Hmm, we know a few poker players from Arizona here at Pokerati. I wonder if they will be attending “the first Arizona State Hold’em Championship ever played within the jurisdiction of the State” … not to be confused with the other Arizona State Championship. The tourney goes down at Judge Lee’s Arizona Card Room in Tombstone on May 10, and in fact it was Judge Lee himself letting us know about what should prove to be a very interesting event, no matter who does or doesn’t show. Yours truly, for one, respects the efforts to force the state to deal with the issues he raises. It’s generally good poker to create difficult decisions for your opponents.

*********PRESS RELEASE********PRESS RELEASE************

For release Wednesday April 2, 2008 Tombstone, AZ

From: Arizona Card League “the voice of professional card players in Arizona”

This Press Release has become necessary since the Arizona Republic newspaper article on January 18, 2008 (Retired judge betting that his poker room is legal) has caused much confusion all over the country, and thrown a cloud over the legality of the ACL/ACR System. It should be removed with the announcement today of a Statewide Poker Championship to be conducted on May 10th in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

More…

Photo: Nick Oza / The Arizona Republic

Harold Lee may seem like a bit of a whack-job, but the retired Arizona judge is standing up for poker — beckoning authorities to take him to jail/court for running a legally questionable poker room. He’s convinced a jury won’t convict, and is ready to put to them the question of whether or not poker really is illegal in Arizona, the AZ Republic reports.

Now I know what you’re thinking … wait, don’t they have Indian casinos in AZ? And indeed they do … but he’s got a problem with that, too, claiming it to be an illegal state-granted monopoly. Interesting way to look at it. You can read more about Judge Lee’s Arizona Card Room in Sierra Vista and his poker manifesto here.

The commenters (and the raters of the commenters) overwhelmingly support the crazy-ole judge. And apparently the entire city of Tombstone is behind him and wants to follow suit. (Watch the news vid.) Despite what the state has to say … the city has looked through it’s law books and can’t find anything that says poker is illegal and they’re good with that.