Hold 'Em Right There!

The New York Times notes that states are cracking down on Texas hold 'em tournaments in bars, even when there are no entry fees and no real stakes. In a Minnesota raid last summer, "20 officers, guns bared, burst into the bar," seizing the chips and cards. In Illinois bars have received $500 fines for holding hold 'em tournaments. Last December 83 people were arrested on misdemeanor charges for participating in a tournament at a Texas bar.

Playing hold 'em in public for anything of value, even a T-shirt or a chance to compete in other tournaments that might ultimately lead to a seat in the World Series of Poker, is illegal gambling, say state liquor authorities. Some go even further, arguing that a completely free tournament with no prizes is still illegal, since it attracts business to the bar:

Brian DeJean, a lawyer for the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control…says any game operated as a business–people being paid to deal, for example, or bars increasing revenues from players buying drinks–is verboten.

"We're not seeing friendly games where five people show up and sit around the table, what we're seeing is games where somebody is making some money," Mr. DeJean said. "We would not be having the same conversation if every Tuesday was prostitution night in these bars."

The proper analogy is not "prostitution night" but "ladies' night," which lures women with free or cheap drinks, thereby luring men looking for sex, thereby adding to the bar's bottom line. Leaving aside the possibility of a sex discrimination suit, I assume such promotions are legal in Louisiana.

In Minnesota state legislators are coming to the rescue of tournament-sponsoring bars with a bill that would add Texas hold 'em to "the state's list of legal card games–cribbage, skat, sheephead, bridge, euchre, pinochle, gin, 500, smear and whist." I gather that five-card draw, seven-card stud, Chicago, Anaconda, Bonecrusher et al. would remain illegal (unless played in the privacy of one's home). No one, of course, has suggested that the state should stop micromanaging people's entertainment options.