Poker Players Alliance

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SEWARD - An attorney representing the Seward Volunteer Fire Company emphasized that no members of the small fire department in Westmoreland County have been charged with any crime in connection with Texas Hold-em poker tournaments held at the company’s fire hall last year.

And an attorney representing the tournament organizer who is accused of illegally sponsoring card games for profit argued today that the state has never clearly defined what illegal gambling is, and has never stated clearly whether playing cards for money is illegal.

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SEWARD — Texas hold ’em card games may be popular among poker players, but they aren’t a legal form of gambling in Pennsylvania – as one area fire company is finding out the hard way.

Seward Volunteer Fire Company held at least three money-raising poker tournaments in 2007.

Now, the state Attorney General’s Office is seeking $40,814 from the illegal games.

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Yesterday I met with Bryan Kendro, Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District http://gerlach.house.gov/District/ . I was accompanied by Pete Segal, a PPA member and constituent of Gerlach’s. Congressman Gerlach was one of the “Nay” votes that lead to the defeat of the HR5767 amendment to the UIEGA. If you’re not familiar with this amendment and its purpose, click here.
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Who would have guessed that Bryn Mawr is fast becoming a poker hotbed?

For the second straight year, the upscale Main Line suburb has produced a big-money winner in the World Series of Poker.

Businessman Eric Brooks, a cofounder and former director of the investing powerhouse Susquehanna International Group, collected $415,856 and a champion’s gold bracelet from a Las Vegas seven-card stud table Monday.

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The debate on gambling in Pennsylvania shifted Thursday, if only briefly, to craps, poker and blackjack, instead of whether the Legislature set up a flawed regulatory mechanism to vet who should win a slot-machine casino license.

The Democratic-led House Gaming Oversight Committee took the first step on a bill to legalize table games at the state’s licensed slots casinos, holding a hearing on it despite heavy opposition in the Senate to expanding the state’s gambling platter.
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A Westmoreland County lawyer charged with illegally operating poker tournaments wants those charges dismissed, saying the card game is not gambling.

Larry Burns, 63, of Derry Township was charged last year with misdemeanor gambling counts for running tournaments for a profit.

Police contend Burns made about $31,000 in profits from three Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments in Seward, in addition to an undisclosed amount from weekly poker games in Hempfield.

Burns, through defense attorney David Millstein, wants a county judge to throw out the charges because there are no provisions in the law that make poker a gambling enterprise.

“There are, however, a number of reported decisions of various courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that define the terms ‘gambling’ and ‘unlawful gambling’ in ways that do not proscribe such conduct and which specifically state that wagering on poker or playing poker for money or other prices is not ‘gambling’ or ‘unlawful gambling’ within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Millstein wrote in a brief filed Thursday.

Millstein said that because the state constitution is vague, it cannot be used as a means to prosecute Burns.

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Every Tuesday night Mike Holm – and about 35 other area residents – play poker at the Sports Zone in Harrisburg.

For two years now, the bar has hosted a poker league every Tuesday night at 7 and 9 p.m. Participants take their chances on Texas Hold ‘Em, the ever-growing version of poker now a presence on television and in plenty of bars and home poker tables in the U.S.

“It’s real competitive and everyone has a good time. It’s a great social event,” Sports Zone Owner Dave Jennings said.

360 Bar & Grill in Tea, formerly the Sports Page, also has Texas Hold ‘Em competitions each Thursday and Friday. Owner Melissa Naatjes said the more games that are available, the more people will play.

“People just really want to get out and practice their game,” Naatjes said.

Texas Hold ‘Em is only one of more than 500 poker games and variations, Holm said.

In Texas Hold ‘Em, each player is dealt two cards. The player uses those two cards – called hole cards – along with the five community cards on the table to build a hand.

“It just fun and challenging,” Holm said. “It’s fun to see if you can beat the other guys.”

Players don’t bet with money in Harrisburg, but they still keep up their game.

A poker player for more than 30 years, Holm said success takes intuition and the ability to read the other players. Because many of the same players turn up week after week, Holm picks up on the their tendencies. Holm said he “tries to keep an even keel.” “I try not to have a nervous twitch,” he said. “A good poker player will pick up on that.”

As for new players, Holm said you don’t know what their ticks may be. “You bet on your intuitions then,” he said.

Jeff Hanssen, a two-year regular at the Sports Zone, picks up on little weaknesses – and takes advantage. In addition to twitches or facial expressions, Hanssen watches how the players throw their chips in, he said. Since the league began, Jennings and Hanssen said it’s grown in popularity. “When I started there were maybe 14 people,” Hanssen said.

Attracting players from Harrisburg, Tea, Sioux Falls and Brandon, Jennings said the game has grown and he now sees about 35 players turn up at each session. “It grows every week,” he said. “It gets a little bit bigger each time because people have a good time.”

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Two Westmoreland County men are accused of organizing three illegal Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments last year at the social club for the Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Department in Hempfield.

Ronald Boggs, 60, of 123 Troy Circle, Hempfield, and James Earl Miller, 35, of 205 Oak St., New Stanton, are charged each with nine first-degree misdemeanor violations of the state’s gambling devices statute and three misdemeanor counts of conspiracy.

A state police investigation led to an Aug. 3 raid in which authorities said they seized $1,875 in cash and gambling paraphernalia, including playing cards and poker chips.

State Trooper Michael Noel said in an affidavit of probable cause that he attended tournaments that night and on May 25 and June 1 after reading an advertisement in the Tribune-Review stating the Friday night events were managed by and benefited the fire department.

Trustees for the Fort Allen Firemens Club were not immediately available for comment Tuesday about whether the fire company or social hall benefited from the tournaments.

Noel said participants paid a $50 entry fee for a set of playing chips and access to a buffet dinner and drinks.

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