Poker tournament canceled after cops' probe

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A Sunday poker tournament at a downtown venue has been canceled after police said housing it would be illegal.

The Southwest Poker Invitational, an all-day invitation-only event, was promoted as featuring six-time World Series of Poker champion T.J. Cloutier. The tournament at Bass Hall's Maddox-Muse Center was touted as a charity event, with some proceeds going to the Peace Officers Memorial Foundation.

Promoters had assured the hall there were no problems with the event's legality, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its online edition Friday. But they agreed to cancel the event after learning of the halls legal concerns, said Paul Beard, managing director of Performing Arts Fort Worth Inc., which owns Bass Hall.

At issue, Fort Worth vice officer Ed Adcock said, was participants' $400 tournament fee. Texas law prohibits the holder of an on-premises alcoholic beverage permit, which Bass Hall has, from hosting a poker tournament in which participants risk money for the chance to win a prize.

Participants could have been cited for gambling, a Class C misdemeanor, money and gambling paraphernalia could have been seized. In addition, Bass Hall could have lost its liquor license and faced other sanctions, Adcock said.

Police began investigating the tournament because of a complaint made to the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission in Austin, said Karridy Askenasy, creator and executive producer of True Texas Poker, the key sponsor of the tournament. Two off-duty Fort Worth police officers had been hired to work security at the tournament.

About 290 people had already registered to play _ some from other states _ and as many as 350 were expected. Some had already prepaid to reserve a spot, and their money will have to be returned, Askenasy said.

The cancellation only hurts Texas, he said.

"These people are still going to go play poker ... to a poker room, to a friends house, across the border," Askenasy said. "They're going to spend that money and they're going to do it in other states, and were not going to see any of it. Were not going to see tax revenues, and the families of these fallen officers _ they're not going to see anything of it."

News Added: 10 June, 2006

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