One of the last motions filed before the trial asked Judge Kaplan to put the key question of whether poker was agame of chance and therefore gambling before a jury, but Kaplan never ruled on this request.
This dictum also applies to those involved in a high-stakes game between the European Commission, online-gambling firms and several European countries opposed to internet betting.
It is also now thinking of banning the gambling halls which play host to the "numbers game", a Brazilian form of street bingo based on animal names which is hugely lucrative for those who run it.
Since there are real rewards at stake, this free-to-play model has to operate without a cash shop or in-game purchases, as they would put the title at risk of falling under online gambling laws.