Courtesy of: http://www.fortwayne.com
By: Kevin Leininger
According to the state Gaming Commission, there are 10 casinos in Indiana – all on boats along Lake Michigan or the Ohio River.
You could say Fort Wayne has had a casino for the last year or so, too. Whether it’s legal may be a matter of interpretation.
Even though it’s discreetly tucked away in the back of a gray concrete office building in a north-side industrial park, the Hold’em Palace isn’t exactly a secret. Its Web page (www.theholdempalace.com) openly invites the public to 5125 Executive Blvd., where for a fee of up to $300 you can play poker to win prizes, including up to $2,000 in cash.
According to state law, it is a Class D felony to “conduct any banking or percentage games played with cards, dice or counters, or accept any fixed share of the stakes therein,” or to “accept, or offer to accept, for profit, money or other property risked in gambling.”
But is the Hold’em Palace illegal? And who decides?
Not the Gaming Commission, which regulates the 10 licensed casinos and fundraising games of chance operated by nonprofit agencies.
Not the Indiana Excise Police, since Hold’em Palace doesn’t serve alcohol. It doesn’t even allow people to smoke.
Any legal challenge apparently rests with Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards, who said she was aware of what goes on there but couldn’t discuss its legality, or lack thereof.
“At this point in time, there’s no case (against Hold’em Palace),” she said.
“If there was something illegal going on here, they’d shut us down,” owner Caream Kamide said – perhaps sarcastically, perhaps not. “They have to enforce the law equally.”
According to Kamide, what goes on at Hold’em Palace isn’t poker-for-money in the usual sense. He may be right. I saw no money on the table waiting to be claimed by the lucky stiff with the winning hand. Instead, players pay an entrance fee, and Kamide said he decides how much to award in winnings.
As for the Web page’s promise of cash, Kamide said he awards gift cards to Little Vegas, his 10-year-old business that sells and rents a variety of gaming equipment that is, conveniently enough, at 5123 Executive Blvd.
Winners must redeem at least 5 percent of the cards’ value at Little Vegas, Kamide said. As for the other 95 percent, well ...
Kamide didn’t want to be specific. But as one player told me, “Come back on Friday night. You could win $800 to $1,000.”
But remember: The law prohibits accepting “a fixed share of the stakes” or to “risk” property gambling.
As Kamide describes his operation, it does neither. It’s more like a contest – which is, I suppose, his very point. Some officials in the local criminal justice system don’t buy that argument. But the very existence of doubt illustrates the ridiculousness of Indiana’s approach to gambling.
Richards said she could go after illegal gambling every day, but usually prosecutes only if presented a solid case by police. She knows of nothing in Allen County similar to Hold’em Palace, however.
Ever since the Hoosier Lottery was born in 1989, Indiana has tried to have it both ways when it comes to gambling. If the state regulates it and gets its cut, gambling is good and, for the sake of taxpayers, should be allowed to expand at rates that would have alarmed previous generations. If not, gambling remains immoral and must be stamped out.
So duly licensed charities are free to run their bingo games and casino nights, while other not-for-profit groups and bars are losing thousands of dollars because of crackdowns on illegal gambling machines.
And even those casino nights can be legally tricky, as Kamide knows. The Indiana Department of Revenue fined him $5,000 in 1998 after he organized and staffed fundraisers for five local charities. To receive a license, people working at such events must be affiliated with the charity.
The state accused Kamide of “deceit and misrepresentation” by claiming he and his workers were members of the organization.
Is Hold’em Palace illegal? Who knows? If it is, officials should do something about it. If it’s not – if state gaming laws really are so elastic – perhaps it’s time to re-examine all of those laws.
Gambling is either immoral or it isn’t. If it’s not wrong, Kamide is harming no one. If gambling is wrong, a lot of other people – including the state itself – should share his fate.
If there is one.
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