Details recently emerged that undercover police in Burnaby, British Columbia, broke up an illegal poker league run out of a bowling alley. The league ran from 2019 to 2021 and 58-year-old Richard Kurt Giebelhaus pleaded guilty to a single count of keeping a gaming or betting house on Dec. 20. During the pandemic, the poker league moved to online gambling, according to BurnabyNow.com.
The group made use of Facebook to promote the poker games, prosecutors noted. An undercover officer was used as part of an investigation to find out more about the poker game. Prosecutors noted that the officer “infiltrated the poker league, participating in numerous games, both in person and online.”
Authorities argued that Giebelhaus took a 10% fee for all food and drink sales from the bowling alley during poker nights. Tournament buy-ins were in the range of $20-$40 and the group gathered two or three nights a week.
Giebelhaus never faced time in jail, according to reports, but the prosecutors and his attorney Michael Bloom disagreed on whether he should have a criminal record after the events played out. Bloom said the game had been held in public and not concealed as part of a larger criminal enterprise.
“This is not a case where the common gaming house was associated with prostitution and gangs, drugs, loan-sharking or any violence,” he said.
Giebelhaus, a father of four, said he’d developed a gambling problem after heart surgery in 2019. He apologized to the court and said this would be the last of his underground poker games. The court eventually handed down a conditional discharge with one year of probation.
Canada has a deep connection with poker. The country has numerous casino poker rooms across the country and poker online is also legalized in several provinces. One of the game’s best-known players, Daniel Negreanu, is also from Toronto.
