Rockaway Beach didn’t get casino gambling but it just might be getting No Limit Texas Hold’em poker. A recent publicity announcement sent out by Concept Marketing announced that the Twin Lakes Card Club is expanding its operation from Arkansas into Missouri and would be offering “No Limit Texas Hold’em Skill Tournaments in Rockaway Beach, at 2691 State Highway 176, starting at 12:00 p.m. Dec. 4.
The announcement said the tournaments were 100% payback “With buy-ins to fit any budget.” The club’s web site states they will be opening in Rockaway Beach on Thursday Dec. 4 and will have buy-ins from $20 to $350. The buy-in for Sit-N-Go will be from $40-100, Field Tournaments from $125 to $350 and Seat Tournaments $60. The web site goes on to state, “We offer legal skill Tournaments. From large Multi-Table, to single table Sit-N-Go tournaments, we do them all.
In a telephone interview on Dec. 1, Jason Williams said he was the owner of Twin Lakes Card Club and it is a sole proprietorship. He described the club as a private club that sponsors no limit hold’em skill tournaments and TV shows. Williams said there is no fee to join the club and anyone 21 years of age or older can become a member.
He explained that there is a buy-in for the tournaments and the main objective is to get to the $350 game on Saturday. He went on to say that the champion of the $350 tournament on Saturday would go on to the TV show and play for $15,000 in prize money. Williams said the show will be made in January and will be entitled “Hometown Hopefuls.”
Using the example of a ten player $40 Sit-N-Go tournament, Williams explained that the one winner of the tournament would get a $240 seat at Friday’s tournament while the other nine players would get nothing because the only prizes available in the Sit-N-Go Tournaments are seats in the other tournaments leading up to the $350 game on Saturday. He went on to explain that all of the buy-in money is paid out in seats to tournaments or in prizes in the form of gift cards and that all his profit will come from the TV show.
Gail Bavuso, who handles business licenses for Rockaway Beach, said that a business license had been issued to the business to conduct the tournaments. Les Hahn, a member of the Missouri Gaming Commission’s gaming enforcement staff indicated that they had no jurisdiction over private card clubs. When Williams was contacted as to what state agency had issued him a license for he said, “The Department of Revenue.”
Section 572.010 of the Missouri Revised Statues (MoRS) states, “a person engages in ‘gambling’ when he stakes or risks something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under his control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding that he will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome.” Section 572.020 MoRS states “A person commits the crime of gambling if he knowingly engages in gambling” and defines it as a Class C Misdemeanor.
Section 572.030 MoRS states, “A person commits the crime of promoting gambling in the first degree if he knowingly advances or profits from unlawful gambling or lottery activity by,” among other things, receiving more than one hundred dollars in any one day of money played in the scheme or enterprise. Violation of Section 572.030 is a Class D Felony.
Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.
