Law Enforcers Keep an Eye on Poker
In January, police in Fairfax County, Va., charged two men, including an off-duty police officer, with operating an illegal poker game in a home. A man was charged in February in Atwater, Calif., with running an illegal poker tournament in his sports bar.
About seven illegal poker clubs were blocked down last year in New York City, says chief police spokesman Paul Browne. Some lawmakers and fundraisers say it's time for the laws that deal with harshly playing or profiting from poker to grab up with the times. "Changes in the law always trail changes in society," Rose says.
The state's attorney in the end did not put on trial the players, but the game's two operators and 13 dealers and employees were charged with running a gambling operation. In a disconnected occurrence in November, a Baltimore city law enforcement officer was in the middle of five people charged with participating in or running a poker game.
