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Poker's new popularity flush with legal problems
Published: 2005-01-01
 Poker's new popularity flush with legal problems
Chicago Sun-Times, January, 2005 by BRIAN BAKST
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- David Bischoff thinks he got a raw deal last year when state gambling regulators raided his bowling alley, shut down his weekly Texas Hold 'em poker tournament and confiscated his cards and chips.
For months afterward, the threat of criminal charges hung over Bischoff -- and his card tables sat vacant -- until prosecutors concluded that Minnesota's laws against poker were too vague to enforce.
Minnesota is now one of several states where legislators are looking to clarify laws dealing with card games at a time when poker is becoming an all-out craze.
TV inspires players
"These are just people who have been watching poker on TV and they want to come out and play and be like the people on TV," said Bischoff, whose tournaments are back. "It's not about spending money and winning money. It's just about the competition and seeing who can be the best."
The game at the center of the poker mania is Texas Hold 'em, in which players are dealt two cards each and can use five community cards flipped over in the middle of the table to make the best hand. Players can risk everything on a single turn of a card.
As the popularity of the game has grown, so have problems for gambling regulators.
In Iowa, a couple of American Legion posts heeded warnings and halted their regular tournaments rather than jeopardize their charitable gaming licenses. A similar concern led a firehouse outside of Pittsburgh to call off its games.
Police in Wyoming started breaking up Texas Hold 'em tournaments in bars, and the state's attorney general advised that the events were probably illegal. In Texas itself -- where the game thrived in smoky back rooms before becoming a smash hit on cable TV -- prosecutors are questioning whether bars are improperly profiting from tournaments.
Just hats and T-shirts
"The popularity of the poker shows has created a whole new beast for us as far as regulations," said David Werning of Iowa's Department of Inspections and Appeals. Inquiries about poker became so common that the agency recently compiled a fact sheet on poker laws.
Minnesota law allows card tournaments at businesses as long as the hosts do not directly profit from the play and players do not gamble with real money. Bischoff said he complied with those rules by charging no entry fees and limiting awards to hats and T-shirts.
His situation drew the attention of state Sen. Dave Kleis, who introduced legislation that would define Texas Hold 'em as a "social skill game" and lump it with cribbage and rummy -- games in which players are allowed to win money in Minnesota. Kleis' bill would explicitly permit poker tournaments as long as the prizes do not exceed $200. AP
Copyright The Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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Is Hub flush with aces?; Rivalry spawns poker series
Published: 2005-01-01
 Is Hub flush with aces?; Rivalry spawns poker series
Boston Herald, January, 2005 by GREG GATLIN
High-stakes poker lovers and Yankee-haters, it's time to ante up.
In the latest incarnation of the television poker craze, the New England Sports Network and the YES network in New York plan to bring the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry to the poker table.
Six players from Boston will be picked to square off against six players from the Big Apple for a Partypoker.net sponsored Boston vs. New York Poker Challenge, a nine-episode original series slated to be shot in February and air in the spring on the two cable sports networks.
And instead of keeping the usual poker face and checked emotions, players will be expected to talk some smack to opponents on the other side.
Casting agents will be holding casting calls next week in both cities, looking for players who have what local casting director Angela Peri calls "the three p's."
"We're looking for people with poker ability, passion for sports, and personality," Peri said.
Players also have to have money. It will cost $5,000 to buy into the no-limit Texas Hold 'Em game. In addition to prize money, the winner gets 10 tickets to a luxury suite at either Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium.
"They can't just have the $5,000 and want to get in on the game," Peri said. "We need real poker players and people who really love the Red Sox."
These days it's hard to flip through cable channels without stumbling onto a poker game. The Travel Channel has the "World Poker Tour." Fox Sports has the "Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament" ESPN runs the "2004 World Series of Poker" and the new "Tilt" poker drama.
Ashley Adams, a local poker expert and tutor, says the card game's renaissance has been sparked by a full house of factors, including the rise of Internet poker sites. He said American Indian-run casinos brought poker to people who hadn't seen it.
"Two years ago, the introduction of the poker camera into this country, which had already been used in England, allowed for live coverage of poker games in a way that people found interesting," Adams said.
While it would seem like a boring spectator sport on the surface, the inherent drama of poker, combined with wagering psychology, provides the excitement, he said.
"There's also something quintessentially American about the game," he said. "It combines skill, luck and, for lack of a better term, moxie."
Peri's Boston Casting will hold auditions next Tuesday and recommends interested players visit its Bostoncasting.com Web site for information.
She also plans to look for candidates at a poker tournament at The Place on Broad Street Monday night.
Caption: BIG GAME: New England Sports Network and the YES network in New York plan to bring the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry to the poker table, much like ESPN's `World Series of Poker.' BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO
Copyright 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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