Poker Players Alliance

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All bets are off.

That was the news organizers of Erath County United Way’s benefit poker tournament received just days before the charitable game was set to get rolling.

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GUADALUPE COUNTY — Nearly a dozen people at two local underground poker parlors have been issued citations for illegal gambling in the wake of a months-long undercover investigation by county officials.

Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Investigator Lt. Kevin Jordan said sheriff’s deputies, Department of Public Safety troopers and investigators who work for County Attorney Elizabeth Murray-Kolb raided a home adjacent to the San Antonio Raceway Friday night in Marion and shut down an illegal poker game, issuing 11 misdemeanor citations.

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MISSION - A letter from a NEWSCHANNEL 5 viewer triggers a police investigation and an overnight raid of an illegal gambling operation in Mission.

A worried neighbor tipped us off with an anonymous letter. It says gamblers pack the neighborhood every Saturday night, and it’s been happening for eight months.

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On April 12th of 2008 World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League (WPTAPL) welcomed the WPT partners and pro’s, including “Cowboy” Kenna James, and Nick Brancato, as they hosted their National Championship event to crown the 2007 WPTAPL National Champion.

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Police said they shut down a high-stakes gambling operation based in a North Texas home on Friday.

A SWAT team raided the house off Highway 10 on Friday night. Hurst police said they found two dozen people inside the home, which had tables, dealers and even a banker, and was set up to look like Las Vegas.
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Illegal poker operations have been around for quite some time. But with the recent popularity of Texas Hold’em, bars and restaurants have found ways to offer legal tournaments. Texas Hold’em Tournament Director Beth Connell says they work closely with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

“They’ll give you good guidelines and good information about what’s player friendly,” Connell said. “They’ve always been very helpful and communicative with us with regards to how we can keep a tournament running so that our legality is never in question. And the TABC has always been right there on the spot for us where that’s concerned.”

When we first heard about businesses giving away cash and other prizes for winning poker tournaments, we thought it was too good to be true. So we spoke with Potter County Assistant Attorney David Kemp.

“There are two restrictions on gambling,” Kemp said. “What makes something gambling is you pay considerations to participate in the game and you win something of value at the end of the game. So if those two things exist, there could possibly be a problem under the gambling laws.”

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