TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP - Concern over the legality of Texas holdem poker tournaments caused one area fire company to cancel its scheduled games last weekend.

"We're not making enough money at it to risk police involvement and lose our small game of chance license. Bingo is how we live," said Vince Campbell, Rostraver Central Volunteer Fire Company's first assistant chief and vice president.

The games, modeled on the popular television phenomenon epitomized by the World Series of Poker on ESPN, have proliferated locally in the past year.

But a warning from state police in Butler County last week that any future games would be prosecuted has placed a chill on the burgeoning enterprise, said a Greensburg man who co-owns one of the companies putting on the games.

"We're going to wait and see what the regulators want us to do. We hope they decide, like (other states). They decided poker was a game of skill, not a game of chance," said Felix Morreo, a co-owner of Web site www.papoker.com, which is under development.

The company has put on several tournaments in Allegheny County and was slated to run the Rostraver Township event Saturday.

The games do not meet the requirements under the state's Small Games of Chance Act of 1988, Morreo conceded.

Small games of chance licenses cover only punchboard and pull-tab games, raffles, daily drawings and weekly drawings, while bingo games in the state are regulated by their own law.

State law also limits payouts of less than $500, unless it's the result of a prize carried over from a previous game, or a raffle, which requires a special permit. The law also prohibits outside organizations from receiving money to conduct an event or from organizing an event.

Violators could lose their small game of chance license and be subject to a $1,000 fine.

Westmoreland County Treasurer Kathlyn O'Brien said she and her staff tell anyone who inquires that the small game of chance license does not cover Texas holdem. Her office issues the $100 annual small games permits and $10 occasional use permits to nonprofit groups in the county.

At the Rostraver event, players were to pay $95 to play, and 90 percent of the fee was to go into the purse paid out to players. The ultimate purse was to be determined by the number of people attending.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said Texas holdem is against the law in Pennsylvania. However, he encouraged fire departments and churches interested in holding the events to speak to their legislators.

While Peck questioned the wisdom of cracking down on community organizations holding the card games, he said complaints will be taken seriously.

"If a complaint is filed and the state police investigate it, we will examine the prosecution of it," he said.

Trooper Jeanne Martin, spokeswoman for Troop A at Greensburg, said the state police will defer to Peck.

"If we get a complaint, we'll call them and defer to their guidance," she said.

Meanwhile, Morreo said fire departments and other nonprofit organizations are going to need an alternative to their previous menu of bingos and other games when slots parlors finally appear.

Campbell agreed.

"How do we compete with something that offers a $10,000 prize? People aren't going to want our $70 to $80 bingo games," he said.