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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 22 February 2008

Poker club's losing hand as permit bid fails

THE new owners of a well-known poker club have been forced to impose a £250 gambling limit on their tables after losing a bid to win a gaming licence.
Powerhouse Sporting Club in Clerkwenwell Road went heads up with the Gambling Commission at a licensing meeting at Islington Town Hall on Wednesday - and lost.
The case comes only a week after Derek Kelly, who used to run the club when it was called Gutshot Poker Club, lost his appeal against a high court ruling that said poker was a game of chance and not skill.
In January last year, Mr Kelly was found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Count on contravening the 1968 Gaming Act by hosting poker games at the venue and fined £10,000.
Now the club, which has been taken over by Powerhouse Sporting Club, has already fallen foul of the Gambling Commission, who say it is trying to disguise the fact that it is a commercial enterprise by claiming it is a members club.
Gamblers at Powerhouse will no longer be able to play for high stakes after Islington’s licensing committee refused to grant a club gaming permit.
It means Powerhouse can now ?only operate “low-stakes” poker games, with a £250 limit on the total amount of money that can be gambled within the premises per day.
Powerhouse argued it was a members club because it was established “wholly or mainly” for purposes “other than for gaming”.
James Anderson, speaking for Powerhouse, said the club held chess, backgammon, scrabble and quiz nights, had a restaurant and bar and offered free internet access so poker was only part of the venue’s business.
The Gambling Commission argued Powerhouse was not a “bona-fide” members club because poker formed the main part of its trade.
Jeremy Phillips, for the Gambling Commission, said: “We have heard that Powerhouse was created for the purposes of this application. It is a sham.”
Licensing committee chairman Cllr Stefan Kaspryzyck said: “We concluded that the primary operation of the club was for gaming purposes – in this case poker, which is offered every evening, while other activities are only offered on a once a week or once a month basis.
“For these reasons we considered that the Powerhouse Sporting Club was not a members’ club and had to decline the application.”

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