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Poker Rules And America's Arcane Poker Laws

DANIEL Negranu, poker professional, likes rules. He has eight of them.

-No drinking alcohol the day before player (or even the day before that) -No socializing with people -Eating alone in my room the night before the tournament -8 full hours of uninterrupted sleep, waking up two hours before the tournament starts -finish all projects that need to get done during the week -read through the format, "think" about poker the night before- get my head into WANTING it badly

Rule No. 9 is: be lucky.

Such are the rules. But in the USA rules are not always so simple. Take the case of Bob Chimento.

The Charleston Post And Courier reports that in 2006, Chimento was playing poker at a private home when police stormed through the door. He and 23 others were charged with illegal gambling.

In 2008, the same thing occurred, albeit with 65 people nicked.

The talk in police radio is of a high-stakes poker circuit run from four area locations. The probe culminated with a raid last week at Martin Orlando Reyes' home, where poker tools and $40,000 were seized.

Says Reyes on local TV news: "They just barged in the house, guns drawn, flashlights everywhere, everybody screaming, hollering. I didn't think it would be a big deal. It's grown men. professional men that wanted to relieve some stress and have a good time amongst each other."

This is America, Mr Reyes. If you want to have a good time, go to the woods and hug trees with your therapist.

Chimento is not altogether displeased. He wants his day in court and hopes to gain support for changing the 200-year-old South Carolina law that bars card and dice games.

Says he: "We as individuals want the right to play cards. This is strictly for fun. I'm just a guy who wants to play cards in his home and enjoy myself without being arrested."

State Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-James Island, wants to relax state law to allow casual poker games and church raffles -- "as well as to clarify that games such as Monopoly and Yahtzee are legal".

America, land of the free, is indeed a strange place of dragons.

"People are outraged by what is going on in Charleston," he says. "This is an outdated law. It needs to be fixed."

Indeed it does. Poker is a game of skill. American needs to catch up with the rest of the world and stop its prohibition on online gambling.

Play online and get a great bonus. But not you - not you in the Land of the Free...

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