Judge Denies Hearing Case will go Trial

A   Mount Pleasant judge in  South Carolina has refused to throw out a court case involving an alleged illegal poker game. The five players that are involved in the case had to wait for over two years for their hearing to get the case dismissed, all for it to be denied.

The players have been protesting the case since day one because they say that the law they allegedly broke is written too vaguely and that it's unconstitutional. They still had the right to play poker in their home but only when betting isn't involved, according to Judge Lawrence Duffy.

So no more Friday night games with the boys or girls. So as an example if you decide to empty your pockets and play for pennies with your friends you are now betting and it is now an illegal poker game. The players attorney, Jeff Philip's said, "they focused in on the betting, even though the statute does not focus on the betting."

Jeff Phillips is also a poker player and his argument was that the statue only prohibits playing games with cards or dice in specific locations. "The statute clearly says you cannot play any cards or dice in a house of gaming? How do we know what a house of gaming is? This was not a public place, this was a residence that was not, even if it was used to bet in, was not a house of gaming. It was a house to live in," said Phillips.

One of the players involved in the alleged illegal poker game is Bob Chimento. He was one of the 22 players that police said gathered at a Mount Pleasant home for a Texas Hold'em game. The poker game was advertised online with a $20 dollar buy in.

Now this is my opinion only but if I was about to engage in any kind of illegal activity I wouldn't go about putting it on the World Wide Web for anyone to see, especially the police.

"They were talking about a high stakes poker game in there. That is absolutely the most ridiculous statement I've heard in my life," said Phillips. So since the case wasn't thrown out the defendants may go to trial or consider a plea.