SOUTH BOSTON POKER BUST

SOUTH BOSTON, VIRGINIA, BU= ST

Arti= cle From the 3/3/06 Gazette Virginian, S= outh Boston, Virginia.

Police Fold SoBo House Of C= ards

Late Night Raid At Hill’s Tavern Nets Cash, Rec= ords, Gambling Paraphernalia<= /o:p>

A search warrant execut= ed on a South Boston business by the South Boston Police Department, the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has = shut down an alleged gambling operation, according to Chief Mick Reed of the South Boston department. Reed said that at approxim= ately 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers executed the search warrant at Hill’s Tavern on Wilborn Avenue and seized “a large amount of money,” financial records and gambling paraphernalia. According to police, approximately 30 people were allegedly engaged in “multiple activities” at the time of the raid. Money was reportedly confiscated from both the business and the individuals at the scene, according to Reed. “Everybody lost last night,” added police Captain Jim Binner.

While he declined to re= lease the specific amount of money seized from the individuals and business, one department investigator said it was in the “thousands of dollars̶= 1;. “We honestly don’t know at this point,” he said, adding that the st= ate police took possession of the money at the scene. Reed said the investigati= on by the South Boston police and state pol= ice was initiated in mid-November after the department received a citizen’= ;s complaint about illegal poker games taking place at the business. “We have information that leads us to believe it had been going on for quite a while,” he said. “The joint investigation by state and local law enforcement is a good example of what agencies can do when they work together,” said Sergeant David Cooper of the Virginia State Police. &= #8220;Illegal gambling will not be tolerated and fortunately, it appears this was an isol= ated incident,” he charged. The South Boston chief echoed the feeling the incident was isolated. “It would be unfortunate for anyone to view one incident and ignore the incredible, tire= less work that so many in our business community have put into making this area = an attractive place to visit, live and work,” he said. The investigation= is continuing and charges in connection with the raid are expected in the futu= re, according to police. "

The = Owner’s Account

Dear Mr. Ciaffone:

I wanted to share= my personal experience with being raided by the Police recently, and see if th= ere are any avenues of help available. I own a restaurant in South Boston, Virginia called "Hill's Tavern." I host a weekly dinner and card game on Wednesday nights almost every week. The structure is simple. I offer an "All you can Eat" Dinner which costs $22.00. If you want to eat, = that is the cost. If you want to just play poker, there is no buy-in. I fill the seats from the dinner guests first, and then if I don't have enough dinner guests, I will open it up to the "Public," have the tournament an= yway (with fewer people), or cancel the tournament altogether. I make everyone w= ho buys dinner and wants to play poker sign a sheet that states that the money they paid is for dinner and in no way is a buy-in or even guarantees = them a spot in the tournament. Before I ever started having this tournament, I s= poke with the local police and my Alcoholic Beverage Commission Representative to see if it was legal and if they would have a problem with it. I informed th= em that I would be offering Cash prizes for the top x people out of the restaurants pockets. I was told by both that they saw no problem with my tournament as long as there was no buy-in for the tournament. That is some = of the background info ... so I'll proceed to the meat of my story.
We had started the tournament around 9= :30 PM (as normal) and had worked down to about 16 People left. Someone noticed= a Police car outside and a comment was made that "They shouldn't be allo= wed to sit outside waiting for a customer who has been drinking to leave ... th= at's entrapment." Immediately following that statement, about 30 to 40 state police officers stormed in wearing full SWAT gear with automatic rifles poi= nted at our heads yelling at us to put our hand on the tables, and then in the a= ir. I immediately identified myself as the business owner and was shortly remov= ed for separate questioning. The police "Secured" the building, and = then started questioning me. They told me "as long as you remain calm and no one gives us a problem, this will all be over soon." At this point I'm thinking I've heard this line in a movie before when someone was getting robbed! Anyway the police ask me how much money I should have on me, so I t= ell them. they proceed to remove all of my personal = money, and bag it for evidence. Then they "Process" me which is to say the write my name and number down on a piece= of paper and make me hold the paper to my face as they take several pictures o= f me and the paper. They then sit me down and begin to "Process" every= one else in the restaurant (whether they were playing in the tournament or not). They methodically take everyone's money from their wallets and bag it separ= ately from they "Pictures." They did not eve= n give anyone a receipt for the money they have taken.

&n= bsp; At this point I would like to point out that there was NO money on ANY of o= ur tables, because we do not play for money. One of my customers whose wallet = was empty told me that they police made the comment of, "Whoo, ruff night huh?" To which he replied "No, Why?" The police officer said, "Because you have no money left." To which my custo= mer replied, "We don't play for money!"
At this point the police brought Drug sniffing dogs to the cars of my customers, and began to search most of them= (I believe they asked the owners first, which everyone complied). From what I understand, NOTHING was found an any of the vehi= cles.

After everyone was processed, they were released without being charged with anything. I was told that I was not under arrest, but was a person of investigative suspicion, so I could not leave. They took many of my food invoices and tax records from my office, as well as ALL of = my chips they saw and all of my cards they saw. Before they left I pointed out that I had more Chips in another room, because I did not want them to come bake and say that I had gotten more chips. So, th= ey took those as well. This second batch of chips actually belonged to a tournament program called "WorldBTRPoker.com" which is a no buy-in "Points Only" tournament that is played in many Bars/Taverns/Restaurants around the country. Nevertheless, the police confiscated them as well.

At the end of the LONG night, I requested to see= a copy of the search warrant, and read that it was issued because an "Informant" stated that they had seen a "22.00 buy-in tournament", along with "Cash Games" and that I paid the tournament prize out of the "Buy-In" and kept the Cash game monies either on my person or in a "Box on the Table". Again, I would li= ke to point out that ALL of this information is either misleading, or downright false!

They appare= ntly had someone come in to play because they were trying to match the money fro= m peoples pockets to serial numbers of bills that they h= ad previously photocopied. To the best of my knowledge no one had any of these bills on their person. ( as I would expect becau= se we do not play for cash, only for the prizes I give. Which do include cash prizes.)

At this poi= nt they have not filed any charges, but did release a statement to the media stating, among a lot of other misleading information, that they had busted = an Illegal Gambling operation and seized large amounts of money. Now in the st= ate of Virginia, I know that in order to be considered "Gambling," three criteria = MUST be met. You must pay money or something of Value, Play a game of chance, to receive a prize of value for winning. As any person who paid money (and some play in the tournament without eating which means that the didn't pay anyth= ing) are paying for there all you can eat dinner, that eliminates the first crit= eria which means it is not gambling. As I stated earlier, anyone who pays for the dinner and decide to play in the tournament MUST sign a sheet saying that they understand the money is for food and not Poker.=

Any advice = you can offer to me would certainly be helpful.

(The below from a second email)

You absolutely have my permission to print this = information in Card Player and on your website. The "Raid" took place on 3/1/06. I am in the process of obtaining a lawyer, but as of yet I have not been charged with anything. As for the article... Front Page! There are two papers in our town, the Gazette Virginian, who is responsible for this article, and the News & Record who will be writing about this Monday. The News & Record was the only paper to call me and = get my side of this incredible story, while the Gazette basically reprinted the Police Press Release and threw in a couple of "Al= legedly"s to CYA. The way the release and subsequent article read gives the appearance that I was running some kind of casino, which is not only ridiculous but I = feel it is slanderous. Now my wife, who was VERY involved in community projects,= and my son are in tears because of the police's intentionally inflated and false statements!

Post= sript

I put the owner in touch with my friend Chuck Humphrey, the Colorado lawyer and poker player, whose website is www.gambling-law-us.= com.

Mr. Humphrey subsequently has had some correspondence with the owner on certain legal aspects of the raid.