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Police seized $21,000, drugs and weapons when they raided an illegal poker game in a building off Yadkin Road on Friday.

Misdemeanor citations were issued to 40 people, many of them identified as Fort Bragg soldiers, said Lt. Chris Davis of the Fayetteville Police Department.

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Hello fellow poker players, I have news of the latest bust! I was at a game in Fayetteville last night on Yadkin Road otherwise known as Yadkin poker house and we we’re raided at about 10pm. There about 50 to 60 people there playing a “freeroll Friday tourney” and they shut it down, arrested everyone, and confiscated everything including our money in our pockets which was not even on the table.

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It was just after 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night in Statesville when Brian Curtin took a quick peak at his hole cards. Then he quickly folded his hand.

“Queen-six, offsuit,” he said when asked why he dumped them so hastily.

Curtin was among about two dozen people playing Texas Hold ’Em in an event called World Tavern Poker, which is held Tuesday nights at D’Laney’s Sports Bar and Grill.

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The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office on Friday announced multiple arrests related to an alleged illegal gambling operation in Midway.

Investigators with the DCSO vice and narcotics unit Thursday seized poker tables, playing cards, poker chips and $1,748 in cash from the premises of Corporate Entertainment Solutions, 11141 Hickory Tree Road, Suite 8.

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Police broke up a high-stakes poker ring in Long View on Thursday, seizing cash, poker chips, cards and poker tables.

Officials from six agencies, including the Alcohol Law Enforcement, were involved in the raid at 2247 U.S. 70 in Long View, according to the Long View Police Department. Following up on tips from the community, police began investigating the gambling activity at the home a year ago. Until recently police did not think they had enough evidence for a search warrant.

Nineteen people were at the residence when law enforcement went to the house last week, according to police. They were playing a high-stakes game of Texas hold ‘em. Long View police said $55,000 in cash was seized in the raid.

No one has been charged. Police are still looking into what charges may apply. The home is a rental property, police say. Police are investigating whether the rental agency knew about the gambling. The person renting the home was there at the time of the raid, police say. Police say they are trying to determine who was running the gambling operation.

In addition to gambling, alcohol was also being sold illegally at the home, police said. Police officials said possible charges they’re looking at include gambling, possession of game tables and allowing gaming in a house of public entertainment.

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Five Carteret County residents have been cited on misdemeanor charges after police uncovered an alleged gambling operation at the site of a Morehead City business.

Police seized approximately $7,000 from the individuals as well as a poker table, chips and cards, and ledgers that indicated there was more than a friendly game of poker going on, said Morehead City Police Department Maj. Richard Abell.

“This had been going on for some time,” he said. “We seized ledgers indicating names and either money won or monies owed.”

A poker game was under way Wednesday when authorities conducted a search at O’Malley’s Pub and Grill on Arendell Street in Morehead City, Abell said. The alleged gambling operation was going on in a building detached from the main restaurant and used by the business for storage, he said.

Abell said the gambling operation was uncovered during a separate investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the two agencies conducted a search of the business at the same time.

Information from NCIS was not immediately available.

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Nourish International has canceled its annual Hold ‘Em For Hunger 2008 Tournament in the face of concerns about the legality of the contest.

A person who administrators describe as “an expert in the industry” sent a letter to the chancellor’s office informing them of the University’s potential for criminal liability.

“The University’s policy is certainly clear,” said Winston Crisp, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. “If they’re sponsored or recognized by the University, then they have to follow all federal and state statutes.”

Gambling of any kind is listed as a Class 2 misdemeanor by the N.C. General Assembly.

With only six weeks until the April 20 event, organizers are scrambling for other ways to raise funds for Nourish, which relies on the event for about 70 percent of its annual budget.

“Because of the time period with which this happened, there is no way we can … do a big event,” said Graham Boone, the tournament director.

He said the group is determined to raise money for Nourish projects through a variety of other smaller events, including auctioning poker chips with the Hold ‘Em For Hunger logo on them.

“I have 20,000 of these chips in my apartment, and it breaks my heart every time I look at them,” Boone said.

Nourish uses the tournament money to fund international summer service projects implemented by its members.

This year’s service workers planned to construct a community center in Mexico, implement a water system in a remote area of Peru and start a microfinance initiative and build greenhouses in Honduras.

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