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Poker tournament cancelled over code questions
Published: 2005-04-30
 Poker tournament cancelled over code questions
By John Wright
Jeff Nelson was hoping for a full house, but he drowned in the river.
Nelson, tournament director for Intermountain Hold 'Em, was planning a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament beginning Thursday night and running through the weekend at Hamilton's Steak & Seafood in Logan. But just hours before the tournament was to begin, Nelson was told by city officials and the restaurant's owner that it would have to be canceled.
"We never had a problem before, until we came up there," said Nelson, adding that his Salt Lake City-based company has staged Hold 'Em tournaments in Utah cities like Price, Vernal and Heber City, in addition to the capital. "I was under the impression that everything was good to go, but I found Thursday morning that it wasn't. ... We were getting great call volume, a lot of interest. We would have had a very good turnout."
Nelson said his company's tournaments -- which began this year in the midst of the national craze over the game -- are legal because winners receive no money or prizes. Instead, contestants purchase an Intermountain Hold 'Em product to enter, and prizes are awarded randomly to those in attendance.
However, Kevin Ericksen of Logan's business licensing department said city officials aren't so sure. While Nelson's event license application received the necessary approval from the zoning and building departments, the Police Department never signed off on it.
Ericksen said while the tournament may not have appeared on the surface to involve gambling, the fact that participants would have purchased products and been eligible for prizes -- as well as the potential presence of professional scouts -- raised questions about whether there would have been opportunities for financial gain.
"I know there's some question (with the Police Department) in regard to gambling," Ericksen said. "Is it gambling? Is it not gambling? Because that's a very touchy area, especially with the Utah State Code, the way it's listed in the code ...
"We have to cross all our T's and dot all our I's when it comes to the gambling issue."
Due to the lack of assurances from the Police Department, Hamilton's owner Justin Hamilton apparently feared his business license or alcohol permit could be jeopardized, Ericksen said.
"We never received any type of approval from Hamilton's," he said. "We need permission from the business owner. ...
"It's a hot topic, and he (Hamilton) doesn't want to put anything that he's worked for, gained, in any type of gray area. ... He's worked very, very hard at what he's accomplished."
Neither Hamilton nor a representative from the Police Department could be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Ericksen said the fact that alcohol would have been consumed at the tournament made it that much more of a concern for city officials. He also denied that biases against gambling had anything to do with Nelson's failure to obtain a license.
"I watch the (Texas Hold 'Em) tournaments all the time, and I play cards, so from my point of view, I would have loved to have gone and seen it," Ericksen said. "I've never heard anything (among city officials) that's come from a personal bias in regards to gambling. Everything has had the state code in mind."
Ultimately, both Ericksen and Nelson said, it became a question of time. While Ericksen submitted his application two weeks ago via mail, inadequate communication between the parties involved prevented Nelson from taking the necessary steps to obtain the license.
"I think the event is very possible to take place," Ericksen said. "I wish we would have had another week. We could probably get things ironed out."
Nelson agreed it was a lack of communication -- as opposed to biases against gambling -- that prevented him from getting the license. He said he now plans to move the 2005 Cache Valley Texas Hold 'Em Championship to another venue, likely a hotel.
"I'd like to try to do it again here in a couple of weeks," he said. "I've got to watch what I say, because I really want to bring it up there."ing it up there."
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Charges dropped in poker tourney
Published: 2005-04-30
 Charges dropped in poker tourney
4-30-05
By Eric J.S. Townsend Staff Writer
News & Record
GREENSBORO -- In poker, it's a fold. In court, it's dropping the charges.
Guilford County's district attorney said Friday afternoon he won't prosecute a Greensboro restaurant raided last month during a Texas hold 'em card tournament.
District Attorney Stuart Albright also dropped charges against Charlotte-based promoters who hosted the March 2 event, which was raided by agents from the state's Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement.
Albright's said he learned 5th Street Entertainment sought permission from state officials before holding the tournament at the Ham's Restaurant at 3017 High Point Road. Ham's had paid organizers for their service.
"They're getting a second opportunity because they were given permission from an attorney working on behalf of the state," Albright said. "The paperwork should be filed a week after next."
The list of charges against Ham's and 5th Street included: operating a game of chance, allowing gambling in a house of public entertainment, keeping an illegal gaming table, and being an ABC permittee that knowingly allowed a violation of the gambling statutes on an ABC-licensed premises.
All the charges were misdemeanors that carried fines.
According to Albright and to 5th Street owners, a lawyer for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission -- a state agency separate from ALE -- told the entertainment company it was legal to hold the event because players weren't betting anything of personal value and it was free to participate.
Though no money changed hands, players competed for a chance to enter a championship game with the grand prize a trip to Las Vegas. North Carolina law prohibits operating games of chance if anything of value is bet.
The legal advice was bad, Albright said, but he felt he could not prosecute when the company's owners acted in due diligence.
"I was in disbelief when I was first told the defendants had permission to do what they were doing until I spoke directly with the attorney," he said. "I had no choice but to dismiss the cases."
Jeremy Kowalski, 5th Street co-owner and company president, said he feels vindicated by the decision. And he also disagrees with the state law when it comes to the definition of gambling.
"You have to risk something of value for the possibility of winning something of value. That's our whole contention," he said. "We equate our games to people calling into the radio station, trying to be the fifth caller to win a prize or when you go to the mall and they're raffling a car."
An attorney for Ham's also said his clients were pleased with the outcome.
"Stuart (Albright) was very nice to work with and very cooperative," attorney Mike Fox said. "From the very beginning he was trying to do the right thing. Once he learned the people in Raleigh told 5th Street this was OK, regardless of his personal opinion, he wanted to be fair.
"They would never knowingly violate the law and are very happy this will be dismissed."
The Ham's raid is one in a series of recent high-profile events involving ALE and illegal gambling. In December, agents broke up a high-stakes Greensboro poker parlor that cost players $1,000 per seat.
That raid led to the alleged ringleader pleading guilty to criminal charges. Thirteen others forfeited cash they brought to the game.
Just this week, ALE cautioned the Junior League of High Point that a planned Las Vegas-themed fund-raiser is against the state's 214-year-old law against gaming tables.
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