When Maine State Police raided the 24-Hour Club on Lincoln Street on Sunday afternoon, they found three tables covered with poker chips and about 30 people playing poker.

What they didn’t find was a tournament games license to hold the card game, Lt. David Bowler, commanding officer for the state police special investigation unit, said Tuesday.

“It was clear they were playing a Texas Hold ‘em tournament or some poker tournament,” he said.

The 24-Hour Club is a nonalcoholic club for those recovering from alcoholism or dealing with problems with alcohol.

State laws require establishments that hold gambling events with more than $1,000 waged in a 24-hour period to get a license before holding the event. A tournament games license fee of $5 a person is charged by the state, with a maximum of 100 players allowed who can gamble a maximum of $100 each.

Adding the license fee onto the entry fee is allowed by state law, Bowler said.

Each of the players at the 24-Hour Club on Sunday paid an ante of $100 to participate and could rebuy into the game if they fell below a certain amount, Bowler said.

In all, more than $6,150 in cash was seized and three people were identified as organizers. Those three have not been arrested but are expected to face possible felony charges, Bowler said.

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Author Contact Info: Nok-Noi Ricker, Bangor Daily News