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#243 – Adventures in the Law, Part IV – Mike Gracz, Surrounded by a Fence
Last weekend, Mike Gracz, winner of both a World Series bracelet and a WPT event, was arrested in his home state of North Carolina along with 60 others on the misdemeanor charge of “engaging in a game of chance.” Another 10 were charged with “operating a game of chance.”
What mystified me about this story is how I learned of it. When I signed on to AOL on September 11, it was the lead story on the Welcome page. On September 11.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the only way George Bush is going to ever catch Osama bin Laden is if bin Laden takes up poker.
This is really the other shoe dropping from a bad decision of the North Carolina Court of Appeals earlier this year. I wrote about this case in Entries 120-122 in early May. Essentially, the plaintiff was a guy who had no expectation of success seeking a declaratory judgment that he could open a poker club and getting poker declared a game of chance.
That was a finding of fact – and a goofy one, because the plaintiff had an appetite to fight but not the budget to bring in real experts on the issue and the defense’s sole witness was a cop who said he saw a poker tournament on TV where a guy who was 9% to win a hand got his card and won it – and has no precedential value, probably not even in North Carolina, but now the Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement – they don’t even get guns and tobacco, of which N.C. has plenty of both, like their federal counterparts at BATF – has this hammer and damned if they aren’t going to use it and crow about doing it.
What these North Carolina alcohol guys should do is either not bother – it’s hard to believe Mike Gracz is a public menace, except to poker players who are too tight – or at least do it quietly. I know they aren’t going to take any advice from The Full Tilt Poker Blog but they aren’t doing themselves any favors by publicizing this arrest like they just got Capone.
According to the AOL story, “Officials said the operation was sophisticated. The plain, one story building off N.C. Highway 242 near Benson was surrounded by a fence, had pro-style gaming tables and a kitchen and food staff. Agents seized about $70,000 in cash.” Pat Forbis, a supervising agent, said “This wasn’t a basement card game.” It was “a small version of a Las Vegas or Atlantic City casino. It was all top-of-the-line stuff.”
Does a kitchen and food staff, pro-style gaming tables (which you can buy on eBay for a couple hundred dollars), and a FENCE make this operation seem especially nefarious to you? How about a casino with a bank of $70,000? Isn’t that about what they keep in the cage at the Bellagio poker room?
Better to say nothing than try to justify how great this law is in stamping out the evils inherent in gambling, kitchens, and fences. Or be honest and say, “We’re the government and when we have the power to do something, we’re gonna do it. Right and wrong doesn’t matter. Public safety doesn’t matter. We have to power. End of discussion.”
