Drew Carey & Reason comment on a Texas raid

[machinelf]

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > New at Reason: Drew Carey Defends Poker

[TX_kiwi]

They're playing with Bicycle chips in the vid!

[Nexttime]

Good video. Thanks for the heads up.

[imperial10]

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone here agree with the Dallas police for doing this, and anyone here live in Dallas? If you do live in Dallas, is this type of activity apparent?

[hachkc]

While I feel for the VFW folks, it was an illegal game. I don't claim to know TX laws regarding poker and charities and such but in MI its not difficult to run something like this legally. My son's soccer team has a tax exempt id number which is pretty much all you need to to host a charity event once you fill out the forms. They've even changed the laws regarding these events specifically for Texas Hold'em to allow bigger payouts. You used to be limited to a max $500 payout and I've seen events where 1st got $500, 2nd got $490, 3rd got $480, etc.

No argument that the police should have better things to do. This seems typical from what I've heard before that they only get involved when a complaint has been filed regardless of the merits of the complaint. Anytime the house is taking "money off the table" whether its a rake or part of a buyin, you need to be careful.

[Irish Se7en]

Originally Posted by hachkc

No argument that the police should have better things to do. This seems typical from what I've heard before that they only get involved when a complaint has been filed regardless of the merits of the complaint. Anytime the house is taking "money off the table" whether its a rake or part of a buyin, you need to be careful.

I'm just curious, what should the Police do if and when they receive a complaint(s) for illegal activity(ies)? Should they just turn a blind eye towards it and then wait until it escalates or it leads to something worse?

I'm not harping on you hachkc, it's just that you were the last one to post. Similar to when I see mv's speeding or running a red light and there are several mv's that committed the same infraction. Normally I'll stop the last one in line because it's safer and more convenient.


posted by imperial10:

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone here agree with the Dallas police for doing this, and anyone here live in Dallas? If you do live in Dallas, is this type of activity apparent?

Though I may think that there are "bigger fish to fry" but someone has to address it when the complaint came in. Now Dallas absolutely has more important things to do (watch Dallas SWAT to get the picture) but they can't ignore something as petty as this, even if we all agree that there may be more important issues that a Police Department can address.

[hachkc]

Originally Posted by Irish Se7en

I'm just curious, what should the Police do if and when they receive a complaint(s) for illegal activity(ies)? Should they just turn a blind eye towards it and then wait until it escalates or it leads to something worse?

My point was they are not out looking for this sort of activity (good thing IMO) but have to deal with it when someone complains which is the right thing. The real question is was their response appropriate to the activity? Could they have just sent 2 cops to investigate the club ahead of time to see what was happening versus a full tactical/raid unit?

[machinelf]

While I'm sure the police department must take action when a complaint is received, why would that action have to be bringing a SWAT team busting into a VFW game room? It's not like it was some hard-to-find underground club with mob ties--it was a glass-fronted retail space with members who just didn't understand the law.

Oh, and what's an "mv"?

Originally Posted by Irish Se7en

Though I may think that there are "bigger fish to fry" but someone has to address it when the complaint came in. Now Dallas absolutely has more important things to do (watch Dallas SWAT to get the picture) but they can't ignore something as petty as this, even if we all agree that there may be more important issues that a Police Department can address.

[Irish Se7en]

Originally Posted by hachkc

My point was they are not out looking for this sort of activity (good thing IMO) but have to deal with it when someone complains which is the right thing. The real question is was their response appropriate to the activity? Could they have just sent 2 cops to investigate the club ahead of time to see what was happening versus a full tactical/raid unit?

Tactically speaking, you would never go into a situation like the one described with only two officers. It would be for safety reasons, people possibly armed inside (legally and illegally), alcohol consumption, number of people, ect.

Do we know that a SWAT or similar unit went in there? No. We're relying on one person relaying that there were officers with "masks, swat gear and guns." Is he even credible? My first impression, No. Even if they had a tactical team, I could understand it for the reasons I posted above.

This video is biased but normally they are. I can't see the Dallas P.D. wanting to "raid" a VFW establishment. Normally, there are several Police Officers that have military backgrounds and IF the SWAT team was called out, the majority of the members of SWAT teams have military backgrounds.

[Irish Se7en]

Originally Posted by machinelf

Oh, and what's an "mv"?

My apologies, mv = motor vehicle.