Gambling House in Memphis Busted.
20th November, 2007
An alleged gambling house is raided over the weekend by Little Rock police. It was a business called National Poker Challenge. It just opened in September. It's based out of Memphis and the owners maintain they were not breaking any of Arkansas' gambling laws.
Not only did police arrest a handful of staff, they also confiscated the tables and cards. It turns out the facility was under investigation from day one.
Sunday night, Little Rock police officers loaded up everything they confiscated from inside the National Poker Challenge facility on Rodney Parham Road.
A handful of people were arrested. The customers were allowed to just go home. Richard Orrick is a dealer there.
Orrick says, "I think they could have written a letter, this could have been taken care of in court. We don't think we're criminals and we don’t think we're doing anything illegal."
The facility opened in September under advisement from the city attorney it would be against the law. But company leaders say what they were doing was legal because they don't require participants pay to play. On the other hand, you do have to pay if you want to have your winnings and losses tracked. That can enter you into bigger tournaments where there are prizes.
National Poker Challenge officials were not available to go on camera but told Today's THV those arrested Sunday night bonded out around 5:00 Monday morning. They also say they look forward to challenging this in court and reopening their doors.
A statement released from National Poker Challenge's head office in Memphis says we maintain all games are legal and this harassment by the police is unnecessary and will ultimately fail in the courts.
Terry Hastings with the Little Rock police department says the operators had fair warning what they were doing was considered illegal.
Hastings says, "The city attorney and prosecuting attorney both told these people this was illegal, they can't do it. They were told then to not open, but on advice of their attorney in some other state, they decided to open."
A total of five people were arrested. That includes the franchise owner, and four dealers.
