Portsmouth should aspire for more - much more - than becoming the Little Vegas of Virginia.
Unfortunately, the city has been a haven for Texas Hold 'em poker parlors in recent years - largely because Commonwealth's Attorney Earle C. Mobley declined to intervene as they began to pop up around the city.
Other prosecutors in Hampton Roads and elsewhere in Virginia concluded long ago that the charity poker games violated state gambling laws. In 2004, for example, Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant shut down games benefiting the Fraternal Order of Police.
But Mobley said it wasn't clear to him whether Texas Hold 'em is exempt under a section of state law that allows games in which skill is involved. He tried for three years, without luck, to get the General Assembly to clarify the law.
Two years ago, the city's commissioner of revenue sought an advisory opinion from then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who said it was beyond his office's functions to make a factual determination whether a particular activity constituted gambling.
Last week, Mobley decided a crystal-clear interpretation wasn't as important as concerns that Portsmouth was turning into a "gambling center." With more than a half-dozen poker parlors operating in the city, including four that opened this year, he chose to step in.
The operators of the games have been notified that they're subject to prosecution if they proceed. The doors quickly began closing on the city's poker halls.
It's a controversial move, but it's in the city's best interests.
Numerous studies have shown the detrimental effects of gambling on communities where it has been legalized, particularly on the poor. Some gambling advocates dispute those findings, but Portsmouth - the region's least prosperous city - can ill afford the risk.
And Texas Hold 'em has been a risky venture for the city. The state doesn't audit the proceeds of these gambling operations, inspect the games, collect tax on noncharitable revenue or even require that the money go to charity. The arrangement left entirely too much to chance. The doors should remain closed.
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“And Texas Hold ‘em has
“And Texas Hold ‘em has been a risky venture for the city. The state doesn’t audit the proceeds of these gambling operations, inspect the games, collect tax on noncharitable revenue or even require that the money go to charity. The arrangement left entirely too much to chance. The doors should remain closed.”
Let me sum it up even further….The State doesn’t audit, inspect, collect, or require. That should sum it up well enough….The state doesn’t have their hands in any of it….and therefor, “The doors should remain closed.”
Little does the state know, all of the poker players that were attending those poker halls, are still playing poker! The state did two things by closing these halls….They saved face with the public (or better yet, the non-poker players), which was good. But, number 2, They took funds from charities! Just imagine if someone were to go into a charity organization and steal thousands and thousands of dollars…..how would that person look to the public? We, as the public, would consider that person the scum of the Earth! Well, isn’t that exactly what has happened here? Only that someone is the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the S
Whats wrong with Portsmouth becoming a Las Vegas
Whats wrong with Portsmouth becoming the Las Vegas of the east. The last time I looked Las Vegas had a lot of tourist, jobs and taxes. Housing got oveheated but that happened everywhere.
Second if its not the attorney generals job to define a word in a state law, who's job is it. Can anyone say "political cover."
one way or the other
Either end all gambling or legalize all gambling. If the "poor" have enough money to ante up in either a poker game or on lotto tickets then let them spend their money in whatever manner they wish. Regulating everyone because some have no common sense is just ridiculous. Gambling goes on in private homes and membership only clubs all the time, closing down parlors that operate openly smacks of pressure from certain interest groups that are feeling a loss at their state sanctioned BINGO games.
The sooner Virginia wakes up and legalizes casinos,
the sooner the state will reap the millions it now loses across the borders to Delaware and West Virginia and via trips by Virginians to Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
Also, all this back-door poker game nonsense will cease to exist.
We already have a lottery, off-track betting parlors, and a race track.
Time to take the next step.
Or ... we can raise the gas tax and make the "I want to pay more taxes" crowd happy.