excerpt:

Put on your poker face and let the chips fall where they may.

There’s a new casino room opening in Bay City, and it’s all for a good cause.

Owners of the Big House Sports Bar, 510 E. Midland St., were busy this past weekend transforming their establishment into a Las Vegas-style gaming room – complete with 12 poker tables, two blackjack tables, a roulette table and a brand-new name.

(more…)

excerpt:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Celebrities turned out Wednesday to donate to Darfur charities — and to show their fellow stars just who the real card sharks were.

“I’m looking forward to whipping a lot of celebrity rear end,” talk show host Montel Williams said before beginning play in a charity Texas Hold ‘em tournament at the World Series of Poker. “I tweaked my game, and my game is really solid.”

(more…)

excerpt:

Several big-name poker pros and celebrities have decided to ante up for a worthy cause. The second annual Ante Up For Africa poker tournament, co-founded by actor Don Cheadle and poker pro Annie Duke, will be played at the 2008 World Series of Poker. The tournament, designed to raise money for the victims and bolster public awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, will start at 2 p.m. July 2 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, the WSOP announced in a news release Wednesday.

(more…)

excerpt:

At Shooters in Thomas Township, gambling means giving back.

“It’s called charitable gaming,” said Shoun P. Walle, manager of the club and bar. “The idea is that you can have fun and help people out at the same time.”

(more…)

Read the latest news from the PPA as poker players from all over the country celebrate America’s card game and tell Congress that Poker is Not a Crime.

Click here for the PPA press release.

A poker series slated to start next weekend has been halted before it begins.

Local officials notified organizers for the series of Saturday afternoon card tournaments — planned as fundraisers for a North Pole charity — after learning they would violate state gambling laws.

The poker games were scheduled to be hosted by a South Fairbanks bar and dance hall. Fairbanks Police Chief Dan Hoffman said he raised a red flag after state attorneys determined the events would violate state gaming laws.

(more…)

When it comes to gaming, what’s legal and what’s not?
Tuesday night’s bust at the former Rarebird Records in Genesee Township, where 30 people were arrested and ticketed, got us wondering.

Investigators say an illegal poker operation was being run.

If all of the money collected goes to a charitable organization, it’s legal if it’s licensed through the state.

(more…)

There is controversy over a poker tournament in Lakewood Saturday.

Organizers say the poker tournament is for charity, but the Colorado Bureau of Investigation says don’t bet your last dollar.

At first appearances, it looks like an ordinary poker game at the bar, complete with beers and finger food.

But for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the event is raising red flags.

(more…)

On a good night, players crowd the poker room at Salem’s Rockingham Park, wagering thousands of dollars on Texas Hold ‘Em, 7-card Stud and Omaha Hi-Lo. It costs at least $20 for a seat at a table; some games require $250 to buy in. Dozens of tables spread across the space that can hold up to 85.

This is the face of charitable gaming in New Hampshire.

While state lawmakers debate gambling – prompted by an effort to legalize slot machines – an evening at Rockingham Park shows that millions of gambling dollars are already changing hands in New Hampshire.

(more…)

Specific guidelines for charities trade one set of problems for another.   

Officers with the state’s newly created Gaming Control Division swooped into Kendallville this week, arresting people and confiscating cash and equipment allegedly connected to illegal gambling.

But if LaShonda Wilcox’s Para- dise Billiards had simply been a bit more “charitable,” she might be counting her share of the take today – not facing up to three years in prison.

The rise, fall and rising again of Fort Wayne’s Hold ‘em Palace – and its imminent marriage to the Jaycees – proves it.

(more…)