Poker Home Games. Seriously? WTF????

[ZoomVT]

read on... i lmao at the $25 buy in.

Jan 15, 2008 6:00 AM (11 hrs ago) by Tamara Barak Aparton, The Examiner

San Mateo County (Map, News) - Amateur poker players present during Saturday’s bust by San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies and state gambling-control agents say they were shocked to learn they were playing alongside undercover officers and baffled by the arrests of two of their friends.

Cutberto “Bert” Cardenas, 42, was arrested on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining money under false pretenses. Cardenas, who frequently held poker parties at his Eichler Heights home in unincorporated San Mateo, and Patricia “Trish” McCoy, 47, of Hillsborough, were also arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Lt. Marc Alcantara said.

McCoy is charged with regularly letting her 13-year-old son play poker. The group of players said the boy was an adept player. One of the charges against Cardenas stems from having his 13-year-old daughter in the house during games, though she did not gamble, Alcantara said.

The players group, which advertised on Meetup.com, typically required a $25 to $55 buy-in, said Alcantara and members of the group. An additional refreshment fee of $5 was collected as well.

On Monday, members of the group described it as a low-key circle of people, mostly professionals in their 30s and 40s, interested in meeting friends.

San Mateo resident Jason Moungey said about 20 “core members” of the group were about 30 minutes into their game when they heard a pounding at Cardenas’ door Saturday.

“Someone joked, ‘It’s probably the cops.’ It was something funny to say because that sort of thing doesn’t happen to people like us,” Moungey said.

About 10 officers stormed into the home with guns drawn, Moungey and other witnesses said. Cardenas and McCoy were taken out of the home and each player was interviewed and photographed.

“A lot of people were red in the face and scared,” Moungey said.

Investigators say they believe Cardenas was skimming money off the top of the buy-in fees, Alcantara said, who added that the $5 refreshment fee was also illegal.

Belmont resident Luke DeSantos, also at Saturday’s game, said the charges against Cardenas are difficult to believe.

“Bert is just an avid poker lover and started the group so he could play more. He barely ever wins,” DeSantos said.

Cardenas and McCoy are both out on bail and did not return calls for comment. Their arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 19.



San Mateo Police Raid Small-Stakes Poker Game
www.reason.com/blog/show/124397.html

Radley Balko | January 14, 2008, 10:45pm

Police in San Mateo County, California apparently first spent months investigating the small-stakes poker game. From this firsthand account, it looks like a couple of the officers were playing regularly for several weeks before sending in the SWAT team, guns drawn, last week. If California is like most states (and I believe it is), a poker game is only illegal if the house is taking a rake off the top. In this case, it looks like that "rake" was the $5 the extra the hosts asked from each buy-in to pay for pizza and beer.

Police also took a 13-year-old girl out of the home, away from her parents, and turned her over to child protective services. In addition to the charge of running an illegal gambling operation, the hosts are also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Good thing the poor girl was saved before slouching toward an inevitable life of crime.

I'm not quite sure I understand this part, either:

A background check on the house's residents led officers to a Web site advertising weekly poker games. The Web site was used to lure "unwitting" participants to the tournaments, which required a $25 to $55 buy-in with an extra $5 "refreshment" fee, according to the report.

How does an advertisement for a small-stakes poker game "unwittingly lure" someone? Did they think the game was free? If they did, was there something preventing them from simply leaving if they didn't want to pay the buy-in?

This account suggests the police hinted to individual players that the hosts may have been cheating or defrauding them, though that's not apparent in the news accounts. Firsthand accounts on poker sites have only good things to say about the hosts. Of course, even if the hosts were cheating, it wouldn't justify a full-on raid, particularly in mid-tournament. The SWAT tactics seem more like intimidation. Raiding in mid-tournament also ensures there's a $1,300 pot to seize for the sheriff department's general fund.

Finally, the San Mateo Daily Journal includes this helpful note:

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office encourages citizens to report instances of heavy foot traffic, frequent visitors and illegal parking in residential areas by calling its anonymous tip line...

Mustn't be much crime in San Mateo.

MORE: Check the comments for posts from poker players at the raid.

[Back Country]

That must be some of the most retarded shit I ever read

so basically if they wrote 'if you would like pizza and beer a $5 donation would be appreciated' their child would not be taken to cps

Thats a sh*t ****ing reason to take a kid away, a low stakes poker game? christ

Police in San Mateo County, California apparently first spent months investigating the small-stakes poker game. From this firsthand account, it looks like a couple of the officers were playing regularly for several weeks before sending in the SWAT team, guns drawn, last week. If California is like most states (and I believe it is), a poker game is only illegal if the house is taking a rake off the top. In this case, it looks like that "rake" was the $5 the extra the hosts asked from each buy-in to pay for pizza and beer.

f*ck man. If i lived in cali i would be livid that my taxes were going towards months worth of investigation for a 'small stakes' poker game. I would petition the hell out of that, put pressure on the uppers to resign or be fired and get the charges droped.

Pathetic

[ZoomVT]

its so ridiculous i cant event make a comment.

[Back Country]

lmao

understandable

what a f*cking waste of time and money. And what the hell do you need to investigate it for multiple months for? Group of harmless people playing poker eating pizza and drinkiing beer. Cops probably just wanted to keep playing, bunch of as$holes

$5 is bargain shoping for pizza and beer by the way, dude should be geting praised for his generosity

[Chicago RED]

This is insane.

[Chicago RED]

Originally Posted by Back Country

lmao

understandable

what a f*cking waste of time and money. And what the hell do you need to investigate it for multiple months for? Group of harmless people playing poker eating pizza and drinkiing beer. Cops probably just wanted to keep playing, bunch of as$holes

$5 is bargain shoping for pizza and beer by the way, dude should be geting praised for his generosity

I agree 100%

[westcoastO]

i stopped reading about half way through. terrible waste of tax money.

[revnecro1273]

pretty lame shit...staking out a home game for weeks....LOL...is that really that important of a thing to do? what a waste of time using personnel for that..

[dangiruz]

I dont post much but I have played with this group a couple of times. They have definately skimmed money off the top of the buyins as the payouts never added up 100% to the buyins but it wasnt significant to warrant a full on swat raid on the group. They are all good people even though they did let a 13 year old kid play. The buyins were not large and it was pretty much just for fun. The cops just wanted the money like Zoom said. Horrible waste of tax money also.

[iggs111]

sad sad world we live in these days....there's ****ing killers and terrorist running around everywhere, but they use months at a time to scope out a home poker game, our government makes me so ****ing sick that I really sometimes think about moving out of this country....

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by iggs111

sad sad world we live in these days....there's ****ing killers and terrorist running around everywhere, but they use months at a time to scope out a home poker game, our government makes me so ****ing sick that I really sometimes think about moving out of this country....

we're waiting for you dude...come join the brotherhood

[iggs111]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

we're waiting for you dude...come join the brotherhood

lol, if I ever did, it would be too the Bahamas or Italy, not china....

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by iggs111

lol, if I ever did, it would be too the Bahamas or Italy, not china....

good deal dude...not china dude, korea...won't be here for much longer...re locating to eastern europe soon....why bahamas? it is like still being in usa...even if it is a commonwealth nation, it has more usa influence and is basically in the backyard

[mrwho]

sad indeed...