The state of Idaho has filed its reply as its lawsuit against the Coeur d’Alene Tribe over the new poker room at the tribe’s Worley casino heads to a court hearing next week. In the latest filing, the state argues that events like golf tournaments “bear no resemblance to poker where chance is an essentially element of the game.” The tribe is arguing that the type of poker it’s offering, Texas Hold ‘Em tournament play, qualifies as a contest of skill – like a golf tournament – bringing it under an exemption in Idaho’s anti-gambling laws. Even though Idaho bans poker, the tribe argues, that prohibition doesn't apply if the game in question is one of skill, not just luck.

In its reply, the state argues that “any variant of ‘poker’ is plausibly, indeed necessarily, encompassed.” It also argues that the binding arbitration clause of the state-tribal gaming compact doesn’t foreclose it from filing this lawsuit, and discounts the tribe’s contention that Texas Hold ‘Em is widely played in Idaho.  “The fact that the law is violated commonly … does not eliminate the illegality,” the state’s attorneys write. “Were the contrary true, speed limits would become legal fictions.” You can read the state reply here. U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill will hear arguments in the case Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene, on the state’s motion for a temporary restraining order to shut the poker room down.