"Club Royale" in Tuscon closed down

[Aack Thbbbt]

Interesting, looks like Judge lee has an issue with the people who were running his "legal" room.

From the Arizona Daily Star:

A private card room that opened on the North Side last summer dealt its final hand just before 6 p.m. Thursday, after the club's owners reached a deal to end a civil suit brought by a local Indian tribe.
But the Cochise County man who helped get the card room established — as part of an attempt to legalize poker statewide — says Club Royale's closure doesn't mean the end of private poker clubs in Tucson.
"We'll definitely replace the club," said Harold Lee, founder of the International Card and Game Players Association. "I don't know why we wouldn't. We have plans to open another club very soon."
Donna and Johnny Ray Rogers opened Club Royale, 2665 N. Campbell Ave., on July 25.
Within weeks the club reportedly had more than 500 members who were drawn in by the club's spreading of no-limit Texas Hold'em, a variation of the poker game offered at the state's Indian casinos. The no-limit game allows players to wager all of their chips at any time.

The Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compact, established in 1993 and renewed in 2003, prohibits no-limit betting.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe, operators of two of the Tucson area's four casinos, filed a civil suit Aug. 18 against Club Royale, the International Card and Game Players Association and Lee. Lee is a former Maricopa County justice of the peace who previously ran card rooms in Sierra Vista and Tombstone that had been investigated by the Arizona Department of Gaming.

The civil suit claimed Club Royale's operation was illegal because it violated state gambling laws. The suit also complained that Club Royale's ability to operate outside of the state gaming compact gave it a competitive advantage over tribal casinos that must adhere to the compact's guidelines.

Hearings had been set for late January to determine whether Club Royale could stay open, but a lawyer representing the Rogerses said an agreement was made to close the club in exchange for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe's dismissing its suit without attempting to recover lost revenue.
"In many respects it's an economic decision," lawyer Stephen Weiss said of his clients' choice to close the club. "You have to look at what it's going to cost to defend a lawsuit, and the likelihood there is to win. This is the decision that made sense."

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe declined to comment on the settlement until the tribe's lawyers are able to review the final signed agreement, said Robert Gillon, the tribe's interim attorney general.
Donna Rogers, who along with husband Johnny Ray also owns local establishments Majestik Tattoo and Blaze Threads, said Club Royale's members were "very upset" to hear of the room's closure.
"People liked being here," Rogers said. "It became a lot like family."
Club Royale was licensed by the International Card and Game Players Association when it opened, but Lee said he revoked the club's charter on Nov. 7 after the Rogerses violated terms of their franchise agreement.

"They started ignoring everything I wanted to do and went off on their own," Lee said, saying the Rogerses misused International Card and Game Players Association funds by going with their own lawyer to defend the civil suit.

Neither Weiss nor Donna Rogers would comment on Lee's claims or Club Royale's relationship with the association.
The agreement reached Thursday ends the Pascua Yaqui Tribe's suit only against Club Royale and the Rogerses.

The suit will continue on against Lee and the International Card and Game Players Association, and Lee's lawyer said he's ready to continue defending his client's stance that poker should be legalized statewide.
"We're both of the opinion that what he's doing is perfectly legal and appropriate," lawyer David Quantz said. "The lawsuit doesn't have any merit. They've got to come forward with some evidence."
Club Royale's closure leaves the Tucson area without either of the private poker rooms that started up in 2008.
A second room, Big Slick's Card Club, opened Nov. 7 at 5733 E. Speedway. But co-owner Gus Maughan said a lack of business and a cheating incident — a dealer at the club was caught smuggling chips into a tournament, Maughan said — prompted Big Slick's owners to shut down earlier this month.
Big Slick's was not affiliated with the International Card and Game Players Association, which now has clubs up and running in Phoenix and Surprise and has plans for at least three more establishments, including Lee's proposed replacement for Club Royale in Tucson.

Lee said his new club, which would likely be situated "farther north" than Club Royale's location, could be open as soon as 30 days from now.
"It might even be less than that," Lee said. "All of the members of (Club Royale) are ICGPA members, and we have an obligation to provide them with a safe place to play."
Donna Rogers said it's only a matter of time before one or more new card rooms open up in the region.

"People have already called me saying they're going to open up a club here," Rogers said. "They want to buy my equipment. I think it should be OK for everybody to do it. If the Indians can do it, why can't we?"

[Aack Thbbbt]

ANOTHER turn of events:  IT SEEMS that after agreeing to shut down, that the room reopened, but was raided Tuesday the 23rd by agents of the AZ Department of Gaming:
It looks like a definite stance has been taken by the state:  It will be interesting to see how this affects the rooms running in the Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa area.
 
"With the exception of regulated casinos, poker rooms are illegal in the state of Arizona. "

"If "the house" or host of a poker game gets a cut of the players' money, the game is illegal gambling under Arizona law. If the host charges players any type of entry fee, membership fee or players fee, or accepts any portion of the players' money, the game is illegal."

From http://www.azgaming.gov/newsmedia.htm  ( you can also find the complete 35 page report from the investigating agents)

Arizona Department of Gaming News
For Immediate Release: December 23, 2008
Media Contact: Seena Simon, (602) 604-1801 x206, cell: (602) 653-6968

Tucson Police Department Media Contact:
Sgt. Fabian Pacheco (520) 791-4852


Agents Search Illegal Poker Room Tied to Ex-Justice of Peace

AZ Department of Gaming, Tucson Police Execute Warrants
 
PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Gaming and the Tucson Police Department have executed a search warrant on an illegal poker room in Tucson linked to a former Maricopa County Justice of the Peace. The owners of the poker room and others are being investigated by the Arizona Department of Gaming on felony charges of running an illegal gambling operation in violation of state law.

The Arizona Department of Gaming and the Tucson Police Department executed a search warrant this morning on the "Club Royale Card Room," located at 2665 N. Campbell Avenue in Tucson. The Club Royale poker room is owned by Donna Rogers and Johnny Ray Rogers of Tucson. The Rogers' Tucson homes were also searched today by Department of Gaming Special Agents and Tucson police officers.

Agents and officers seized poker tables, chips, an ATM cash machine, video surveillance equipment, gaming records, and other items.

The Rogers, a married couple, are the owner-operators of Club Royale. The couple paid a portion of their weekly illegal gambling proceeds to Harold Lee, a former Maricopa County Justice of the Peace. Lee, a resident of Tombstone, is also involved with other illegal card rooms in Phoenix and Surprise. Lee is attempting to set up a "franchise" of illegal poker rooms in Arizona.

With the exception of regulated casinos, poker rooms are illegal in the state of Arizona.

Tucson's Club Royale mimicked a professional casino card room. The Club had eight poker tables, with room for nine players at each table. Paid dealers dealt out the cards. There were video
surveillance cameras directed at the tables to monitor the players. Players bought poker chips from a cashier's "cage" area in the Club. An armed uniformed security guard kept watch over the Club.

Club Royale took a fee from players on each hand of poker they played, and gave 15 percent of that money per week to Lee. Charging players a fee to play makes the game illegal because "the house" receives a direct profit from the games. Club Royale sometimes took in more than $550 an hour from one table alone, and pulled in customers late into the night and early morning. Club Royale had its own ATM cash machine so player wouldn't have to leave the building to ante up more money for bets.

The Club also charged players an annual $20 membership fee, all of which went to Lee. The Rogers also paid a $5,000 "franchise" fee to Lee.

"Harold Lee and his cohorts attempted to expand their criminal enterprise into a network of illegal gambling halls throughout Arizona," said Paul Bullis, Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming. 
"These were not casual poker games among friends," Bullis said. "The Rogers and Lee and others were running an illegal gambling business for illicit profit."

If "the house" or host of a poker game gets a cut of the players' money, the game is illegal gambling under Arizona law. If the host charges players any type of entry fee, membership fee or players fee, or accepts any portion of the players' money, the game is illegal.

In a purely social poker game, players bet among themselves, and the host doesn't make any profit from the players.

The search warrants on the card room and the two Tucson residences are the culmination of the Department's undercover investigation of Club Royale. Arizona Department of Gaming and Tucson Police officers posed as poker-playing Club Royale patrons. The probe of Club Royale began in July 2008, soon after it opened. The Department's investigation into Lee's activities is continuing.

Video footage and still photos of Club Royale, and a copy of the Department of Gaming investigative report will be posted on the Arizona Department of Gaming website: www.azgaming.gov.

To arrange a Department of Gaming interview in Phoenix, please contact Seena Simon, Arizona Department of Gaming, (602) 604-1801 x206, cell (602) 653-6968, SSimon@azgaming.gov.

To arrange an interview in Tucson, please contact Tucson Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Fabian Pacheco (520) 791-4852.

[Nidociv]

Wonder how this will affect the room of on Greenway, Poker Nation, isn't that affiliated with the Judge?  I wonder how it will affect all the little rooms that are running, look like there is a definite opinion on the part of the state now.