A raid on a poker operation in the San Mateo Highlands has the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office battling accusations that it overplayed its hand.

Participants in the game argue it was a friendly, low-stakes affair — not the den of iniquity portrayed by authorities. After a three-month undercover investigation, 15 officers from the Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Justice poured into the house Saturday afternoon with guns drawn.

They arrested organizer Bert Cardenas on charges of fraud and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and participant Trish McCoy on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The minor was McCoy’s 13-year-old son, who allegedly participated in some of the games.

The raid shocked some participants, who argued it was overkill for a social game with buy-ins of $25 to $55. News has since spread to Web sites such as Reason.com and Boing Boing, where it has sparked criticism and discussion about the laws surrounding home poker games.

Police and neighbors, however, say the operation was getting out of hand and needed to be shut down.

A Sheriff’s Office news release following the arrests charged that Cardenas organized the poker games “to fraudulently obtain money from the unwitting participants.” While private poker games are legal, the organizer is not allowed to collect any money from the participants.

Cardenas allegedly collected $5 from every participant for “refreshments,” and he took extra money from buy-ins for a “freeroll” tournament that police believe paid out less than Cardenas took in.

Philip Travisano, a San Mateo graphic designer who regularly played inthe games but wasn’t there Saturday, said he’s not surprised to hear of the raid. “I’m not clear on all the laws, but it was my impression that to take a rake or a fee to play a home game was illegal.”

Travisano took issue, however, with police’s description of the participants as “unwitting.” He noted that the games were advertised openly on Meetup.com and drew a diverse crowd of professionals from around the area.

“As far as Bert, I know he was doing it for the love of poker, not making profit on this,” Travisano said. “There was no cheating, no shills, nothing fraudulent going on.”

Click here to go to the article and read more.

Author Contact Info: Will Oremus, San Mateo County Times