Chesapeake Police Bust Organizers of Illegal Poker Games

Mar 08, 2011
A sting operation carried out after a tip-off by a former player According to Virginia-Pilot newspaper, Paul Klingbeil, Robert Lee Richardson and Galloway P. Martinez were arrested by the Chesapeake Police on the charges of organizing illegal poker games at two houses. The police operation was based on a former player's tip-off from November 2010. The informant said he had been playing poker at Klingbeil's house for four years every Saturday, Sunday and Monday, explaining that the games were promoted online and via mobile phones. The police started monitoring Klingbeil immediately after receiving these information, the official documentation reveals. As stated by the informant, Klingbeil managed up to three poker tables at a time with as many as 20 to 30 players. The informant also added that everything looked very much like a casino, including armed security officers, gratis liquor and CCTV cameras installed outside the house. The defendants allegedly took 10 percent on every poker hand dealt. This was confirmed during a sting operation involving an undercover officer who visited the venue on two occasions, once playing for three hours and witnessing Martinez and Richardson dealing poker and taking 10 percent from every hand; and on the other occasion seeing Klingbeil and a woman trading cash for chips and Richardson dealing hands. Prior to conducting the entire operation, the police identified Martinez and Richardson advertising professional poker games online and listing their phone numbers.
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