Poker Tournament Busted

They have been running this tournament for years. There was a hitch
after a few months when the guy who owns the bar had to find out how
to run a tourney legally and he followed all the rules and has run it
without a problem since.

Tonight a whole slew of cops came in after a couple of hands. They
didn't arrest anyone but we had to give our ID's and sit there while
they took the chips and the prize pool. The owner will have to go to
court.

The problem, as one of the cops told us, was that some underage kids
were playing. No one was serving them drinks, because they didn't
order any drinks, but they weren't supposed to be in a bar or playing
in a poker tournament. So all the elaborate care to follow the rules
that the state set and jump through the hoops that made the game legal
came to naught. This is the Tuesday night tourney within walking
distance of my place. I will miss it.

One bright spot: They checked our IDs for warrants and now I know I
have no outstanding warrants. That is good.

I think the guy that owns the bar is at fault, assuming the reason for
the 'raid' was the fact that minors were present.

While laws differ greatly from state to state and even within an
individual state, I know of only one way a minor can legally be
present in a bar/tavern and that is if he/she is with his/her parent
and the parent is of legal drinking age. It makes no difference if
they had asked to be served, or whether they were or were not served.
A minor is a minor is a minor.

He is the operator and he is responsible. A question though, does he
have to go to court because of the poker game or because he allowed
minors in his establishment? That might give cause as to whether he
should "make good" on what the players had confiscated.