Police in Rome, Italy, last weekend, raided a poker lodibet tournament last and confiscated all objects used in the the game, including 12 poker tables,all the chips and cards. The game was running for less than an hour before the local “cops” s came. Over 100 players registered for the tournament. “But it’s a legal way for playing” said A.F., the director of the club and organizer of the tournment. Permitted from the italian law (FINANZIARIA 2007). The prize pool was around the 3.000 Euro, this looked like being a highly successful event for organiser, but the prize pool was not high ( that’s shoud mean in Italy: NO GAMBLOING). However, within an hour of the game starting the italian police had other ideas, and closed the tournment.
Gambling lodibet not in one of the only 4 Italian Casinos (Casino di Campione,Casino di Saint Vincent, Casino di Venezia and Casino di Sanremo)is illegal in Italy and this appears to be the basis of the police intervention. According to italian law, “Those who profit, directly or indirectly, from organizing gambling in facilities that they are responsible for, should be punished for gambling promotion”….
