An illegal poker operation is one in which players pay a fee to play
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided offices of the Amateur Poker Tour (APT) located in Wheat Ridge Colorado last week, confiscating records, membership lists and other documents of what they claim is an illegal amateur poker operation.
No arrests have been made in what investigators say is an ongoing investigation.
According to investigators quoted in the Denver Post, the APT conducts an average of 15 to 18 poker games nightly in various bars, taverns and night clubs around the Denver metropolitan area, from Evergreen to Fort Lupton. Each location hosting an APT affiliated poker game is required to pay the tour $300 each quarter as well as $50 per table per night to host the card games.
Investigators said all of this is legal, since the host locations try to recover these fees from profits they make on the additional food and drink sales to poker players.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Ralph Gagliardi, who headed the investigation along with members of the state’s Division of Gaming, said the Amateur Poker Tour has roughly 2,250 members.
About 250 of these are also APT Gold Card members, and pay $199 to play in exclusive poker tournaments twice a month with stakes of $10,000 or more. Players who don’t pay the fee cannot participate in these special tournaments.
The VIP Gold membership program is being investigated because of these fees. “An illegal poker operation is one in which players pay a fee to play,” said Gagliardi.
Poker is legal in Colorado as long as the players don’t have to pay to join a game.
“There are a number of poker operators that are legitimate in the state,” Gagliardi noted. “Players can join a game for free, and are given chips for free. At the end of a game, the winner can trade the chips in for prizes, including cash which might come from the operator.”
Gagliardi continued, “Social poker games are legal, but when a host or organizer charges any kind of fee for participation, Colorado law defines the game as illegal.”
The Amateur Poker Tour’s website, at www.amseriespoker.com, stated that the Gold Card membership pages have recently been taken down with the notice: “We are currently reviewing our VIP Gold membership program.”