Local game busted in Greensboro, NC

[TheBull]

I played with one of the "ringleaders" in a tourney once. Nice guy. Wish the cops had something better to do.

ALE Raid on Greensboro game (http://www.newsandrecord.com/news/local/gso/webpoker_120304.htm)

[KungFuSandwich]

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Thursday’s arrests come at a time when the popularity of such high-stakes, low-skill gambling matches has been boosted by several cable-TV channels that show “Texas Hold ’em” matches.



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They got that right, Did Mike McDuromot's girlfriend right this article?

[smoore]

They confiscated not only the money in play but also any other money the players had on them? Holy BS.

[Scuba Chuck]

"Thursday’s arrests come at a time when the popularity of such high-stakes, low-skill gambling matches has been boosted by several cable-TV channels that show “Texas Hold ’em” matches"

There was a similar bust in St Cloud Minnesota a few months back where the defendants fought the case and won. There are a few nuances that are different, specifically no alcohol sales, and financially things were different, but they won on the point that POKER IS NOT LOW SKILL OR A GAME OF CHANCE.

Judge must have been a poker player himself.

[KungFuSandwich]

Yeah, I dont understand how they can still think that. There is a reason that theres not a real World Series Of Dice (It would be a total crapshoot, ohhh man that was awful) Someone needs to ship the writer a copy of rounders.

[coyote]

Wow, is it just me, or did the 15% rake off the buy-in seem really steep??!

[warewulf]

They keep calling it a game of chance. Isn't Poker a game of skill? I live in CA and games of chance are not allowed in casinos, but games of skill are. I guess it was all over when they started taking a rake though.

[Fins]

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Wow, is it just me, or did the 15% rake off the buy-in seem really steep??!

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That's ridiculous... uh no wonder:

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From the article... "ALE has been investigating the storefront poker parlor for several months, after a tip about its operations from “what you might call a jealous competitor,” Johnson said."

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[AgentJack]

They were just asking for trouble by selling alcohol and charging a rake. Also the $1,000 buy in is pretty intense. You are going to attract attention with these kind of things going on.

I do not support home rake games at all including people trying to "cover their cost" on poker tables, chips, etc. Inviting people to your home to play poker I feel is the same as inviting them over to watch the super bowl. Charging 15% with these kind of buy-ins they were looking to make a profit. Sounds like they were not even in a home but at a business park.

Sounds like the cops had some fun though - From Article -> "Since then, undercover ALE agents have been gathering evidence by playing high-stakes poker in the business suite, located in the Lawndale North Business Park."

Has anybody ever heard of a home game getting busted that did not charge a rake. It seems that the ones that get busted are charging a rake.

As far as poker being a game of chance or skill... Different states looks at it differently. We all know that Poker is Skill and Luck (mostly skill I think). Some states think it is a game of chance (and they are right to a point) and some think it is a game of skill.

Chutes and Ladders = Luck
Poker = Skill & Luck
Risk = Skill & Luck
Chess = Skill

[KungFuSandwich]

What about scrabble, is that luck, skill, or knowledge?

[Jaquen H'gar]

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I guess it was all over when they started taking a rake though.

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No, it was all over when they began selling alcohol without a license. A serious no-no in the eyes of the law because the operators were cutting out the state government from its share of the profits.

It's like moonshine. The ATF doesn't give a rats ass about the dangerous unregulated impurities of the home-brewed alcohol, they do care when they can't get their cut of the profits.

[TheBull]

Follow up article:
Unlikely setting veils high-stakes poker parlor (12/4/04 - News and Record) (http://www.newsandrecord.com/news/local/bustfolo_120404.htm)

[wingsfan]

I agree with what you say to an extent, especially with the moonshine, but remember that if these guys were selling liquor without a license, they couldn't buy the liquor originally wholesale. Uncle Sam got his money when they went to the liquor store and had to pay retail prices for it. I think you're probably right that the liquor sales is what really cheesed Big Brother off, but it's not like they didn't pay anything for the liquor to begin with.

[Jezebel]

I'll bet that they were not "selling" alcohol in the traditional sense. They probably had alcohol on site for whoever wanted a drink. When you pay rake in a game such as this the hosts usually provide "free" alcohol and food. THe state I am sure determined that this is the same as selling alcohol even though they didn't charge players directly.

The reason this game and others have been recently busted was the website that advertised the games. The first game got busted near Charlotte because a player got caught cheating and called the cops when the house man wouldn't pay him. The cops got info out of the cheater and the houseman that the games were being advertised on the net. This advertisement was rather blatant, and in my opinion was just too much for the cops to ignore.

To the cops credit, they have busted other organized games in this area by posting a letter on the door saying that they believed illegal gambling was taking place at the establishment and if there was it needed to stop. Just a friendly letter saying knock it off. This was at a business park also.

Now that the website is down, hopefully the games will be under less heat, but will probably have less fish since there is no more advertising.