Westmoreland County attorney wagers poker not 'gambling' By Rich Cholodofsky PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, April 11, 2008
A Westmoreland County lawyer charged with illegally operating poker tournaments wants those charges dismissed, saying the card game is not gambling.
Larry Burns, 63, of Derry Township was charged last year with misdemeanor gambling counts for running tournaments for a profit.
Police contend Burns made about $31,000 in profits from three Texas Hold 'Em tournaments in Seward, in addition to an undisclosed amount from weekly poker games in Hempfield.
Burns, through defense attorney David Millstein, wants a county judge to throw out the charges because there are no provisions in the law that make poker a gambling enterprise.
"There are, however, a number of reported decisions of various courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that define the terms 'gambling' and 'unlawful gambling' in ways that do not proscribe such conduct and which specifically state that wagering on poker or playing poker for money or other prices is not 'gambling' or 'unlawful gambling' within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," Millstein wrote in a brief filed Thursday.
Millstein said that because the state constitution is vague, it cannot be used as a means to prosecute Burns.
Burns has insisted, even before his arrest last fall, that his poker tournaments, which had been advertised through road signs and over a Web site, were legal.
Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck could not be reached for comment.
Judge Richard E. McCormick Jr. ordered that a hearing be scheduled later this year to consider Burns' motion.
