Arizona doesn’t like it, but new card room to open in Phoenix
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A retired judge who operates poker rooms in Arizona said he will open a new room in Phoenix this month — even though the Arizona Department of Gaming has attempted to stop his operations in the past.
Harold Lee, of Tombstone, has been referred for criminal prosecution before, but he has never been charged with a crime, according to the Arizona Republic.
Arizona law does not allow profit from games of chance anywhere except tribal reservations.
According to the story:
The Attorney General’s Office this week issued an e-mail statement saying it declined prosecution because there is “no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
A former justice of the peace in Phoenix, Lee says the reason is simple: Poker is a contest of skill, and club members who play for money are not in violation of state law unless the game’s host takes a cut of the prize money. Lee operates his no-limit games through a league where members pay a membership fee and are asked to tip the volunteer dealers as they see fit.
The room is scheduled to open next Sunday.
Lee also created the International Card & Game Players Association, which he says represents Arizona poker players. Wearing his hat as leader of that group, he says the state of Arizona has been lax in enforcing gambling laws on reservations.
