Club UBT - suggestions

Poker tour offices raided
By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 04/26/2007 03:59:02 PM MDT


Colorado gambling investigators raided the offices of an organized poker tour this 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.

The search warrant targeted the offices of the Amateur Poker Tour in Wheat Ridge. Calls to the poker tour and its officers were not returned.

The tour, which is a registered Colorado corporation, according to investigators, conducts an average of 15 to 18 poker games nightly in various bars, taverns and night clubs around the metro area, from Evergreen to Fort Lupton.

Some of the venues listed on the website are Club Zodiac in Westminster, Deuces Poker Room in Thornton, Teddy T's in Aurora, The Pub on Pearl in Denver and others.

Each of the venues is required to pay the tour $300 each quarter as well as $50 per table per night to host the card games. All of this is legal, investigators said, and the venues try to recoup the fees from profits on the food and drink sales to the 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.

Of those, about 250 are Gold Card members who pay an annual fee of $199 for the card, which entitles them to play in exclusive poker games twice a month with stakes of $10,000 or more.

It's that portion of the operation that investigators say is illegal.

Players who don't pay the fee cannot participate in the tournaments, Gagliardi said.

Gagliardi said 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," he said. "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.

"An illegal poker operation is one in which players pay a fee to play," said Gagliardi. "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, 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."

I know this is Mississippi's law and several other states also state the promoter cannot make a profit off of any form of gambling therefore they cannot legally charge membership fees to enter a contest, even McDonald's, Burger King and other companies doing sweepstakes, drawings, etc. cannot require you to buy their product to enter, they have to provide anyone who asks to play with a free game piece. In my humble opinion their legal status is questionable.

 

Well then if the prizes value at the club is overstated ...does that mean if you are from Canada you get the $1000 insted of the TV?

This would be a great deal for the players out of this country but unfair to US players unless they are given the option of taking the cash value as well.

Retail value is very often highly overstated especially in the jewerly and watch segment.

 

I can't speak for the TV as I haven't won one, but we did win the keyboard tray and instead of the tray we are supposed to get $35 ($50 minus 30% withheld for taxes).

It would seem the overstated values work to my benefit.

 

It seems that non-US players have the best deal.

 

No we don't as we only get a digital version of all in magazine :whip:

 

Give me a break Mace - boo hoo. I'll take YOUR ability to get cash for the kayak over a hard copy of All In. In fact the digital version is fantastic and impressive. Do you, as a non-US player, get a LV POV too?

 

You have to know when us Brits are pulling your leg Fred lol, And yes we get the subscription to LVA as well.
The downside to the digital version of all in is they don't seem to up date the editions that fast, As you Know we both Got Augusts when we were at Venetian yet the cyrrent Digital Edition is the one before that, I will not be able to live that without seeing the next edition,
after alll how am i meant to defend my surrendering a 10 against the critercism it's going to get in a certain House of Pane Article when i can't read it lol!

 

Sorry Mace, I thought you were just upset because you didn't have a hard copy of the All In with Shandi on the cover to hold in "the flesh" :laugh:

Overall I have to admit that for only 19.99 a month ClubUBT is an excellet "value".

For example with all the poker that I've played in recently, and as bad as I play poker, I would have spent well OVER 19.99 even at the 1.1 tables!

That coupled with the All In subscription covers the price of admission.

I do wish that they had more "points" freerolls. Unfortunately there just aren't enough players at the SNG's and at 10 points a pop trying to get a lot of points is an act of futility!

 

Don't be sill Fred I have that one and the one with Monica on cover lol Enough said

As for points, The $5k sats get you into the poker and BJ $5k tours for 25 points, In the poker case survival until 150 people are left get s you 1500 points and in the Bj instance getting through 1st round does the same, The Sats are always easy to win even for poker idiots like us 2 lol :joker:

 

What club are you playing on? When I find the $5K BJ satellite, Today at 1800 EST, 2200 GMT only the final table gets an entry to the $5K event. Nothing more nothing less.

In the beginning they gave LOTS of points for the bigger events. Now hardly any.

Last night I entered the digital camera for 400 points. 4 rounds. At my table there were 3 of us left on hand 25 and I didn't progress - so bam down 400 points.

 

Shandi's photo on that issue was balanced out by having MY picture inside - twice!!! :yikes:

 

That's why i only kept the front cover :joker:

 

I know what you mean...I've had a 80-76-26k lead with two hands to go, two advance, and STILL ended up on the short end of the stick. And there goes another 400, 750, 1500, or whatever points. I'm down to 2,300 or so of the 9,000 I had before they completely gutted the points for the big events! Meh, whatever. I'm sure this slump'll break soon.