Published: July 18, 2008 11:26 am      

Lottery: Snowshoe poker event illegal

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.

Poker and other table games currently are permissible only at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack in Wheeling and at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort in Chester — and those two tracks paid a $2.5 million licensing fee for that privilege. Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center in Cross Lanes, W.Va., also is working toward opening its table gambling facility.

“When the Legislature passed the table games law in 2007, they decided what tables games are and who can possess them,” Melton said. “Before that law was passed, this was a gray area for us where charities could have events such as casino nights, but it seems in our reading of the law now that any type of gambling that takes place outside the approved facilities is not permissible.

“It’s our official position that tournaments such as this are not legal,” he said.

McKenzie introduced the table gambling bill that lawmakers passed last year. He agrees with Melton’s interpretation of the table gambling law.

He said poker tournaments such as the one planned for Snowshoe are “completely illegal, even before we had the table games legislation.”

“My opinion as a legislator is that this type of activity was illegal prior to table games, and then we tightened up the law with the new table games bill,” McKenzie said. “I think the state should get directly involved in this matter, because they are breaking state law.”

Melton cited West Virginia Code Chapter 61, Article 10, which covers “Crimes Against Public Policy” when describing the lottery commission’s official stance. Sections one through nine of that article deal specifically with gambling.

According to section one, “Any person who shall keep or exhibit a gaming table or any slot machine ... whether the game, table, bank, machine or device be played with cards, dice or otherwise ... shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than two nor more than 12 months and be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.”

Section two states that “If any person knowingly permits a gaming table, bank or device, such as is mentioned in the preceding section, to be kept or exhibited on any premises in his occupation, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than one year, and be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.”

Section three deals with those who serve as guards for illegal gambling, while section four defines and describes the penalties for “Playing or betting at gaming tables and devices.” Section five involves betting on games of chance.

Sections six through eight deal with gambling at hotels, while section nine deals with those who cheat at gambling.

Melton said while the lottery commission can rule that such poker tournaments are illegal, it has no enforcement power. He said law enforcement officials in Pocahontas County would have to pursue the matter.

When contacted Thursday, Pocahontas County Prosecutor Walt Weiford said he was not aware of the poker tournament at Snowshoe but added, “I will take a look into it.”

Pocahontas County Sheriff Robert Alkire also said he was unaware of the event.

Christian Miller, market manager for Morgantown-based West Virginia Radio Corp., called the poker tournament “a typical radio contest.” He questioned what would make the tournament illegal, “as there’s no cash being disbursed,” and said there’s also no entry fee for participants in the event.

He also said last year’s West Virginia Poker Tour event sponsored by West Virginia Radio Corp. and held at Stonewall Jackson Resort received the blessing of the state lottery commission.

“We don’t look at this as a tournament, we look at this as a radio promotion,” Miller said.

Snowshoe spokeswoman Laura Parquette said she could not comment on the event.