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A Pueblo poker room that has been on law enforcement’s radar for four years finally was raided last week by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, according to court records made public on Thursday.

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Denver — Not long after Congress passed a ban on Internet gambling, PR man John Pappas knew he had to be here at the Democratic National Convention.

Pappas represented online poker players. Their ragtag Poker Players Alliance had been stunned by Congress’ midnight approval of the ban late in 2006.

Internet gamblers had been powerless to block the bill. They were only loosely affiliated. They often knew one another only by their online nicknames.

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But there’s also the political agenda of the organizers, the Poker Players Alliance. Several politicians were on hand, including U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado.

The alliance is working to legalize online poker. As part of those efforts, the group wants to repeal legislation Congress passed in 2006 that prohibits U.S. banks and credit-card companies from processing transactions for gambling websites.

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They say Hollywood stars are dominating the show here. Ben Affleck certainly is.

Last night (or rather, early this morning), Affleck won a charity poker tournament sponsored by the poker industry’s lobbying group and made good on a promise he made before coming here.

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Colorado’s gambling law has put a damper on a star-studded charity poker tournament planned for next week during the Democratic National Convention.

The “Poker at the Ballpark” tournament initially had a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, valued at $10,000, as the grand prize.

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But the owners of the popular Greeley bar said the state officials were out of line with the raid.

“This was a poker club,” Miner said. “It wasn’t formed by our bar, it was a bunch of friends. The house didn’t take a cut of the money, we didn’t force anyone to buy drinks, and we made sure we met all the state requirements.”

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There’s no cash to be won.

The chips are free and each night is as much a social gathering as anything else.

Still, that doesn’t mean the various weekly Texas Hold ’Em poker tournaments in Loveland don’t get tense.

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I am planning a trip to Las Vegas after November of this year for some high-stakes poker, as I do about once a month. My question is: Why would it be bad if I didn’t have to leave Colorado? If I could, I would choose stay in Colorado hotels, spend my money in Colorado restaurants and tip Colorado workers. But there are some who do not consider the creation of new jobs, offering more reasons for tourists to visit our state and keeping Colorado money at home a good thing.

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