Seven Charged in Poker Raids...
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/250589
Aug 28, 2007 11:24 AM
Curtis Rush
Staff Reporter
Police have charged seven people with running illegal gambling houses following a series of raids in Mississauga in which as many as 80 people were arrested.
Members of the OPP's Illegal Gambling Unit, in co-operation with the Peel Regional Police, executed search warrants on four Mississauga businesses in the past several weeks.
After an investigation that began last December, police raided one unit in Mississauga on July 21 and busted two operations last Sunday and one on Monday, according to Det. Staff Sgt. Clint Hunter.
He said the investigation confirmed that four gaming houses were inviting the public to attend to play Texas Hold 'em and other games of poker, with people charging fees from the activity.
The warrants were executed at Topflight Poker Club, 125 Topflight Dr.; Pockets at 6160 Netherhart Rd., Unit No. 10; No Limit Club at 5500 Tomken Rd., Unit 8; and Hollywood, at 2408 Haines Rd., Unit 5.
Police decided not to charge the players, who were released unconditionally.
But police laid charges of keeping a common gaming house against the operators of the establishments.
The OPP's Illegal Gambling Unit is part of the OPP's Organized Crime Section. It is a specialized police unit headed by the OPP in partnership with police services in Toronto, London, Peel, York, Windsor and Ottawa.
The unit is responsible for investigating province-wide illegal gambling operations.
Police say millions of dollars are made from these operations and often the proceeds can wind up with organized crime. Sometimes drugs and weapons are seized, but none were seized in these latest raids, police said.
Aug 28, 2007 11:24 AM
Curtis Rush
Staff Reporter
Police have charged seven people with running illegal gambling houses following a series of raids in Mississauga in which as many as 80 people were arrested.
Members of the OPP's Illegal Gambling Unit, in co-operation with the Peel Regional Police, executed search warrants on four Mississauga businesses in the past several weeks.
After an investigation that began last December, police raided one unit in Mississauga on July 21 and busted two operations last Sunday and one on Monday, according to Det. Staff Sgt. Clint Hunter.
He said the investigation confirmed that four gaming houses were inviting the public to attend to play Texas Hold 'em and other games of poker, with people charging fees from the activity.
The warrants were executed at Topflight Poker Club, 125 Topflight Dr.; Pockets at 6160 Netherhart Rd., Unit No. 10; No Limit Club at 5500 Tomken Rd., Unit 8; and Hollywood, at 2408 Haines Rd., Unit 5.
Police decided not to charge the players, who were released unconditionally.
But police laid charges of keeping a common gaming house against the operators of the establishments.
The OPP's Illegal Gambling Unit is part of the OPP's Organized Crime Section. It is a specialized police unit headed by the OPP in partnership with police services in Toronto, London, Peel, York, Windsor and Ottawa.
The unit is responsible for investigating province-wide illegal gambling operations.
Police say millions of dollars are made from these operations and often the proceeds can wind up with organized crime. Sometimes drugs and weapons are seized, but none were seized in these latest raids, police said.
Comments
I fixed your post
Should be requoted as "Police have made a million dollars from these raids ..."
Organized crime
Fuck our government, this makes me sick. I am seriously frustrated by the number of morons in the world to whom we are degenerates instead of enthusiasts.
I did not see 'The Unit' mentioned here. Hmmm, skull back at work?
Related question. Say you are playing and have 500 in chips on the table when the club gets raided. Does the club make it up to you at some point or are you SOL? What if it got robbed instead of raided?
LOL! Only a poker player would ask that.
If I'm visiting my crack dealer and I've already slept with him; and he gets busted...does he owe me my shit?
Seriously though, I'd guess raided =no. Robbed =maybe/yes (since security is the clubs job): I wonder if anyone here knows for sure?
Kristy.. To answer that last question I would say its very unlikely that they would make amends unless of course they had the intentions of reopening elsewhere. When Topflight was busted I had 500 invested into that tournament but never expected to get it back, I have even made numerous trip to Niagara since with the owner and the thought of getting my cash back has never crossed my mind. The way I look at it is that we're playing in an illegal establishment and we are taking the risk.
Sidenote: When are you heading up for the 640 or have you gone? I will be there this friday.
Kristy, now that's funny, have you really done that?
Voodoo, why do you always seem like a voice of reason and sanity around here? I would not expect my money back from a situation like that either although if I was a club owner who opened back up, I would try and give my regulars some "extra" special treatment for coming back.
I don't think anywhere in this article it says that the poker players are degenerates, the players actually got off scott free. I'm certain that most police officers play poker as well and consider themselves enthusiasts, same with the politicians that make the laws.
It's like anything else, the few bad apples in the group can make the whole look bad. Are there poker clubs that are involved with organized crime, I'm not sure. However it's something that isn't completely unreasonable. As long as the bad seeds are out there causing problems within poker clubs, while running poker clubs etc. and the 'sad stories' are filtered down to the politicians nothing will change.
I think all we can do as responsible poker players is keep being positive and make our own efforts to not give poker a further bad name. We continue to do that the govenment will come around. You can't expect it to happen over night.
stp
I'm thinking about this Fri. not sure yet because I'm moving this week. Do you want to have dinner if I go? I'll PM my cell and you can let me know.
I'm inclined to intuit the same re: money lost. There'd need to be some action made to ease the transition when robbed if said owners wanted to run another club. (though that may only come in the form of increased security measures) raided I'd think you're SOL.
Shannon, the fact that its illegal infers we are degenerates. The private sentiments of the individuals mean nothing if they are not taking action and voicing those thoughts for change.
Assuming my poker bankroll remains healthy, I'll probably buy in directly for a $1,200 satellite next month. So Voodoo, if you want to sell one of your vouchers, please PM me.