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BGonline.org Forums
Bad news from Belgium
Posted By: Daniel Murphy In Response To: Bad news from Belgium (Henrik Bukkjaer)
Date: Sunday, 10 October 2010, at 2:10 p.m.
Henrik, thanks for the additional information and thanks also for correcting me on one point. When I wrote that "tournament bridge was not [originally] anticipated to be subject to the proposed law," I was relying on this document dated March 26, 2010:
http://www.ft.dk/samling/20091/lovforslag/L202/som_fremsat.htm
L 202 Forslag til lov om spil
Af skatteministeren Troels Lund Poulsen (V)
Samling: 2009-10
Status: Stadfæstet
Forslag som fremsat
Fremsat den 26. marts 2010 af skatteministeren (Troels Lund Poulsen)
It's in that draft that the Tax Ministry's commentary exempted tournament bridge:
"Definitionen af kombinationsspil dækker en del forskellige spiltyper. F.eks. kan nævnes: – Bridge (»rubber-bridge« – ikke turneringsbridge) [...]i.e., but not tournament bridge
However, there was an earlier draft dated 12 February 2010:
http://www.ft.dk/samling/20091/almdel/sau/bilag/133/799736/index.htm
which made no such exception.
It's interesting to compare how the Tax Ministry's language concerning tournament bridge changed from February to March, after input from the Danish Bridge Federation:
February March I nogle typer af spil kan elementet af færdighed reducere tilfældighedselementet. Et eksempelherpå er spillet ”kontrakt-bridge” i turneringsform, hvor der spilles med duplikerede kort ved flereborde, og hvor spillerne efterfølgende kan sammenligne spilresultater. Ved at spille med duplike-rede kort reduceres tilfældighedselementet i spillet, således at betydningen af at få ”en heldighånd” bliver mindre. Tilfældighedselementet i turneringsbridge er dog – om end reduceret – stadigt indbygget i spillet ikortuddelingen, som er fuldstændig tilfældig. Derfor har tilfældighed stadig en vis indflydelse påspillets udfald, og turneringsbridge (og andre former for bridge) er omfattet af lovens anvendel-sesområde. I nogle typer af spil kan elementet af færdighed reducere eller helt eliminere tilfældighedselementet. Et eksempel herpå er spillet bridge. Bridgespil spilles både i en form, som hvor spillet indeholder en del tilfældighed, og i en turneringsform, hvor der er betydeligt mindre tilfældighed. I spillet ’rubber-bridge’ afvikles spillet uden duplikerede kort og kortene spilles kun en gang uden efterfølgende sammenligning. Her har uddelingen af kort stor betydning for afgørelsen af spillet. I bridgeklubber derimod spilles turneringsbridge (kontraktbridge), hvor der spilles med duplikerede kort ved flere borde, og hvor spillerne efterfølgende sammenligner spilresultater. Her er tilfældighedselementet helt elimineret. ’Rubber-bridge’ er derfor omfattet af loven, mens turneringsbridge ikke omfattes, da tilfældighedselementet i spillet må antages at være fuldstændigt elimineret. In some types of games the element of skill can reduce the element of chance. One example is the game "contract bridge" in tournament form., which is played with dupicate cards on several tables, and in which the players afterwards compare game results. By playing with duplicate cards, the rejoinder, the element of chance in the game is reduced, such that the importance of gettting "a lucky hand" becomes smaller. The random element in tournament bridge, however - albeit reduced - is still built into the game in the deal of the cards, which is completely random. Therefore, chance still has some influence on the outcome of the game, and tournament bridge (and other forms of bridge) are covered by the scope of the law. [my translation] In some types of games the element of skill can reduce or completely eliminate the element of chance. One example is the game bridge. Bridge is played both in a form where the game contains a measure of chance, and in a tournament form, in which there is significantly less randomness. In the game "rubber-bridge" the game unfolds without duplicate cards and the cards are played only once without subsequent comparison. Here, the distribution of cards has a great bearing on the outcome of the game. In bridge clubs, however, tournament bridge (contract bridge) is played with duplicate cards on several tables, and where players subsequently comparing game results. Here is the chance element completely eliminated. 'Rubber-bridge' is therefore covered by the law, while tournament bridge is excluded, since the element of chance in the game can be assumed to be completely eliminated. [my translation] Bridge federation members must have been overjoyed to see those changes.
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