Senate panel puts smile on poker faces

Senate panel puts smile on poker faces Sen. Dave Kleis lost at Texas Hold'em on Monday but won committee passage of his bill to make sure the popular form of poker is legal in Minnesota. The St. Cloud Republican was abetted in both cases by Phil Gordon, a star of the Bravo cable channel's "Celebrity Poker Showdown." Gordon dusted Kleis in a made-for-TV game of Texas Hold'em at a State Capitol news conference, then testified for Kleis' legislation before the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee. The measure would add Texas Hold'em to a list of "social skill games" for which tournaments are legal in Minnesota if prizes do not exceed $200. Currently covered by the law are bridge, cribbage, euchre, 500, gin, pinochle, sheepshead, skat, smear and whist. Kleis contends that Texas Hold'em, enjoying immense new popularity thanks mainly to TV shows such as Gordon's, already is legal in Minnesota, just like darts, softball or Trivial Pursuit tournaments often promoted by bars. "There's no betting, no money being exchanged," Kleis said. "This bill is not in any way an expansion of gambling." In addition, he said, Texas Hold'em is a game of skill, not of chance, as proven by his loss to Gordon on Monday. That also would differentiate it from games the state regulates or outlaws. But after police raided a Texas Hold'em tournament at a St. Cloud bowling alley last year and the county attorney subsequently declined to bring charges, promoters say the law needs clarifying. Some legislators, however, remain wary of opening the door wider to anything that smacks of gambling. That's why Kleis has vowed to withdraw the bill if amendments were to broaden its scope. "I'm not bluffing," he said. A companion bill has been heard but not voted on by a House panel. As Kleis' bill advanced on a lopsided voice vote to the Senate Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee, it added two new restrictions: Cities or counties could require promoters of Texas Hold'em tournaments to obtain permits costing up to $200, and people under age 18 would be barred from participating.