Part II

I now have a great promotion running that is bringing in 50-100 people each week. They are spending money and having fun. Then the call comes about 2 month later. It's the MN Dept of Gambling. They tell me that my promotion is against the law and that I must quit at once. I tell them that I have talked to several lawyers that what I am doing is legal under MN law. The law is in order for something to be gambling it must meet all three of the following. 1. Must be an entry fee 2. Must have prizes 3. Must have consideration Of course I didn't have number 1 so it can't be gambling. Anyway, I was told to quit. I once again call my lawyer and told him of the call. He said it was up to me but they still believed it was not gambling, so on we went. It was now June and I hadn't heard anymore and it was still growing. I had taken a monday night of and went fishing with my wife. When I got back I noticed that I had 69 missed calls on my cell phone. I called and found out the State and Local police had raided my free poker game. They came in with 15 officers with guns drawn and held everyone for 1 1/2 hours, taken everyones name, and confiscated my cards and chips. I talked to head guy from the state and he said that I was to be charged with running an illegal gambling establishment. I asked him if he was sure that he wanted to go down this road. So needless to say I made the front page of the newspaper the next day and then the TV crews started to show up. I made it on all three channels that night telling my story. The local Senator from St Cloud couldn't believe and began legislation to legalize free Texas hold-em in MN. I testified in both the House and Senate and in December a bill was signed by the Govenor making free Texas hold-em legal in bars in MN. I was never charged and only missed one Monday night of hold-em for the whole year. I was able to meet Phil Gordon, he came and testified at hearings, start the Free Poker Tour, running free poker in bars, and be part owner of Full Tilt Magazine. to be continued