July 18th, 2008
excerpt:
WHEELING – A planned poker tournament Saturday at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County, W.Va., is “not permissible” under state law, West Virginia Lottery Commission general counsel John Melton said.
In fact, Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie, speaking in his capacity as a state senator from Ohio County, called the tournament “completely illegal.”
The question now is how law enforcement officials in Pocahontas County will react to the event.
The West Virginia Poker Tour 2008, sponsored by West Virginia Radio Corp., is scheduled Saturday at Snowshoe. It will feature 96 participants from around the state who qualified through various radio contests playing for a chance to go to Las Vegas and participate in next year’s World Series of Poker event.
The grand prize from Saturday’s event is airfare to Las Vegas, plus payment of the winner’s $10,000 entry fee in the 2009 World Series of Poker event. Second- through sixth-place finishers in Saturday’s event also will receive non-monetary prizes ranging in value from $1,000 to $200.
Melton on Thursday told The Intelligencer that such tournaments are illegal in West Virginia, as the only facilities permitted to have gambling in any form are the state’s four racetracks and businesses that have state-sanctioned limited video gambling machines.
Click here to read more:
Will Poker Event Be Forced to Fold? – The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
Author Contact Info: John McCabe
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