Gambling is illegal in Colorado – unless Colorado gets a cut of the action.
And when it comes to this revenue supply, Colorado can get somewhat humorless about enforcement.
Last year, for instance, officers in SWAT gear arrested 25 people in a courageous raid of an “illegal gambling ring.”
This particular illegal gambling ring operated out of a Palmer Lake family restaurant, about halfway to Colorado Springs, where criminal masterminds charged almost a dollar extra for beers in the “gambling room.”
Eventually, the El Paso County DA’s office came to its senses and dismissed the charges in exchange for a $50 donation to a charity – and I don’t believe the Colorado Lottery was acceptable.
Nineteen consented to the deal, and three took their chances.
Last week, local authorities – sans SWAT gear – raided two social clubs on East Colfax, Hop Sing Tong and Asian International, arresting 41 patrons on charges of illegal gambling.
Honestly, you can’t exactly fault the police for raiding Hop Sing Tong club. Have you ever driven by the Hop Sing Tong? It’s a windowless “social” club that resembles the sort of establishment where a Joe Pesci character might hang out with Paulie Walnuts.
Does that constitute probable cause?
Probably not. It’s just my imagination.
Robert Brown, agent-in-charge of Gaming/Complex Crimes at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, wants to make sure Denverites do not develop an irrational fear regarding the “complex” laws governing gambling.
In fact, Brown goes out of his way to detail the way we can gamble legally.
First, gamble with people you have a social relationship with. What exactly is a social relationship? Does it mean there’s been an exchange of bodily fluids?
“You and four co-workers … or several members of your church, for example, that’s the kind of social relationship we’re talking about,” explains Brown. “The gambling has to be incidental. It’s important that you don’t come together for the purposes of gambling, that you know each other for other reasons.”
More important, according to Brown, is that authorities typically won’t interfere with commonplace, low-grade gambling. “The Colorado Bureau of Investigation wouldn’t look at it. Nobody would look at it,” he claims.
Brown says that it’s professional gambling that brings the heat – “gambling that is aiding or inducing another to gamble and deriving a profit there from.”
For instance, the raid on Hop Sing Tong last week had more to do with licensed dealers than $3 bets.
“The reason these clubs use licensed dealers is that it lends credibility to the illegal games,” explains Brown.
Which is, of course, unfair to the hundreds of dealers who do follow the law.
“We are not trying to damper, if you will, illegal gambling in Colorado – though that was a byproduct of the raid.”
So what do we make of the Texas Hold ‘Em Nights in Denver, from “gentleman’s cabarets” to restaurants and bars?
How do they get away with gambling? Surely profits are being reaped?
“Here’s how you do it,” Brown, again, helpfully explains. “Let’s say I own a bar. I really want to do something to boost business. I want to sell more booze and more food. I say OK, Saturday night at 8, I’m going to have a poker tournament. I’m going to do this legally. So here’s what I say: C’mon down, play in my poker tournament. It costs you absolutely nothing to play in my tournament. You don’t have to buy a drink. You don’t have to buy a hot dog. You don’t have to buy anything. And at the end of the night I’m going to give away a trip to Las Vegas, Nev., for three days. That’s legal.”
To help citizens understand the para meters of legal gambling, Attorney General John Suthers has laid out all the specifics on his website. It’s a good read.
For instance, it’s illegal to gamble online, so keep it to yourself. “Charitable” poker tournaments? Not allowed.
And just because you’re closer to God than I am doesn’t mean your church can house a slot machine in the basement.
Just in case you were wondering.
David Harsanyi’s column runs Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 303-820-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
