s Constitution and gambling laws explicitly prohibit poker.

“The Tribe’s interpretations of Idaho law are not persuasive,” the court wrote in the 16-page opinion. “Though skill undoubtedly plays a role in Hold ‘em, the game does not qualify for the statutory exemption for bona fide contests of skill, speed, strength or endurance.”

That also eliminated the tribe’s argument that it had sovereign tribal immunity, the appeals court said.

The ruling said U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill correctly concluded that it was in the public interest to block the poker competitions pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

The tribe has several options. It can ask the full 9th Circuit Court to hear the case or it can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.