Topless Home Poker Game Busted

Laurie Anderson, a professional stripper, dealt for some of the games and served liquor, often topless.

A Delaware man and his wife were arrested Tuesday for running a home game of Texas Hold'em that had escalated into a casino enterprise, with more fun than many casinos provide. Wlliam Shane Anderson, a 37-year-old resident of Middleton, his wife, Laurie, also 37, and Matthew Balotin were arrested. They were charged with advancing gambling, possesion of gambling devices, providing premises for gambling, conspiracy, and three counts of child endangerment.

After Anderson lost his job, he apparently decided to make his home poker game into his new career. Games were set up several times a week, with high-entry stakes the norm. Anderson even took credit cards. Laurie Anderson, a professional stripper, dealt for some of the games and served liquor, often topless. Balotin was a hired dealer; the Andersons also had a bouncer working the door.

Police were alerted to the game by neighbors tired of the late-night noise and parking problems. The child-endangerment charges were due to the presence of the Andersons' children in the house, albeit in other rooms. Police have a list of players, including neighborhood friends, and warn further charges may be coming.

Still, one anonymous Middleton gambler said, "They're (the police) just angry because no taxes were collected. Nobody was harmed by Laurie's boobs, and some of us were the better for it."

Neighborhood games take place all over every city in the U.S. Some are too small to trouble with; others, run by big shots like Hollywood stars, are too connected to raid. The sheer number causes police to shake their heads and turn a blind eye, de facto legalization by popularity. Perhaps it is time to take the next step: all the soccer moms who have games ongoing in their kitchens and garages, take off that top! Ensure future attendance at each of the hubby's games and let those puppies breathe; if not for poker and a good night's fun, then for America! For Freedom!

News Added: 27 February, 2008

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