Poker Superstars
Phil Hellmuth
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Poker Raids Continue in South Carolina |
 Things are heating up in all aspects of poker legality these days, it seems. As in the public forums they fight for new bills, the banks continue to ban FirePay-style quick access to money, and in home games they continue to bust down on even the smallest of local ring games, as happened against most recently in a series of raids on home games in South Carolina.
A most recent bust took place April 4, after a ridiculous 10-month investigation on a game in Charleston County, where four homes were surveilled. The eventual bust took down 27 people playing for over $62,000. Everyone went to jail. A total of 65 players frequenting the games were charged, many of whom have already pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge, paying fines from $154 to $257. They will have to go to court to gt back their seized money.
Another recent bust involved a $20 buy in tournament in Mount Pleasant back in April of 2006. Several of the players from this game also appeared at the more recent one, proving not only that cops are willing to come after the smallest stakes, but that they busts aren’t affecting the players’ want to play. According to other locals, the busts have done little to nothing to end local games, which are running every night of the week there.
Said Bob Chimento, one of the players in the ’06 bust: “The reason we’re fighting the law is because we want to get our state representatives to change this law. We’re just a bunch of average Joes playing cards. We want to be able to play cards in our homes. They’re trying to intimidate people to quit playing poker.”
Worse than the fact that they are wasting so much time and tax dollars chasing pudgy dudes around a table wagering their own money, is the way the cops are handling the busts. Again, Chimento: “…all of a sudden it was like a commandos SWAT team raiding a bunch of crack dealers. It’s was like the SWAT team that you see on TV, busting into your home, guns drawn, ski masks on, full protective gear, and demanding we put out hands on top of our heads. At first we thought we were getting robbed, then we realized they had police written all over them, and we were like ‘Oh my God, check this out.’ Someone could have easily been killed that night.”
One of the players ‘nabbed’ at that game was a 78 year old grandmother.
Chimento has since arranged for help from poker legend Bob Ciaffone and gaming attorney Chuck Humphrey, but he believes his case will likely end in conviction, after which he hopes to lead an appeal all the way to the supreme court, where the charge can be fully examined.
The 06 bust has already, in fact, caused a bill proposal that would allow home games in South Carolina poker as long as there’s no rake, though that bill has yet to see review.
One can only wait and hope.
April 29, 2008
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