- Police and agents from the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) raided private poker clubs in Phoenix last Thursday.
- Poker equipment, chips, eleven tables and a total of $5k in cash was confiscated. The police collected personal details from players and staff with a view to possible prosecutions.
- The clubs have become attractive venues for players dissatisfied with the alternatives which involve playing at licensed casinos on tribal lands.
Police and agents from the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) raided five poker establishments including private poker clubs and a poker supply shop in Phoenix last Thursday. The clubs mainly offered low stakes tournament games.
A statement released by the ADG explained that this was “a combined effort to pursue concerns over alleged illegal gambling operations throughout Phoenix.”
Poker equipment, chips, eleven tables and a total of $5k in cash was confiscated. Two people were arrested on charges not related to poker. The police collected personal details from players and staff with a view to possible prosecutions.
Club owners argue that poker is not illegal in Arizona, but the ADG disagrees. Theoretically, it is legal to play poker with friends, as long as there is no profit being made by anyone arranging the game, including from the sale of food and drink.
The accusation is that the clubs that were raided have in some way flouted these rules to make a profit.
The establishments raided include AZ Poker Supply, Cracked Aces, Joker Social Club, Pocket Rockets and Poker Play.
The clubs have become attractive venues for players dissatisfied with the alternatives which involve playing at licensed casinos on tribal lands. Poker activist, Howard Lee—who was himself convicted of felonies related to running poker games in 2012—argues that the tribal poker games are over priced, with pots automatically skimmed to fund a jackpot, and carry a high rake.
Fellow activist John Schnaubelt maintains a website of poker clubs, PhoenixPokerClubs.com, but is accused by some of their owners of waging a campaign to close them down. Schnaubelt defends himself with the argument that once poker players have nowhere to go and are forced to play only the tribal games, they will put political pressure on the state and municipal government to create legal venues.
