Aces Cracked?

Our background is not in poker, statistics or even theology. It's journalism - so when we see an interesting poker story, we can't help breaking the news. That's what we're doing here today.

It stems from Saturday night. We went to Nikki's Poker Room for our third tournament there, walked to the door - and declared, "It's locked."

"We know," one of three people standing outside said.

"Why?"

"We don't know." The "OPEN" light was on, but no one was home - well past the posted opening time of 6:30 p.m.

Since the night was cool, we went to our car and waited to see if someone would open the door for the other men. But no one did. Minutes later, one of them came to our car with stunning news: "They decided to shut down. Friday was their last day."

Wow - what led up to this?  That man learned the information from Facebook. So when we returned home, we checked Nikki's page:

The city of Wichita has begun shutting down all known gambling establishments. With heavy hearts we are sad to announce that Friday, January 15th, will be our final night of business.... With hope, we look forward to opening our doors again in the future....

In response to some comments, Nikki's added this:

...seems the city feels we hurt the casino.

Posts by Nikki's on Thursday and Friday seemed to reveal where the issue really is:

IT DOES NOT COST TO PLAY POKER . THIS IS A CHAIR RENTAL FEE. 

We wondered about this wording when we moved back to Kansas three years ago. It's how poker rooms justify how they operate and make a profit. But is it legal?

Another Wichita poker room has posted "legal links" on its website. One of them includes this noteworthy statement:

It is illegal to require any person to make a donation or contribution in order to gain admittance to "casino night" to play the games.

A poker tournament isn't really a "casino night" fundraiser. But let's face it: if you don't pay the "chair rental" at poker room, you don't get any chips or cards.

(The Kansas State Poker Championship was challenged on this a couple of years ago. It's a "Cards for the Cure" event with an entry fee, but organizers insisted they gained proper permission from the District Attorney's office.)

If other local poker rooms are receiving a "crackdown" by Wichita police, they have not said so publicly. But this blog can reveal a Wichita police officer sat at our table (plain-clothes) during our December 24 tournament; he told us so as he was eliminated. Whether or not he was checking the legality of Nikki's actions, we don't know.

There's a broad lesson in all of this - for poker tournament organizers, poker players and people in general. Looking for loopholes in the law can get you in trouble with the law.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. - I Thessalonians 5:21-22 (KJV)

Things that look a little strange or suspicious are bound to get investigated sooner or later. Ask any of this year's presidential candidates about that. It's far better to stay close to the law, and to the God who is the "lawgiver."

The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. - Proverbs 13:14 (KJV)

In the meantime, we can say we went two-for-two in tournaments at Nikki's Poker Room - both making final tables and winning money. We thank God for a nice touch on the poker resume.