Recent raid ups ante for Valley's poker players

April 27, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

WASILLA - When Tennessee accountant Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker's Main Event in 2003, he set off a tidal wave of poker popularity in the United States that has yet to crest.

Today, poker has become a nationwide phenomenon, with high-profile professional players competing with amateurs for billions of dollars in prize money annually. The most popular form of the game - no limit Texas Hold 'Em - is widely televised and played by millions of players in live games and online on a daily basis.

Poker in Alaska occupies a gray area of legality. Gambling for money in the state is technically illegal, although authorities typically turn a blind eye to casual “home” games played between friends.

But players who want live action on a regular basis are often out of luck. Underground, for-profit - or “raked” - poker rooms in the state operate outside the law, but raids on such games are rare.

That changed in the Valley on April 14, when members of the Alaska State Troopers' Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement, along with Palmer and Wasilla police, conducted a high-profile bust on a Wasilla building that led to the arrest - and subsequent felony charges - against five area residents. Warrants were also served on six private residences in Anchorage and the Valley.

The bust has led to renewed debate about whether the game should be legal in Alaska. And it raised questions about using limited police resources on trying to crack down on what players say is a victimless crime.

‘Aren't we the meth

capital of Alaska?'

Wayne McGregor loves poker. Go online, and you'll find a picture of Wayne standing proudly beside poker legend Doyle Brunson, both grinning from ear to ear. Raised in Wales, he speaks with a slight accent that gives away his background, despite the fact that he's a naturalized American citizen who spent 21 years in the United States Air Force. He's not shy about his pro-poker stance, and speaks passionately and convincingly about the game he loves.

As president of the Alaska Poker Association, McGregor is the most visible and outspoken poker player in the state. The APA's stated mission is to legalize poker in Alaska, and McGregor says it's high time the game he loves is allowed to emerge from below the table.

“We want a clean, safe, comfortable environment to play the game we love,” McGregor said earlier this week from the Best Western Lake Lucille Inn in Wasilla.

As head of the APA, McGregor was waiting for one of the group's many free tournaments to begin. The APA sponsors a series of games at local establishments that allow players to get a small taste of tournament poker.

The games attract as many as a hundred players and are played on virtually every night of the week. Prizes are generally small - the Best Western puts up a night in the hotel for first prize - but players can't resist getting whatever action they can.

But poker is as much a mental game as it is one of chance. And when players can't play for something meaningful - their own money - the game changes. For example, bluffs are easier to call in a free game because there's really nothing on the line.

“It's a psychological game,” said McGregor. “It needs to be played for something of value.”

McGregor envisions a world where players can someday put down real money without having to worry about cops busting down the door. He'd like to see the game legalized completely, with local businesses set up to run the games.

But that doesn't look like it's happening any time soon. A bill in the Alaska Legislature two years ago that sought the limited legalization of the game was struck down, and lawmakers appear in no hurry to take up the issue again.

“I don't understand why some politician can't show some backbone,” McGregor said.

Because the game is still illegal, McGregor said players are forced to play in fear - both of the police and of criminals looking to make a quick buck.

“The scary thing is not necessarily the authorities, it's people robbing these places,” he said.

McGregor knew many of the people arrested in the Wasilla raid two weeks ago. He said he's been told that there were as many as 20 police officers - armed with automatic weapons - involved in the bust. He said he can't understand why police are using valuable resources to arrest otherwise law-abiding citizens for gambling with their own money.

“Aren't we the meth capital of Alaska?” he asks. “Why are we busting poker games?”

‘No one is going to Gestapo-style raid your house on Super Bowl Sunday.'

Palmer Assistant District Attorney Richard Payne has a simple answer for McGregor. Payne said that the game in question was flaunting the law, holding highly visible, for-profit games in Wasilla that could no longer be ignored.

“This wasn't people playing poker in the sense of you and me in our basement,” Payne said. “This was a building set aside for the sole purpose of gambling where the house was taking a rake.”

The building in question sits alone on a short cul-de-sac completely visible to drivers on busy Bogard Road. The neighborhood is mostly made up of small businesses. The local Boys and Girls club sits just down the road.

Payne said his office and troopers were aware of the game going on, and after getting numerous tips from the public, decided some action must be taken.

“We had to do something,” he said.

Payne pointed out that the building was set up with infrared cameras and bars on the door.

“It wasn't a house,” he said. “This was a business.”

When troopers went in, they seized $9,000 in cash, along with 11 poker tables, chips and ledgers. They also arrested five people in connection with the case - including a homemaker, a baker, a blood bank employee, a truck driver and an assistant principal at Chugiak High School.

Troopers said the five were identified as the “ringleaders” in the case. They were all arrested and booked, then charged with two felony counts, including first-degree promotion of gambling and possession of gambling records. A half-dozen players at the house were given tickets and released.

Alaska statutes say that in order for the activity to constitute an organized gambling ring, at least five individuals must be involved.

The five are scheduled to be arraigned in Palmer District Court on Monday.

Each felony count carries with it up to five years in prison.

Payne said it's unlikely the state will pursue such harsh penalties, although he wouldn't specify what penalties would be sought.

“I think that we're just going to pursue justice in this case,” he said.

Despite the crackdown, Payne said people shouldn't be worried about the police getting tough on recreational poker players.

“No one is going to Gestapo-style raid your house on Super Bowl Sunday,” he said.

Still, as long as such activity is illegal, Payne said the state has a responsibility to stop it.

“It's the law.”

‘If we expect our students to follow the rules, then I expect our employees to do the same thing.'

For at least one of the five people arrested in the raid, punishment is already being handed down.

In addition to owning the building on Bogard Road, James “Jimmy” McDowell was an assistant principal at Chugiak High School. But once he was arrested, McDowell's job security was called into serious question.

His employer, the Anchorage School District, placed McDowell on administrative leave pending troopers' and its own investigation into the case. On Thursday, ASD Superintendent Carol Comeau said she was angry when she heard of McDowell's alleged involvement.

“If we expect our students to follow the rules, then I expect our employees to do the same thing,” Comeau said.

Comeau said McDowell doesn't necessarily have to be found guilty of a crime to face school district discipline.

“Our sanctions do not necessarily have to meet the same standards as law enforcement,” she said.

Comeau said the arrest of one of the district's administrators gave the school district a black eye.

“When our employees violate the law, they really reflect on the school district,” she said.

Comeau said she understands how poker is viewed by much of mainstream society. But she said that as long as the game is technically illegal, her employees need to understand that they need to stay away from the tables.

“I understand poker is a very popular sport in this country,” she said. “But it clearly is illegal in the state of Alaska.”

‘Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?'

McDowell's suspension, as well as the potential for criminal charges against the others involved, seriously bothers Wayne McGregor. He said he believes the superintendent and school district should have supported their employee as long as no one is convicted of a crime.

“What happened to innocent until proven guilty?” he asked. “Whatever happened to, ‘we have no comment because there is an ongoing investigation?'”

McGregor also said he has a big problem with how the raids were carried out. He said it was dangerous for police to make such a strong show of force when they entered the establishment.

“The bottom line is, they came smashing down the door with automatic weapons,” he said.

McGregor said it makes no sense that the state is trying to make criminals out of consenting adults spending their own money.

“These are not the dregs of society,” he said.

He said police resources could be better served by trying to reduce things like drug and child abuse. He also pointed out that police were never called to the Bogard game for any disturbances before the big raid.

“Ask them how many times the cops were called to that place for disturbances,” he said. “Never.”

He also pointed out that despite the police searching vehicles in the parking lot, not a single person was charged with any drug- or alcohol-related crimes.

As further support for legalizing poker in Alaska, McGregor also cited the fact that other forms of gambling - such as pull tabs and bingo - are currently allowed by the state. Unlike poker, he said those games are purely ones of chance where the house has an inherent advantage.

“Pull tabs, bingo, you play long enough, you cannot win,” he said.

Since poker involves more skill, he said, it doesn't involve the same levels of risk because skilled players can tilt the odds in their favor.

“I don't see it as a gambling entity,” he said. “It's a game of skill.”

He said poker has become so popular because of the fact that anyone can play, practice and get good enough at the game to be competitive.

“Is there a luck factor? Yes. Does that constitute gambling? Probably. But the better player is going to win over time more than the less-skilled player,” he said. “I couldn't play (tennis champion Roger) Federer. But I could play the world champion in poker.”

McGregor understands that the game is illegal. But his argument is that its relative harm to society is negligible and that by busting the games police are, in effect, doing more harm than good.

“If they took something from every pot to pay for food and drinks and whatever, I don't blame them. What harm did it do?” he said. “But yes, if they took a rake, that is illegal.”

And as long as it remains illegal, McGregor said he plans to do everything in his power to fight to legalize the game and ensure that future situations such as the one in Wasilla don't occur.

“Poker is woven into the fabric of America,” he said.

That includes Alaska, where until changes to existing laws are made, players will remain on the fringes of the law. McGregor said he has no plans to give up his fight to legalize the game any time soon.

“My whole thing is that I want it legal.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com