Police in San Mateo County, California apparently first spent months investigating the small-stakes poker game. From this firsthand account, it looks like a couple of the officers were playing regularly for several weeks before sending in the SWAT team, guns drawn, last week. If California is like most states (and I believe it is), a poker game is only illegal if the house is taking a rake off the top. In this case, it looks like that "rake" was the $5 the extra the hosts asked from each buy-in to pay for pizza and beer.
Police also took a 13-year-old girl out of the home, away from her parents, and turned her over to child protective services. In addition to the charge of running an illegal gambling operation, the hosts are also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Good thing the poor girl was saved before slouching toward an inevitable life of crime.
I'm not quite sure I understand this part, either:
A background check on the house's residents led officers to a Web site advertising weekly poker games. The Web site was used to lure "unwitting" participants to the tournaments, which required a $25 to $55 buy-in with an extra $5 "refreshment" fee, according to the report.
How does an advertisement for a small-stakes poker game "unwittingly lure" someone? Did they think the game was free? If they did, was there something preventing them from simply leaving if they didn't want to pay the buy-in?
This account suggests the police hinted to individual players that the hosts may have been cheating or defrauding them, though that's not apparent in the news accounts. Firsthand accounts on poker sites have only good things to say about the hosts. Of course, even if the hosts were cheating, it wouldn't justify a full-on raid, particularly in mid-tournament. The SWAT tactics seem more like intimidation. Raiding in mid-tournament also ensures there's a $1,300 pot to seize for the sheriff department's general fund.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office encourages citizens to report instances of heavy foot traffic, frequent visitors and illegal parking in residential areas by calling its anonymous tip line...
Mustn't be much crime in San Mateo.
MORE: Check the comments for posts from poker players at the raid.
Wow. I know this really awful scofflaw that runs this internet gambling ring - we use a major network's sports website, we gamble, he takes some money off the top every year to "pay for the website" (but I think we all know what that really means), and once a year we all meet at his house to coordinate our yearly crime spree while drinking lots and lots of beer.
I'm freaking calling Interpol on this guy. I never knew he was such a heinous criminal!
Seriously - I lived in San Mateo(ish) for about a year. There is no crime there, and I'm sure they're pretty bored.
Taking the girl away? Are you kidding me? Let's just hope the judge reads this case and tosses it before we waste too much more money on it.
knapplc wrote:Wow. I know this really awful scofflaw that runs this internet gambling ring - we use a major network's sports website, we gamble, he takes some money off the top every year to "pay for the website" (but I think we all know what that really means), and once a year we all meet at his house to coordinate our yearly crime spree while drinking lots and lots of beer.
I'm freaking calling Interpol on this guy. I never knew he was such a heinous criminal!
Seriously - I lived in San Mateo(ish) for about a year. There is no crime there, and I'm sure they're pretty bored.
Taking the girl away? Are you kidding me? Let's just hope the judge reads this case and tosses it before we waste too much more money on it.
Sad thing is the cops bet more on football/basketball/baseball than this poker tournament was bringing in
“Never argue with a idiot, because first they will bring you down to their level. Then beat you with experience.”
They've been raiding the underground poker rooms in the Ft. Worth/Dallas metroplex and all surrounding areas for awhile now. Not surprised other areas are doing it too.
Yes doctor, I am sick. Sick of those who are spineless. Sick of those who feel self-entitled. Sick of those who are hypocrites. Yes doctor, an army is forming. Yes doctor, there will be a war. Yes doctor, there will be blood.....
If you are having 100 person tournaments, then it is no shock the police would take notice of this. I really do not care, but it is one of those inevitable things.
"I do not think baseball of today is any better than it was 30 years ago... I still think Radbourne is the greatest of the pitchers." John Sullivan 1914-Old athletes never change.
Certainly sounds like over-reaction on the part of the local PD, but what the house was doing was illegal if the accounts are correct. If they are making money off of hosting the game then it should have been raided.
Snakes Gould wrote:so if everyone got there, they asked who wants pizza/beer, and everyone ponied up $5, would it be a crime? this is ridiculous.
That isn't what this was at all. It cost $5 to play in the game that wasn't put into the pot. You paid $5 whether you want refreshments or not, it was an entry fee.
This wasn't a neighborhood poker game with some buddies getting together to play. There were hundreds of participants. The main focus of the questioning seems to be that the people running the game were cheating. Even if they weren't cheating, charging an entry fee for the house makes it illegal. Like it or not it is the law. If you don't agree with it then work at getting the law changed (I'm sure the big casinos will make sure it never happens). But if you decide to charge a "refreshment" fee then know that it does put you at risk, however slim it might be. I would suggest having a pot luck and have everyone bring $5 worth of refreshments.
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by RugbyD » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:06 am 
Not surprised other areas are doing it too. 
