Local game busted in Greensboro, NC

[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)

[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.