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Inc.
October 3, 2005
HEADLINE:
Legality Of Poker
Tournaments In Question
BODY:
DENVER -- Hoping to cash in on the rising popularity of poker,
more and more pool halls, bars and restaurants around Colorado
are holding tournaments.
The contests are free to enter, and participants win prizes from
the business rather than cash from other players. Businesses profit
from increased food and beverage sales.
"It's actually saving my business," said Karen Loya,
owner of Table Steaks East pool hall in Aurora, which earns up
to $1,500 from each of its four tournaments
per week.
The tournaments are legal as long as they don't charge entry
fees, according to the Colorado Division of Gaming.
But according to the Colorado attorney general's office, the
tournaments violate the law because businesses profit from food
and beverage sales generated by unlicensed games of chance.
Operating an illegal gambling business is a misdemeanor punishable
by up to 6 months in jail and a $750 fine. It also could result
in revocation of a liquor license.
Attorney General John Suthers' spokeswoman Kristin Hubbell said
local law enforcement officials can choose whether to prosecute
businesses for holding poker tournaments. So far, no business
owners have been taken to court for running a no-entry-fee poker
tournament.
Nearly 150 businesses around the state, including 123 in the
Denver metro area, run poker tournaments with help from Denver
Poker Tour, a company formed to help organize the games, said
tour owner Brian Masters. He said on any given night in the metro
area, more than 20 tournaments draw about 50 players each.
"I can't imagine what we would be doing if we didn't have
poker," said Kyle Villers, owner of the City Limits Lounge
in Fort Collins.
City Limits holds five poker
tournaments four nights a week, drawing an average of 80 people
for each event and boosting food and beverage sales by as much
as 400 percent, Villers said.
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