Here’s more info on the raid of the “40 Deuce” club in Hurst. It was indeed another undercover narcotics investigation followed by a paramilitary SWAT-team incursion:

Hurst police said they found two dozen people inside the home, which had tables, dealers and even a banker, and was set up to look like Las Vegas.

You know, Pokerati used to defend the police for just doing their jobs, and reminding poker players of that. But c’mon … SWAT teams? That’s so 2006. When you want to shut down a game next time … here’s a hint … try just knocking on the door(s). I know I know … I’m just a blogger and don’t understand police operations — so maybe you can explain to me how, using knowledge gained from your undercover, a knock on the door combined with a marked squad car in the driveway wouldn’t stop any poker crimes from being committed.

In fact, I’ll even give you the answer to this question: “Uh, duh, Mr. Know-it-All, because then there would be no money to confiscate for us to put toward other poker raids/the police “petty cash” fund.”

And while we’re bitchin’ about the money … yo local news media … when “dozens” of players gather with a sum total of a few thousand dollars … since you’re not going to really follow the money to look into what police are really up to with it, at least do the math and realize that this is not “high stakes.” You should be journalistically ashamed of yourselves for being so careless/sensational with your word choice.

For the rest of you, check out the comments on the Channel 5 story. At the time of this posting, they’re running 11-1 in favor of poker and against the police:

More…

A poker room in Hurst (a suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth) got raided Thursday or Friday night. I have few details — perhaps some Pokeratizens can fill us in on the game action, weapons in play, arrests made, etc.? — but according to my source:

Channel 4 said it was a gambling club.
Channel 5 said it was a poker club.

Hmm, makes me wonder if ItsOverJonny may have been right when he suggested that a little extra poker ink tweaks the coppers into action. Not saying that Pokerati or a forthcoming poker documentary is to blame (the doc, after all, wouldn’t be coming out for a long while, and Pokerati generally prefers to pass on responsibility) … but there was apparently a big to-do in Dallas (again) over turning Reunion Arena into a casino … and boom, a few days later, perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, somebody in some police force decided they didn’t want to look like they were turning a blind eye to “gambling.”

BTW, The Dallas Morning News poll results to the question:

Would you support a casino in downtown Dallas?

So far …

85 percent yes
15 percent no

There’s a legitimate New York film-making outfit working on a documentary about the history of poker … and next week they’ll be in Dallas. Naturally, because it has such a relevant role, they want to talk about the Dallas underground — and they’re asking me for contact info for people to talk to, games to see, etc.

I’ve talked with a lot of you before about doing something similar with local news crews — but perhaps not shockingly, ever since the first newscaster to sneak a hidden camera into the Dallas underground ended up getting engaged to the (already married) Chief of Dallas police around the same time her station got a sweeps-week exclusive showing SWAT teams busting up three games simultaneously, most of the “good guys” in the Dallas poker scene have been a little shy about opening their doors to the media … even with assurances that no one would give up any identifying info.

(Ahh, remember the good-ole-days when Stagecoach used to openly run its ballin’ website and pay little-ole poker websites for ads the Observer couldn’t run?)

Anyhow, so this outfit, 4th Row Films, is offering the same guarantees that they will protect identities and locations. Personally I think it would be a shame for this part of poker not to be seen. But I respect the fact people who run these games generally do so to support their gambling addictions families … so I’m not giving out any phone numbers or email addresses without any special OKs. I have, however, suggested they simply drive around to area strip malls looking for the telltale white, wireless doorbells — but that doesn’t seem to be giving them confidence as they fly their people and equipment to town. So if you happen to run a game in Dallas and would like your room to live on long after you die/get arrested and have to plea bargain down your misdemeanor … send me an email and I’ll be happy to put you in touch with the right people.

Another North Dallas poker room apparently just got robbed about two hours ago — the gunmen making off with more than $10,000 in cash, watches, cell phones, and at least one bracelet.

The 15/30 Omaha game had just broken a little after 10 pm central and a full 2/5 NLH table was going strong when players heard Smash! Crash! “What the fuck?!?” one player screamed.

“I know what that is,” another player answered as he ran toward the back room and others followed. It sounded like a police raid — we all remember how the cops busted through the walls at Jackie’s on semi-live TV — only this time it was robbers. Two armed black males wearing ski masks and hoodies came busting through glass windows and sheet rock to enter through the smoking room. Players looked for an escape in the seconds that followed, but there was no back door. This game – located in an office building near the Galleria – was relatively new … had been open just a few months … and seemed plenty secure with a two-door entry system monitored by cameras.

“Where’s the fucking money at?” the lead thug shouted as he emerged from the smoking room into the main area and made his way to the gace.

“There are a couple 50s beneath the drawer,” on of the room operators said.

Four or five players had crammed into a supply closet in the back room and locked the door behind them. Huddling together in the dark, they scrambled to find places to hide their wallets. One player had wedged his in some plastic wrap behind a stack of plates just a few seconds before the robbers realized there were people in there and ordered them out. They were told to lay on the ground with their faces to the floor – all complied – at which point the other robber frisked them one-by-one for their valuables while his accomplice made a quick check of the closet but apparently found none of the stashed goods.

The whole robbery lasted just a few minutes … as of last night, no decision had been made about whether or not to call the police, which you can suspect whoever is behind this latest string of poker robberies is partially banking on.

According to current forfeiture laws, when the Dallas cops raid a poker game, they generally get to keep whatever money they confiscate. However, assuming the DPD is operating all on the up-and-up, that money is supposed to be used for more poker busts …

In addition to what I was calling “Henser’s Game” (have since learned it might be “Gennser’s Game”), DC’s Poker House also got raided last week — Friday, I believe, about the same time as the robbery at the Ashton.

From a Pokerati citizen journalist on the ground:

Another game that got raided was DC’s POKER HOUSE in dallas off of shiloh & northwest highway. The cops single handedly busted that game because of money laundering. DC had about 40 slot machines in the building that caused his place to be shut down. I beleive what made DC’s place get so hot was when he pulled out a 9mm on one of the players who were getting a little out of hand.

Yikes, mix 8-Liners and 9-millimeters together and you kinda gotta expect some problems, no?

Also, maybe this is where the reports of a triple poker robicide came from … within a few days last week you had two busts and one robbery nearly simultaneously … and as we know in poker, it’s often difficult to distinguish between the two, because the action and results are usually pretty much the same.

UPDATE: Hmm, this is the second time that a robbery and police bust went down at two separate poker rooms nearly simultaneously. Strange coincidence? It’s possible that both sides make similar assessments when it comes to game selection — picking nights when they expect the most money to be in play.

That’s what we’re hearing … that three games got robbed on Friday. One such robbery is semi-confirmed at a popular 2/5 locale.

Not sure about the other two. The last time guys with guns stormed in to three places simultaneously and took all the money was in November 2006, when the DPD busted out the big guns and battering rams. More TK, of course.

UPDATE: The one semi-confirmed robbery took place in an Uptown high rise. Reportedly, “the phone rang indicating that someone had entered the access code in the lobby. They authorized access without picking up the phone. Whoever opened the door did not check and the perps stuck a 9mm in the door. 2 black males. They told everyone to empty their pockets but did not even take all of the money on the floor.” One player who was there also happened to be at another Dallas poker robbery a while back and says it was the same two guys.

We continue to hear that two other rooms were robbed, but whenever there was a poker raid, we would always hear about two others with it, and only once did that check out.

Unconfirmed word coming in over the Pokerati newswire …

Police shut down a suburban Dallas game on Wednesday — I only knew it as [name temporarily withheld]’s Game — located in Mesquite at Motley and I-30. It wasn’t vice or SWAT, reportedly, but detectives … confiscated the money in the game, and issued players Class C misdemeanor tickets outside. The game’s purveyor was “caught on the street” and police supposedly confiscated his car, along with all the cash he was carrying.

I never played in this game before, but I did hear about it and find out about playing. If I recall properly, they were running a 1-2-5 … medium action and pleasant crowd. Can’t remember if it was in a house or office park. That’s all we know for now. If you’ve got any reliable info please fill us in. Interesting to see War on Drugs-style forfeiture laws being applied in poker cases where we pretty much know the results of prosecutions even before they don’t go to trial.

CORRECTION/DETAILS (3/16): A guy named “Henser” was arrested. The game took place in a residential house. Detectives were in the game (?), but they ticketed players outside the house. Not for gambling, but for parking too close to the curb and things like that. And Henser was apparently pulled over (driving away from the scene?) when cops caught up with him.

DALLAS–Man, I thought we were done with the legal proceedings from the first big poker raid in Dallas (June 2006) … and almost done with the trials stemming from the subsequent triple-raid (November 2006). But learned that charges against another dealer from Aces were thrown out just last week — as they should be … but are we done yet?

Go insufficient evidence!

As Matt the commenter informs us, DC’s Poker House in Dallas was raided last night. Hmm, we kinda thought Dallas poker raids would stop now that Pokerati has relocated. Apparently not. Details not clear — am curious to know the number of arrests vs. tickets … also, if someone could let us know where that room was located … and anything else that may have contributed to its shutdown.

It’s kinda funny sometimes the way news spreads … all the way to Chicago. Should be interesting to see how the non-poker masses respond (if at all) to the Dallas poker plight.

It’s much easier to be in the news than write the news …

You may recall the raid on the Audie Murphy VFW. Comedian Drew Carey thinks it’s a not-so-funny indication of disturbing trends in the nation’s approach to policing as a whole.

via Reason.tv

A temporarily anonymous reader writes in with an update on some cases against “alleged” poker dealers and room operators at the Audie Murphy VFW, which was raided (as opposed to just busted) in April:

I just thought you might want to know that all of the Gambling Promotion charges that were pending against 11 alleged dealers, and or operators have been deleted,or shall I say in the words of that wonderful attorney of mine “Dallas County has decided to throw in the towel”. Chalk up another one for the Poker Players and give my attorney a raise? NOT!!! he was expensive enough to begin with but well worth it.

Cool, awesome … good for you. I mean except for the legal fees part. But considering how much money Dallas attorneys tend to donk into a game, it’s probably a wash, right?

(Not sure “deleted” is an actual legal term, by the way. But I suspect it is still good for the defendants.)

More on the VFW and other poker busts in Dallas here.

These came, interestingly enough, just a couple weeks after the Dallas DA publicly declared his support for HB 3186, which set out to clarify the legality of raked poker games and set up standards to regulate such businesses.

More on Dallas’ poker-friendly courthouse here.

Today’s a big day for poker in Dallas County. Sorta. Some cases from JB’s/Goodfellows are at the Dallas County Courthouse right now. I don’t have many details — perhaps some of the defendants can fill us in as their cases get postponed/settled/dismissed (or otherwise adjudicated, of course).

Perspective forthcoming …

UPDATE: All cases against players dismissed. Charges against dealers and room operators put on deferred adjudication … meaning if they can stay clear of running a poker room for 90 days, all problems will go away.

Just received a text from a concerned Pokeratizen informing us of some relatively quick dismissals of criminal poker charges in Dallas County:

Fyi. Dallas poker. Approx. 22 from the audie murphy vfw bust all hired the same atty for fifty a piece. This wk allcases were dismissed for misc reasons.

Related

Another Big Dallas Poker Bust - 4/15/07
RE: Another Big Poker Bust (2) - 4/15/07

LAS VEGAS–Word spreading to the Pacific time zone is that a big batch of misdemeanor cases from the made-for-TV paramilitary poker raid on Aces have been dismissed. Can anyone verify the truth to this?

Julian in Dallas writes in with a trip report from his most recent poker activity:

On Friday night, June 1, 2007, the Dallas Vice Unit and Northwest Division Patrol officers executed a Search Warrant at:

“Live Straddle”
7141 Envoy Ct.

28 citations for gambling

5 arrests gambling promotion M/A

seized:
4 poker tables,
poker chips,
playing cards, computer equipment, assorted paperwork, $4,599.00 cash

Deputy Chief J Bernal
Narcotics Division
Dallas Police Department

Umm, I guess $4,600 is a nice score … but really Deputy Chief, if you keep on being such a table bully, it won’t be long before you have no one to play with. I mean you probably feel like you’re winning … but really, check your bankroll … are you?

From what I hear, you and your players are not allowed in Oklahoma … and I have a feeling that’s where most of the Dallas action is headed, because, frankly, people are troubled by the way you guys play. Not trying to be judgmental or anything, I just suspect that once you have no more poker to contend with … c’mon, we both know your past … you’re gonna get back into drugs, aren’t you.

I don’t know much about Dallas but I heard a room was raided last night…

“[Name removed] room (The Straddle) got raided last night”

Does anyone have information on this?

Police busted through the doors of another Dallas poker room on Thursday — this time not to round up a bunch of low-stakes misdemeanor offenders, but rather to serve a warrant on a convicted cop-killer wanted in connection with the death of Meaghan Bosch, the 21-year-old SMU coed whose lifeless body was found disposed of in a portable toilet last week.

Click here to read the kinda scary story by Jason Trahan in The Dallas Morning News.

James McDaniel, who ran what Dallas players knew as “James’ Game,” admitted to having lunch with Bosch around the same time she sent her friends a text message saying she was with her drug dealer, shortly before she disappeared. Not sure who conducted the raid on McDaniels’ poker room — the Texas Rangers are taking the lead on this investigation, not DPD — but he was not there, nor was he at his house in Pleasant Grove, and is now apparently on the lam.

So much more to this story … developing.

CLARIFICATION: McDaniel was convicted of killing an ex-Dallas police officer in 1978, not one on active duty.

TO BE FAIR: Sources of unknown reliability are telling Pokerati there may be evidence supporting claims of innocence for that crime. Hmm, a black man falsely convicted of murder some 25+ years ago in Texas? Yep, certainly plausible enough … just as it would be that an assertion of “didn’t do it” is a bluff.

Yep, turns out there was indeed another poker game robbed in Dallas Wednesday night … yeesh, sounds very friggin’ scary. It appears to have been low-stakes action, but that didn’t stop three men from busting in to take whatever loot they could find. The main bad guy was wearing an orange ski mask and carried a pump-action shotgun. The other two wore black ski masks — one was brandishing a semi-automatic pistol, the other was standing guard at the door with a baseball bat, according to what two of the eight victims told police officers.

Wednesday Night scoreboard (amongst armed, masked men acting out of turn):

Cops: $1,473
Robbers: about $800

Click here to read the police reports.

Meanwhile, as Dallas Police were busting a poker game last night, an 8-Liner room less than a half-a-mile away was getting robbed. (Maybe not at the exact same time, but pretty close to it.)

I am not sure that non-poker people realize that even though the charges are the same, we could kinda care less about 8-Liner rooms getting tagged by the 5-0. We are selfish like that. I mean we don’t want anybody to get shot/robbed/killed … but, shit, they don’t even have blogs! Clearly the slot-machine players here have gambling problems, and they would be better off discovering the educational joy and subsequent Zen of Texas Hold’em.

(NOTE: My opinion might change if they ever bust Grandma Michalski, who loves her some nickel slots, but can only find quarter machines when she goes on church trips to Oklahoma.)

ALT HED: War on Video Poker?

UPDATE: It was a poker room that got robbed, not an 8-Liner room. DPD’s mistake … but hey, they were busy writing tickets to players down the street, right? Developing …

Really, it’s almost like the people robbing rooms know when the police are busting other joints. That’s three robberies (one just attempted) in a row on the same night that the cops were also confiscating cash from poker players. Whaddya think, coinkydink?

Poker bust last night at the Slick Billiards at 2344 Oates Dr.

I don’t know the details of this game — it was clearly more drunken low-stakes “home game” than sophisticated poker operation. Police arrested one person for Gambling Promotion (class A misdemeanor) and issued tickets to 11 others for Gambling (class C misdemeanor).

They also arrested three people for Public Intoxication. Cops confiscated one table, assorted “gambling paraphernalia,” and $1,437 in cash. It took an undercover operation (in response to a citizen complaint, police say) to take this game down.

Pokerati would also like to take this opportunity to remind all our pokery attorney friends that we happily accept advertising from law firms interested in representing players. It’s a great deal — should cost you less than a few billable hours — and it seems there may be a growing need for your services.

Good story in today’s DMN about the VFW poker bust, the Texas Poker Act, and police frustration with the issue of illegal Texas Hold’em games in North Texas. No mention of the armed robberies that police don’t/can’t handle … and the person who accuses poker players of throwing bottles in her yard doesn’t give her name, which is too bad. I wasn’t aware of any poker players who have ever left poker rooms carrying beer bottles … in fact, I am so confident that these sorts of nuisance crimes from poker players are so infrequent that I would like to volunteer Pokerati’s services to clean up whatever mess poker players do leave in any particular residential neighborhood. I’m being serious. But we can’t help you or any accuser who isn’t willing to give their names/meet eye-to-eye.

That’s the thing with the anti-poker forces, whatever and wherever they may be … they don’t know what they are talking about.

More…

Turns out it’s true … while we were all abuzz about police poker raids last month, there was not only the attempted robbery that we already told you about, but also there was an actual robbery just a few days later in Dallas proper* — and this time the armed bad guys were successful.

Pokerati’s “facts” are still fuzzy … perhaps we’ll get some more right here. What we do know is that the victims were at a $5/$10 game located somewhere along what many of us have called “Poker Row” or the “Dallas Poker Corridor.” The perpetrators were two black males (as was the case in the foiled robbery above), and one of them put a shotgun to the face of whomever answered the door — I believe it was a woman. From there they barged in and took somewhere around $7,000 (an extremely rough number based on the typical size of this game) … and as far as we currently know, police were not called.

Perhaps these robbers are just building their bankrolls for the WSOP?

*NOTE: It is Pokerati’s editorial policy to not name poker rooms in Texas unless the operators are overtly public about it and/or it has been shut down. Ahh, remember the good ole days when they used to buy ads?

Over at The Agitator, they’ve got a firsthand account from someone mis-arrested during the June Aces raid. (Thanks, Jason, for the link.) If you recall, that was the poker room busted in cahoots with the A&E network … only to have the tapes from that episode of Dallas SWAT mysteriously disappear.

Bear in mind that, prior to police entering, the place was virtually quiet. There was the sound of poker chips in the air, but not much else. The players were essentially professionals and working stiffs having fun…there were doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals. There was hardly anything “dangerous” about the place at all. In fact, the cops found no weapons in the facility or on anyone there. The show of force and weaponry brought by the cops was simply outrageous and unjustified, given the circumstances, but, then again, are they enforcing the law or making a TV show?

[...]

Despite the abject mistruths in the police report, I was still confident the tapes would help me. We finally got our subpoena response. Guess what? According to Granada Entertainment, there wasn’t any videotape of the event. All of the tapes had been recorded over, and there simply wasn’t any tape available. Two camera crews and helmet cams on the SWAT guys and not one single inch of tape existed.

It’s a lengthy report, but definitely worth the read (especially if you happen to have a poker case pending) — particularly because this guy had nothing to do with poker … he was simply helping out in the kitchen because the main food lady had an injured hand. Even as a non-poker player, this guy was able to call down the Assistant District Attorney on his bluff (literally!) when he said during the plea bargain that they had video of the defendant at the tables.

All charges ended up being dropped (even the ones for possession of marijuana and a pipe, which were actually found on him) — as has been the case for all poker cases where defendants have insisted on a jury trial.

No word on whether or not any charges will be filed against the the city of Dallas or agents of Granada Entertainment (the forces behind Dallas SWAT) for destruction of evidence, or perhaps more aptly, lying about destruction of evidence.

Go Poker!

ALT HED: Why We Play (Legally Questionable) Poker, Part 2

Happy 4/20 to all of you. On this day, three years ago, Pokerati was born. (Ouch, my back hurts.) The World Poker Tour is celebrating by hosting a big $25,000 buy-in tournament in Las Vegas this weekend. The WPT Championsomething.

Full Tilt also went live this week in 2004, which was the subject of my very first post. My how things have changed … or not.

Here is my blogroll on Opening Day:

Click below to see some other kinda sorta interesting stories that were catching our attention in the early days, right as poker was starting to catch on. And, so long as we’re rummaging through the deep and broken archives, might as well have a listen, too, to Pokerati’s first ever podcast … (before we knew what a podcast was.)

Am thinking of taking the day off, by the way. Perhaps celebrating with a few stiff drinks, like any three-year-old should.

More…

Julian in Dallas writes in with some official information about this past weekend’s poker busts, and … perhaps like a player intentionally showing his hole cards? … informs Dallas pokerers about what the police plan to do next.

(Austin poker people may also want to take note.)

In a nutshell, I think what he’s saying is stop playing poker giving citizens reason to complain about illegal gambling … or their gonna getcha, and might possibly sick the Feds on yo ass! As things stand now, 79 players were ticketed this weekend, 18 of whom are soon to be arrested … with some TABC violations to boot.

Hey, I’m just passing on info — and perhaps contemplating hosting a charity tournament freeroll for the Assist the Officers Foundation — so don’t shoot the messenger:

Dan …

Just FYI, we did not take the persons charged with M/A Keeping a Gambling Place to jail on Saturday night. Those charges have now been filed and those persons will now be picked up and placed in jail. In the future, all persons charged with M/A Keeping a Gambling Place will be placed in jail. Persons charged with M/C gambling are also subject to arrest and could be placed in jail depending on the circumstances. All persons recently charged with Gambling M/C were issued citations and released.

For the purposes of your website, I think you all should know that the Vice Unit would much rather have voluntary compliance from the businesses and citizens of the City of Dallas. Gambling investigations are in fact time consuming operations and we have other priorities that we could be working on. Let me repeat, we would rather have voluntary compliance from a group of normally law abiding citizens. If we cannot get that compliance then we will have to conduct operations that will ultimately discourage those normally law abiding citizens from engaging in such behavior.

More…

The news keeps trickling in … and still no arrests reported from either of the four recent poker “raids” — at DC’s, Top Shelf, the Island Club, or the VFW. (Can we really call them raids if there’s no semblance of violence?) Not sure what the police have in mind. Either they’re respectfully responding to citizen complaints about the aggression with which they handled previous poker round-ups … and/or they are conveniently “responding to citizen complaints” while looking for something bigger. Gotta be, right?

Hey Dan DC’S was in Dallas and open for about a year. No arrests were made only citations. Also the dealers and workers at the V were released with a message that the police department would be in touch after having a mug like picture taken.

Below is the audio from an impromptu, late-night interview with the Dallas police official who seemed to be in charge of the post-raid cleanup at the Audie Murphy VFW. He provides some basic facts about this latest police incursion and some insight into how our local games are seen by the men sent to the front lines of the War on Poker:

Deputy Chief J.A. Bernal / Vice and Narcotics - 4/15/07
Dallas Police Department
[display_podcast]

ALT HED: Beyond the Crime Scene

• Vice unit does more gambling busts than SWAT
• Citizen complaints on one end, DA’s office on the other
• Two weeks of investigation nets search warrant for 70+ misdemeanors
• Should Dallas expect more busts? “Absolutely”
• Oops! Asking the second-highest ranking officer in the DPD if he is a “sergeant”
• One person had some outstanding drug charges
• Police found a small amount of methamphetamine at the VFW
• TABC was also there … found violations in VFW pool hall/bar next door
• No federal involvement (yet) but investigation continues after takedown … relevant info forwarded to the IRS
• “hard-working normal citizens, average everyday working joes” (6:35)
• No weapons — just ask Curtis

Dallas po-po says they know about “a majority” of local games. And even though we have yet to see a single conviction (by judge or jury) of more than 200 potential defendants, here’s a list of underground poker rooms put out of business recently: (Feel free to add if I missed any — but, hey, don’t go naming your friends just to be funny!)

Aces
Jackie’s
JB’s/Goodfellows
Ace High
R&R #2
VFW-Audie Murphy
Top Shelf
Island Club
DC’s Poker House

Previously and outside of Dallas proper
EV Enterprises (Richardson)
Sons of Italy (McKinney)
Poker Pound (Duncanville)
R’s Game (Addison)
R&R (Carrollton)

Hmm, wow … OK, it looks like they’ve gotten all of ‘em. Yep … all gone. No more cardsy fun for citizens to complain about. Now poker players can take up new hobbies en masse … like fishing/bowling/golf/panhandling/beekeeping/graffiti.

The Dallas Police Department continues its crackdown on illegal gambling … busting a poker game at the Audie Murphy VFW Post 1837 just several hours ago. There were reportedly seven full tables running when nearly 20 police officers entered the room. It was the vice squad this time, not the SWAT team … though some undercover player-officers were donning black hoods, face masks, and sunglasses to keep their identity sealed — one of whom responded to the name “Curtis.”

No official numbers yet on tickets, arrests, and money seized … but it’s looking to be about 70 players issued gambling citations, and a dozen employees handcuffed and taken to jail[UPDATE: It appears they, too, may have just been ticketed] for “keeping a gambling place.” According to Deputy Chief (Vice and Narcotics) J.A. Bernal, most of the alleged poker criminals “appeared to be hardworking, normal citizens; average everyday working joes. That’s what we found here today.”

Tonight’s VFW bust comes after an attempted armed robbery at one Dallas room Friday night as police were reportedly raiding other poker rooms (including the Island Club and new Top Shelf). DPD tells Pokerati they also hit a couple 8-liner joints Friday … and that more gambling raids are to come.

Meanwhile, legislators in Austin are considering a bill to legalize some semblance of poker games similar to the one taking place at the VFW. Several state and local politicians support this bill ([tag]HB 3186[/tag]) … presumably as an example of sensible government … including Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, whose office now has at least another 100 poker-related misdemeanors added to it’s caseload.

More…

Gary Carson offers his $.02 on the pending poker legislation in Texas … and I couldn’t help but mouth off to my respectable colleague. (Thanks, Tim, for the link!)

As for the rest of you … don’t forget that now — as in like today, maybe next Tuesday at the latest — is the time to flood the legislative voicemails and in-boxes with your support for HB 3186.

It’s pretty simple where things currently stand … if a majority of the House decides to support this bill (that would be 76 representatives), it will be put to a vote and it will pass.

UPDATE: Here’s a better video of the November Dallas poker raids, better than the one I linked to in Gary’s comments. When it comes to dealing with poker, it’s pretty much either this or HB 3186 — our choice.

This reminds me … Channel 11 ran an interesting story a few weeks ago about legally questionable poker in Dallas.* Though the hedline claims police are “putting the heat on” illegal poker games, reporter Kimberly Ball does more to ask the question, “Why?”

In a relatively bold statement, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price says it’s time make poker rooms legal. And a deputy Dallas police chief informs us that he doesn’t have the resources to put a stop to all the games. That’s always the issue with poker, isn’t it — should we spend money to try and stop it, or generate money by making a previously poo-pooed behavior legit?

Of course, not everyone in Texas has read enough Sklansky to understand why the above is really an easy decision. But the Channel 11 story does suggest a little more thought is being given to the math.

More…

A fresh comment on a relatively old post about a Dallas poker raid caught my eye … seemed relevant in light of discussions we’ve been having about police activity in other Texas poker scenes. In it, the accused houseguy makes claims of borderline abusive behavior from police — smacking an 83-year-old man in the back with the butt of a rifle, for example.

Nothing Rodney King-like, but still, pain-addled nuisances that might kinda should be expected when dealing with armed enforcers charged with putting a scare into a semi-criminal subculture.

Some of the comments on this post are providing some good information about pending poker prosecutions. Would love to know a little more from some of you with court dates coming up … like specifically when is your trial, what court is it in, who is the judge, yadda yadda. Feel free to post the info here … or if you would rather not be so public about your legal matter of public record, send me an email. Thanks much.

And by the way, if any of the peeps from Poker Pound (busted room in Duncanville way back when) are reading this, let us know what has happened with your case. Last I heard, prosecutors kept putting it off, and your lawyer kept having you come to court to write her a check just so she could say “no trial yet.”

UPDATE: Some additional coverage — and quality commenting — on the Dallas poker raids. [CardSquad.]

Heading out for a little family-time vacation … but before I go, here’s a round-up of what others have been saying about the triple-hit to Dallas poker.

OMAHA, Nebraska–Enjoying a little family-time vacation. Hope you are, too. But before I head out to the local church and then casino, here’s a round-up of what others have been saying about the triple-hit to Dallas poker last week.

First, the news videos — CBS 11’s exclusive live coverage of DALLAS SWAT vs. glass walls and poker … and NBC 5’s less dramatic report.

The second CBS story (they led with it twice) here.

UNCLE BARKY reminds us that these televised raids happened to coincide with SWEEPS. Ah, now it makes sense. Brought to our attention by Texas Gigs. MIKE ORREN’s sibling site PegasusNewswire is also on top of legislative developments.

Some relevant numbers related to the Dallas SWAT offensive

November poker arrests: 20
Ticketed players: 79
Cash ceased: $43,929
Weapons found: 0
Drugs found: 0
Players with outstanding warrants: 0

A SMART PERSON over at ScienceBlogs offers more numbers:

Dallas is one of the most violent cities in the nation, with a violent crime rate 3 times higher than the national average. The murder rate of 20.2 per 100,000 people is nearly 4 times the national average. Rape occured in Dallas about 50% more than the national average, while robbery and aggravated assault were more than double the national average.

That PISSES OFF The Fat Guy … but we already knew that.

Here’s what the kids at 2+2 are saying. A few more firsthand details, a spoiled Vegasite who doesn’t get the whole UNDERGROUND thing, and a New Yorker calling NYPD SOFT compared to Dallas. (”And I thought the NYPD was rough, [but] we had it easy compared to those raids.”)

Speaking of NEW YORK, a Long Island VFW game also had masked, gun-wielding men bust in and take almost $40,000 on the same night of the Dallas raids, but their guys were ROBBERS, not cops.

This comes via Part-time Poker Forums.

Peeps are also talking about it on East Texas Poker.

And Weston Poker, of course.

Over at the Google version of RGP, GARY CARSON says, “People attempted to run from a Dallas Swat team and aren’t dead? Wow. Lucky mother fuckers.”

REASON MAGAZINE is really unhappy about the PARAMILITARIZATION of America’s police forces. More than 50 comments about the Dallas raids from non-poker people.

Did you know the Dallas SWAT team has a 1959 tank built by ROLLS ROYCE in its arsenal? ATLANTA SWAT has two of ‘em.

Speaking of Atlanta, earlier this week plain-clothes vice cops in that city busted into the wrong house with guns drawn, and when the 92-year-old resident OPENED fire on the intruders, Police blew her to KINGDOM COME.

The BRITS are gunless pussies concerned about American SWAT teams killing innocent citizens as if they were IRAQIS.

Back to poker … at least one HOUSTON ATTORNEY is concerned about DPD tactics, and points to a map of botched police raids in the United States.

But we shouldn’t have to worry about Dallas SWAT making any MISTAKES — they train in Oregon.

Of course that doesn’t make THE GERMANS feel any better about what went down in Dallas.

BIG BOB WILONSKY was one of the first to spread the word about Dallas poker woes to our local non-poker brethren.

The POKER PLAYERS ALLIANCE BLOG has been with us the whole time, too.

A forum of POKER AFFILIATES talking about us.

So is POKER LISTINGS.

LOU KREIGER has some intelligent thoughts on the matter — and his commenters are clearly smarter than Pokerati’s:

According to the reporters, last year, 3 people were arrested and 8 citations were issued. This year, 31 people were arrested and 180 citations were issued. Now, a reasonable person might ask, what’s changed from last year.

The answer, they now play poker at two Indian Casinos in Oklahoma, an hour from Dallas!

Last, before heading out, I wanted to point out that the DALLAS POLICE are kinda-sorta on our side, making the argument for legalizing poker when LT. CHRISTINA SMITH says:

“Poker is not regulated, so these people who are running these poker houses charge a lot of money, [and] there’s no way to check to see if what they’re doing is proper.”

That, of course, is our point exactly. And that SWAT teams probably aren’t the best allocation of resources to attempt to do so.

Jackie’s was probably more of a “family” game than any other. (BIG family, but still.) Anyhow, if you were one of the people who considered this place your home, you may not want to look at the pictures below. All kinda sad, really. Shortly after these were taken, Jackie’s was apparently looted — with thieves taking a big-screen TV, leather couches, office chairs, pots and pans, and pretty much everything else that Dallas SWAT didn’t leave behind.

By the way, “Jackie” … I am pretty sure you did not get arrested — just “the kids” did. So just a heads-up … I think the cops are looking for you, FYI.

More…

If you were like me, you were flipping channels last night between 10 and 11 pm looking for the TV coverage of the [tag]Dallas poker raids[/tag]. And unless I missed something (always possible) you found nothing on Channel 4, Channel 5, CW-33, Channel 8, Channel 11, CNN, FoxNews, or G4. Kinda strange, since at least one news crew was riding along with all three of the simultaneous busts.

But not really … it seems the story just got bumped, because there was so much other big local criminal news on the same weekend that the Dallas Police Department deployed 60 officers (est.) to three different locales with three paddy wagons and a cache of paramilitary weaponry to break up a disorganized misdemeanor ring.

• The FBI was arresting a DPD senior corporal. Not only was Jose Luis Cabrera being ballyhooed for running the first ever “Spanish language citizen’s police academy,” but also he was allegedly trafficking cocaine out of his house.
• A Dallas police officer got shot in an Oak Cliff shopping center. Officer TK is reportedly in good condition.
• A Dallas cop had to shoot a man during a traffic stop.
• Dallas cops are searching for a serial armed robber who has recently hit nine stores near Valley View Mall.
• A Dallas cop working security at Club Rio (not to be confused with the site of the WSOP) was struck in the head with a beer bottle.
• A Dallas police officer is under investigation after angrily flashing his badge and manhandling a Whataburger cashier over a Whatameal change dispute.

So you can see that the Dallas 5-0 and the media covering them have had a busy weekend with stuff more important than a bunch of guys (and a few gals) sitting around a table playing a game.

“Poker Tells” comic archive | PokerBlog comics

Thanks, Dugglebogey!

Is it premature to declare the death of the Dallas poker scene?

Probably so. Games will change — as they did after the last SWAT-team raid) — and certainly some will survive … I’ve learned of at least one room in North Dallas that heard about the raids going down but did not inform the players and kept the action moving. (”[The manager] told us we were fine,” a dealer reports, “but I was so scared I was practically shaking in the box.”) Whatever happens, it seems clear that Dallas poker glory, as of last night, is not going to ever get back to what it once used to be — at least not until Texas Hold’em is legalized south of Oklahoma / west of Louisiana / east of New Mexico / north of Mexico.

Does anyone know, how’s the action around town tonight?

Ed. Note: Pokerati is not in the business of ratting out referring to legally questionable poker establishments by their proper names … at least not until they get busted to the extent that their business becomes part of the public record. Or until they put up websites like this one.

UPDATE: The “Shmounder Shmlub” is apparently suspending operations. At least for tonight.

UPDATE: Upon getting a phone call at “Mr. Kotter’s” game (in Dallas), management told the players about the three raids immediately and cashed them all out. Finishing the hand they were on, of course. Am guessing the remaining action went “check-check-check-check-check …”

From a Swiss Avenue poker-playing eyewitness:

I was at Ace High earlier tonight when sometime before 11pm, Dallas SWAT announced their prescence with authority…well kinda. They started pounding on the front door as loud as you can imagine, but didn’t get through at first. So my first instinct was that the place was being robbed. While Barney Fife and company were dicking around with the door, there was plenty of time for all 20 or 30 folks to pour out of the back door and into the back alley. Pretty much complete chaos and every man for himself at this point. Come to find out that all of the fences are really high back there in the alley, so it was a bit anti-climactic…bummer.

After a few brief moments of scampering around and watching a few people make valiant attempts at scaling these walls, SWAT came out the back door and started waving their M-16s around as the’ve been known to do when bringing poker players to justice. Considering that just moments earlier I thought this might be an armed robbery, I was actually kinda relieved to assume the face-down-on-the-pavement position and receive my zip-cuffs. As I laid there, one of the cops actually razzed me a bit asking why I wasn’t long gone since they’d had so much trouble with the door. I don’t why he was messing with me, since by my estimation, not a single person escaped.

Not a whole lot of drama after they had us all bound, lined up, searched and ticketed (for “gambling”). Nothing too unreasonable, once the gun barrels were lowered. A&E camera crews weren’t there this time, although there was a camera from a news crew, but he wasn’t well labeled and I didn’t feel like hanging around to ask him who he was with (although I’m now dying to know).

Three Dallas rooms got raided tonight. Jackie’s, JB’s, and Ace-High. SWAT teams, machine guns, arrests, and TV news cameras. I suspect some folks will be getting out of jail soon. Feel free to be in touch. Especially people who may have snapped pictures with their cell phones. Pokerati will continue to post as we find out information, so check back for updates.

The “dallas poker raids” tag will carry the latest.

I suspect you’ll also find some good information at the Weston Poker Forum.

This seems to be the second big blow to the Dallas poker scene. The first one being the Aces raid in June … and then the Dallas SWAT team sat back, let the Dallas scene regroup before … pop-pop-pop! Fortunately, no one got killed.

For some recent discourse on the status of the original Aces cases, click here.

Eee.

Just watched my first full episode of Dallas SWAT. It took more than a dozen officers, lots of machine guns, and a mini-tank to bust a poker player. Not really … he was actually a methamphetamines dealer who set up shop across the street from an elementary school. But when the heavily armored 5-0 charged in, they caught the chief suspect off-guard, as he was playing online poker at the time. Dude is likely kicking himself if he was playing on a table without disconnect-protect.

But it made me wonder … have we missed the Aces raid episode? Might it have ended up on the cutting-room floor? I’ve been a bit out of the local loop lately … so any updates on where the various Aces court cases stand would be appreciated. I hope they didn’t decide to axe this hotly anticipated scene because there weren’t enough recognizable pros at the final table.