Cops Chase Terrorists, Catch Poker Players

[roo_ster]

Snippet:
http://reason.com/blog/2011/05/23/cops-chase-terrorists-catch-po

Whole Deal:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=7989613&mode=print

Writing in the Seattle Stranger, Brendan Kiley tells the tale of a "counterterrorism" operation in which loads of public money and two years of surveillance allowed FBI and Seattle PD investigators to nab (a) four poker players, (b) some unrelated drug dealers, and (c) an activist pressured by an undercover cop into showing up at a drug deal. Sadly, as Kiley notes, the case isn't as unusual as it might sound...

Well, I sure feel more secure now that those folks are no longer roaming the streets sitting at home plotting terrorist mass-killings to make a full house (jacks over deuces). 

[Tallpine]

Rick is smoking a pipe. He sets it down on the deck table and stares out at Puget Sound. "I'd like to line up all the people involved in this investigation," he says, "line them up in front of parents of missing children—of people who actually need law enforcement—and explain to them why they wasted years of officers' time on this when their kids are still missing. I want them to look them in the eye and see how good they feel about their *expletive deleted*ing lives. I'm not that important. I'm really not. Society is no safer with me in prison."

[roo_ster]

Rick is smoking a pipe. He sets it down on the deck table and stares out at Puget Sound. "I'd like to line up all the people involved in this investigation," he says, "line them up in front of parents of missing children—of people who actually need law enforcement—and explain to them why they wasted years of officers' time on this when their kids are still missing. I want them to look them in the eye and see how good they feel about their *expletive deleted*ing lives. I'm not that important. I'm really not. Society is no safer with me in prison."

Marge: I thought you said the law was powerless.
Chief Wiggum: Powerless to *help* you, not punish you.

[MicroBalrog]

Is poker illegal in California too?

[Regolith]

Is poker illegal in California too?

AFAIK, playing poker anywhere in the US isn't illegal.  It's only if you play for money.

I'm willing to bet that playing for money in CA is indeed illegal, though. 

[MicroBalrog]

Oh.

Meanwhile, in the desert.

[Regolith]

Oh.

Meanwhile, in the desert.

So...wait, I couldn't tell from the article...were they going to play for money, or were they just playing to see who was best?

If the former...not that much different from most of the US (except for Nevada, and maybe a few other places). If the latter...

[zxcvbob]

Oh.

Meanwhile, in the desert.

Did you catch the subtle reference to the police state?

[MicroBalrog]

So...wait, I couldn't tell from the article...were they going to play for money, or were they just playing to see who was best?

If the former...not that much different from most of the US (except for Nevada, and maybe a few other places). If the latter...

At first the police had agreed to the tournament provided nobody could spectate and there would be no cash prize. Then the Poker Association agreed to these terms, but even this was rescinded. So they sued. And lost.

[Regolith]

At first the police had agreed to the tournament provided nobody could spectate and there would be no cash prize. Then the Poker Association agreed to these terms, but even this was rescinded. So they sued. And lost.