Police have arrested 18 people in connection with an illegal poker game in the metro Atlanta area. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Police raid illegal poker game
Police arrested 18 people in connection with an illegal poker game in the metro Atlanta area and seized $50,000 in cash.
On September 11, police raided the Royal Flush Bar & Grill in Duluth, Georgia at 5 a.m. The eighteen people arrested were allegedly involved in an illegal poker game run by a non-profit organization to which the bar rented the space.
Their names are being dragged through the mud.”
A representative of the Bar Association said that the people arrested were “innocent and their names are being washed in the mud.”
Among those arrested, 13 were clients and five were employees of non-profit organizations.
Police from the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department Vice Unit seized a number of items, including gambling-related paraphernalia and the aforementioned $50,000 in cash. No trial date has been set for anyone arrested.
Using the withdrawal code
Georgia has very strict anti-poker laws, therefore there are no brick and mortar buildings to operate poker games. In an attempt to circumvent these laws, Royal Flush operated poker games citing Georgia Code 16-12-22.1: Draws operated by non-profit organizations are tax-exempt.
It then rented some of its space to a non-profit organization that ran the actual games. Bets ranged from $1/$3 to $2/$5. According to Royal Flush’s legal representative, the draw position you used in your poker games was legal.
He hopes that once he appears before a judge, he can explain the legality of the model in more detail
The detainees are said to be “scared and anxious” because of the legal issues they may face. The Royal Flush representative hopes that once he appears before a judge, he can explain the legality of the model in more detail, and avoid putting the arrested people on trial.
Gambling laws in the United States
In the United States, the legality of gambling varies from state to state, with the federal government leaving individual states to set their own laws on the matter. Most state laws prohibit unlicensed gaming or betting that relies, in part, on an element of chance.
In 2019, officials in Texas arrested nine people in connection with illegal poker games and money laundering after a two-year investigation.
That same year, two businesses in North Carolina were raided after residents reported them for operating as lottery casinos. While a number of items were confiscated, no arrests were made.
