Beer license yanked due to poker tournaments

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.

Todd Erks "has been running an illegal card game in his business since its inception," according to State's Attorney Tom Wollman. "There's no difference between his operation and Deadwood, Flandreau or other Indian casinos. The difference is those operations are legal."

Commission member Dennis Weeldreyer said the board had little choice.

"You put this commission in a position where our state's attorney says you're breaking the law," Weeldreyer told Erks. "When that's true, we can't renew the license," which expires Thursday.

Poker, unlike pool or darts, is classified as a game of chance and is illegal outside of Deadwood or casinos, Wollman said.

Erks doesn't agree with the law's description of poker. "Ask any poker player, and they will tell you it's a game of skill," he said.

Erks said his lawyer told him the description is a "gray area" in the law and that he will talk with state legislators about possible changes.

Wollman went to the bar, Todd's Place, Saturday night and said he saw four felt-covered tables with people playing poker at them.

"From this day forward, if that activity continues, we're going to come in there with the sheriff's department and start issuing citations," Wollman said.

Erks was warned once before and continued to host the tournaments, the state's attorney said.

At the tournaments, players pay $25 to take part and then get chips for the games, Erks said. Erks retained $5 of the fee, and rest went for prize money, he said.

Wollman said some businesses have sponsored poker tournaments in a way that didn't break the law. In those cases, the chips had no monetary value, and the prize money was provided by a sponsor, not from an entry fee.

Charging a fee in exchange for chips is illegal, Wollman said.

Over a year ago, the state Lottery told more than 1,400 bar owners that having poker tournaments violated state law, warning them that if they didn't shut down the games, they could face a $10,000 fine.

Erks said he told county commissioners when he first got his beer license that he planned to hold tournaments. Commissioners, however, said Erks talked about dart and pool tournaments but didn't mention poker.

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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com