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Police Raid from last week: Local news story

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  1. Artiecat Artiecat is offline

    Togo

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 7:33am)

    What a Joke! This article is filled with half truths!

    Police seize $50,000 in gambling hall raid</MCC HEAD>

    <SPAN class=storysubhead><MCC SUBHEAD>Players came from as far as Canada for illegal poker tournament</MCC SUBHEAD></SPAN>

    <SPAN class=date>PUBLISHED: February 11, 2006</SPAN>

    <SPAN class=byline1><MCC BYLINE1>By Gordon Wilczynski</MCC BYLINE1></SPAN>
    <SPAN class=byline2><MCC BYLINE2>Macomb Daily Staff Writer</MCC BYLINE2></SPAN>

    <SPAN class=storytext><MCC STORY><MCC PHOTOTABLE> <TABLE cellPadding=8 align=right></TABLE></MCC PHOTOTABLE>Police seized more than $50,000 during a raid of a high-stakes poker tournament Thursday night at a banquet center.
    Police detained 60 people playing in the tournament at the Imperial House banquet hall on Groesbeck, between 14 Mile and 15 Mile roads. Once players showed their identification, police allowed them to leave.
    The owners of the hall, Robert Perakis and his wife, Linda, are expected to be charged with permitting gambling apparatus on a premises, a 1-year misdemeanor punishable with a $500 fine, and running a gambling house, punishable with a 2-year jail sentence and $1,000 fine. They also are expected to be charged by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission since the hall has a liquor license.
    Neither Perakis nor his wife could be reached for comment. Perakis is a former state legislator from Clinton Township.
    Money confiscated from the players will be kept by police as part of the state's seizure law, said Clinton Township police Capt. Fred Posavetz.
    The players questioned can expect to be charged with frequenting a gambling establishment, a misdemeanor.
    Posavetz said players paid $40 to enter the "No-Limit Texas Hold 'em Tournament." Players could work their way into the winner's bracket for a chance at a top prize of $10,000. Those who lost could continue playing at one of many side tables.
    "The game is extremely popular because it's on TV every day," Posavetz said. "People around here must like it because there were 60 people at the card game when we raided it."
    Posavetz said players found out about the tournament through word of mouth.
    He said police received a tip and set up surveillance of the hall Thursday. He said the players started gambling at 4 p.m.
    Police said they were told a similar tournament was held at the Imperial House last month.
    "If you walk up to the hall you wouldn't even know there was a card game for big stakes going on there," Posavetz said. "The people we talked to were from all over southeastern Michigan, including Canada, Allen Park and Monroe."
    Officers seized $26,405 from money tills at the bar and two at the gambling tables, and $30,000 from the tables.
    "It was a serious card game," Posavetz said. "There now are probably a lot of families going without food because the money was gambled away."
    </SPAN>
     
  2. Artiecat Artiecat is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 7:40am) in reply to Artiecat

    Here are a few of my comments from this story that I found amusing:

    "If you walk up to the hall you wouldn't even know there was a card game for big stakes going on there," Posavetz said.

    This is because no one was even playing cards. We were all eating chicken and bowtie pasta.

    Officers seized $26,405 from money tills at the bar and two at the gambling tables, and $30,000 from the tables.

    Tills? I guess the "tills" they are referring to must be our pockets and wallets.

    "It was a serious card game," Posavetz said. "There now are probably a lot of families going without food because the money was gambled away."

    The money wasn't gambled away, the police politely removed it from our wallets. I'm hungry!
     
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  3. cmitch cmitch is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 7:42am) in reply to Artiecat

    I like the following two lines. It really shows some people's lack of understanding.

    Posavetz said players paid $40 to enter


    "It was a serious card game," Posavetz said. "There now are probably a lot of families going without food because the money was gambled away."

    I think a lot of people with probably a lot less money spend more than that on lottery tickets every week. Doesn't Michigan have a lottery? Doesn't the state get a cut of the money from the lottery?

    cmitch
  4. Artiecat Artiecat is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 7:56am) in reply to cmitch

    Exactly cmitch. The double standard is what bothers me the most.
     
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  5. h3llo7 h3llo7 is offline

    Birmingham, MI
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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 8:44am) in reply to Artiecat

    How do 60 people paying 40 each have a chance to win 10k, i wanna get in that game?!
  6. scotto67 scotto67 is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 11:04am) in reply to Artiecat

    WOW!!! 40$ high stakes LOL.........Just shows that reporters act like they know what they are talking about!!!
  7. Ballistik Ballistik is offline

    Riverview, MI
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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 11:11am) in reply to scotto67

    $40 card game yet they seized over $50k, something doesnt add up. I think Nip said it was a $350 game. I hope the rest of the state doesnt get a hard on and start busting other games. I better get a fake ID if there just gonna take your info.
  8. niptuck niptuck is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 12:23pm) in reply to Ballistik

    It sounds like the $40 were satellites to the main event. I know nothing. I was just there eating chicken. Dropped a frind off. Charity event. In fact, I'm not even sure I was there now.

    They did forget to mention that NOBODY was even playing cards when the raid happened. No cards, chips, or money were at the poker tables. The alleged main event was to start in about 10 minutes or so.
  9. cracknaces cracknaces is offline

    Las Vegas, NV
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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 1:05pm) in reply to niptuck

    I hate pigs.....
     
  10. xcalibur1120 xcalibur1120 is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 1:36pm) in reply to Ballistik

    It adds up if you think about it. It was a Bodog sponsored event....jk
  11. TheJacob TheJacob is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 2:16pm) in reply to xcalibur1120

    A $40 live game is "High Stakes" these days?
  12. dead_plant dead_plant is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 3:26pm) in reply to TheJacob

    wow...$40=high stakes....what do you call WSOP then?
  13. PuertoKid PuertoKid is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 4:22pm) in reply to Artiecat

    >Money confiscated from the players will be kept by police as part of the state's seizure law, said >Clinton Township police Capt. Fred Posavetz.

    This is an example of the civil forfeiture laws that are rampant in the US. It is pretty horrid stuff that most people do not experience and are thus unaware of. Civil forfeiture laws are the cause of some obscene injustice in our society.
  14. Electric_Eye Electric_Eye is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 5:20pm) in reply to Artiecat

    I live in the Detroit area, and am in the process of starting up a live monthly tournament for friends and co-workers. A few days ago, we were looking up the legislation on this exact thing, just to make sure we weren't digging a hole for ourselves. I found the following on homepokergames.com

    "The Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act defines "gambling game" as any dice or card game played for money or some other form of value, "but does not include games played with cards in private homes or residences in which no person makes money for operating the game, except as a player."

    That seemed a little vague, so I called a gaming lawyer in the area (luckily, my mom, who owns a small pub in the city, had the number to one in her rolodex), and found out the following:

    1) The "private home" rule is strictly enforced. This is the cause of many busts, including pubs/restaraunts/halls/etc. (The Clinton Twp. game was in violation of this)

    2) The "rake" rule is also strictly enforced, although there are ways around it by simply taking a collection for food, drink, etc. (note: you cannot include alchohol or tobacco , as doing this would count as distribution, and you'd be in violation of the state ATF laws)

    3) Something not stated here, but of upmost importance, is that no minors are allowed to be present AT ALL in the house if there's a game going on. If caught, the house would be subject to the same penalties as any gambling establishment who breaks the age limit laws.

    4) Also something not stated here, if the "prize" value exceeds $500 for any given contest that would be considering gambling, then the players and game organizers are in violation of the state gambling restrictions and are subject to prosecution (I think this, more than anything, explains the reason for the bust at the club in Clinton Twp.)

    5) Lastly, he explained that many, many local lodges and clubs, i.e. Elks, Moose, etc., use charitable donations and 50/50-type rules to soften the heat, but often run the same type of tournaments with a little accounting adjustment for expenses.

    So, to recap, play at home, don't take a rake, take the kids to your mothers, keep the big money at the bank, and join your local ELKS chapter today!
  15. XXXBEARXXX XXXBEARXXX is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 5:47pm) in reply to Artiecat

    NOT FUNNY AND THE TICKET REALY SUCKED
  16. Artiecat Artiecat is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 7:19pm) in reply to XXXBEARXXX

    What did you get a ticket for xxxBear?
     
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  17. rndr21 rndr21 is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 7:38pm) in reply to Artiecat

    TILLS are registers.
  18. XXXBEARXXX XXXBEARXXX is offline

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    Feb 13th, 2006 (2/13/2006 9:17pm) in reply to Artiecat

    GUESS
    ITS HAPPEND BEFORE
    THE VFW HALL ON 9 MILE LAST TIME
    WAS JUST PLAYING
    MAINLY LOOKING FOR A LITTLE AFTER GAME
    greektown_fox
    XXXBEARXXX
  19. Dumb Walrus Dumb Walrus is offline

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    Feb 14th, 2006 (2/14/2006 12:43am) in reply to XXXBEARXXX

    Did they announce if JJ's Grandma was held for questioning in the raid?
  20. TheCartel TheCartel is offline

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    Feb 16th, 2006 (2/16/2006 10:50pm) in reply to Artiecat

    I called up the guy who wrote the article along with the police captain mentioned. The reporter seemed to have no clue what was going on and had no idea how $50,000 was siezed at a $40 tournament. He kept saying that the buy in was $40 but the stakes were higher. When I asked him what he meant by that he said he really didn't know. I asked what he thought would happen to the money that was siezed from people's wallets, and he believed that the police would keep in in exchange for dropping all charges. I wasn't really getting any good info from him so I asked for Cpt Posavetz' number. Posavetz called me back today and seemed to be a reasonable guy. He gave me some details on what went on, and said that everyone who had money taken from them (outside of the tournament buy in) would have it returned. I would like to hear if anyone who was there actually gets that money back, so if you were there feel free to send me a PM. I also still have both the phone numbers so if anyone else is interested PM me for those.
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