The was no Christmas spirit in Arizona recently, as the City of Tucson’s Police Department, assisted by agents from the Arizona Department of Gaming, raided and closed a local private poker club.
According to an article in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper by staff writer Alexis Huicochea, police served search warrants on December 23rd on Club Royale, a private poker room that had been in operation since the end of July. Since its opening, Club Royale had been a focus of state gaming officials due to the type of poker they were offering. Arizona gaming laws, encompassed in the Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compact of 1993 and renewed in 2003, prohibit private poker clubs from offering No Limit wagering.
The state gaming officials’ investigation began after the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, which operates two of the four casinos in the Tucson area under the Sol Casinos banner, complained about the loss of revenue from the opening of Club Royale. The tribe also filed a civil suit in August alleging that Club Royale was violating Arizona law and operating outside of the supervision of the Arizona Department of Gaming, giving Club Royale a competitive advantage over tribal casinos.
Also in August, Tucson police became involved in the investigation after multiple complaints from neighbors in the area. Police then went undercover as poker players, spending approximately $1,000 over the course of a three month-long investigation. Police found that the club was indeed offering No Limit Texas Hold’em in violation of the state’s regulations. In addition to this infringement on the state gaming laws, Tucson police also found that the club charged a membership fee, had players purchase chips to participate at the tables, and took a rake from each hand.
By making a profit from the operation of Club Royale, the owners, who included a former justice of the peace in neighboring Maricopa County, also allegedly violated gaming laws. According to a spokesman from the Tucson Police Department, the operators of Club Royale were making around $550 per hour and employed paid dealers and armed security guards. In addition, they utilized sophisticated surveillance methods.
The search warrant issued on December 23rd allowed Tucson police to take gaming tables, gaming chips, cameras, and records from the business, effectively closing it down on Christmas Eve. No arrests have been made in the case, although evidence is being presented for possible charges to be filed.
The club had already been scheduled to close, according to lawyers for the owners of Club Royale, due to a settlement of the civil suit with the Pascua Yaquis that the tribe would forego any pursuit of lost revenues against the club’s owners.
Are you serious? You can play poker but only certain kinds… What a crock. If you’ve accepted poker in your state you shouldn’t put limits on what variations you can play. That’s just stupid.
This is a butchered version of the truth and very misleading. The Arizona Department of Gaming served a search warrant on the club nearly a week after it was closed down voluntarily by the owners to settle a suit with the Indians.
I’m getting real sick of all these lawsuites filed by tribes. We can’t sue them, and I know of two people one raped, and another fired for being on her side that worked for gila river, and have no legal action becuase of the laws.
phoenixpokerclubs.com
We need to form a poker army and stage peaceful “Legalize Poker” demonstrations whenever Judge Lee is in the courtroom. Free pub poker leagues will be on trial next, so we need to move quickly! Pretrial is Tuesday Sept 7th at 8am.
Thanks,
John