Retired cop Mike Rose chomped on an unlit stogie and took one last peek at his cards, then shoved the remainder of his poker chips toward the dealer.

“All in,” he announced.

Another player called the bet. Rose shook his head ruefully, turned up a losing hand and muttered, “He just caught me bluffing.”
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Four people have been taken into custody on illegal gambling charges, stemming from a police raid at a Drew Street residence on Jan. 16 at 12:30 a.m.

Sascha N. Kauper, 33, of Palm Harbor was charged with two counts of keeping a gambling house. Robert Nicola Gill, 26, of Tampa was charged with two counts of being an employee of a gambling house and Chastity Ann Baur, 30, of Tampa was charged with one count of being an employee of a gambling house.
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Jean Carr has well-coiffed white hair, and her preferred beverage is orange juice. She’s also a regular player at the Twin Falls Poker League.

“It’s a very entertaining game,” the Twin Falls woman said, citing the challenge of play as one of her reasons for frequenting the league’s Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments, held eight times a week across Magic Valley. She also appreciates the friendliness of the league’s players. “They all treat me with a lot of respect.”

That might be because of Carr’s conservative style of play – “I don’t bluff” – or it might be the nature of the league’s participants, who are quick to teach beginners the game and slow to get upset over a lost hand or newbie mistake.

“This is a good place to learn, because it’s free, the people are really nice, and they’ll help you,” said Brian Fife of Twin Falls. He has played cards since the late 1970s, and said the variety of skill levels among the league players make the game challenging even for experienced participants.

The league was started about a year and a half ago by Magic Valley newcomer CR Larsen, owner of Ground Round in Twin Falls, where the group meets on Sunday evenings. He had played in poker leagues in other areas of the country, and when he discovered there wasn’t one here, he organized one.

“The first week there were 21 people that played, just three tables of seven people,” he said, of the kick-off tournament in October 2006. The biggest tournaments recently attracted between 80 and 90 participants.

Keeping it legal

As he put the league together, Larsen kept the state’s gambling laws in mind.

“I decided to leave out the aspects the state considers gambling,” he said, meaning that participants aren’t risking any money or property in the games. They don’t buy in. “It doesn’t cost anything, it’s a form of entertainment like karaoke.”

The daily free tournaments are great practice for players, while the league earns money by charging the bars a fee for holding the games there. Once a month, players have a chance to take home some cash by participating in a charity game, which – as Larsen interprets state law – is allowed if at least 5 percent of the proceeds go to a charity.

Click here to go to the article and read more.

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Lee Rousso, attorney and Poker Players Alliance state director for Washington State, will announce that he’s running for governor at 2 p.m. PT on Seattle’s 710 KIRO radio station.

Rousso is the attorney who’s fighting Washington State’s law that makes it a felony to play online poker there. Rousso’s legal challenge is meeting stiff resistance by state attorneys, but he told Card Player that if it can’t be changed through legal means, “The Plan B is to get it changed politically.”

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Happy New Year! Please read this important announcement. Poker needs you!

2008 will be a critical year for poker. The success and momentum we built
together in 2007 must continue into a more vocal and mobilized grassroots
efforts this year. We cannot move forward without broad support and active
involvement from our members. With that in mind, I am pleased to extend to you
an invitation to become a State Director for the Poker Players Alliance.
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They called his bluff and forced him to fold.

Special agents from the state gambling commission arrested the owner of a Mill Creek restaurant Monday night, accusing him of holding an illegal game of Texas Hold ‘em poker.

The owner of Jet Bar and Grill in Mill Creek, an Edmonds man, 31, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of operating gambling activity without a license, a felony.

“They did not have a gambling license, and the reason we regulate is we want to make sure it’s run fair and honest,” said Susan Arland, a commission spokeswoman.

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The Poker Players Alliance will be posting accounts of PPA members defending poker in their state. Here is the latest information from Lee Rousso, PPA State Representative of Washington, who is filing legal action against the State of Washington.
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Recently, Governor Deval Patrick proposed a bill (H.4307, click here to read) that seeks to expand casino gambling in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This bill also includes a proposition that would make it a crime for you to play poker on the Internet (See: Section 15(h)(2)(i)). Under this provision, violators will be subject to a maximum term of 2 years in the house of correction, a fine of $25,000, or both. Ironically, H.4307 is pro-casino gambling legislation, yet it makes Internet gaming a crime. This is an unacceptable double-standard!
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Governor Ernie Fletcher’s election-year decision to oppose a statewide referendum on the issue of casino gaming in the commonwealth has drawn the ire of the state’s poker players, as Fletcher’s position includes opposition to poker rooms.
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