Virginia Illegal Poker Game Raided

NORFOLK, Va. (Associated Press) — Four Norfolk men are charged with running an illegal high-stakes poker game out of a house in a subdivision along the Elizabeth River.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the investigation started with a tip last December and led to arrests earlier this month.

According to police, the games of Texas Hold 'em were conducted three nights a week. The minimum buy-in was $100, and the operation raked in about $2,000 a night.

Players who parked at a nearby senior-citizen apartment complex were chauffeured to the house in an SUV. Waitresses offered massages for a dollar a minute. Armed security guards, some wearing bullet-proof vests, patrolled the property, and players smoked marijuana on the porch.

Deputy City Attorney Cynthia Hall says such an elaborate operation in a residential neighborhood is unusual.