Landlady holds a winning hand as poker night saved
A PUB landlady thought the chips were down and was ready to fold her weekly poker nights – before media questions helped to clarify that her regulars could carry on playing.
Sharon Ford, landlady of the Hampshire Lodge, said she was approached by Home Affairs after advertising in the Guernsey Press to promote her weekly poker nights, which have been running for the past six months, and was told she would have to stop.
Then she said she was told that the nights could carry on, but at her own risk as police might get involved.
She contacted the police – but came away no clearer on what she could or could not do, she said.
‘They made it quite clear I couldn’t have it, then the police said they had no involvement,’ she said yesterday morning, having announced on Facebook that the nights would stop.
‘The police won’t help me – I don’t know who to turn to. No one is willing to deal with it.’
It turned out that promoting gambling was at the heart of the matter, and Mrs Ford has now agreed to stop advertising the poker, and is ‘cautiously’ planning to continue to host the nights privately.
‘They need to make it less of a grey area so people know,’ she said.
She was confused as to why poker specifically was the problem, as other pub games could also be classed as gambling.
‘It’s only the poker – I don’t understand the ordinance,’ she added. ‘They say it’s a grey area but so is the meat draw, open the box, euchre, and the pool league, so what’s the difference?’
The poker league works by each player bringing in £5 per week, which is then given to the winners at the end of the tournaments, and Mrs Ford said she did not make profit from it.
‘The poker players are not buying drinks – they are all there to play the game. We have no hassle and it’s a social night, that’s all it is.’
Home Affairs issued a statement yesterday afternoon to clarify the position.
‘It is important to make clear that we have not stopped any activity as that is not our role,’ it said.
‘This is not an area we actively seek to get involved in. Contact was made with a representative from the licensed premises in this case, purely because they were advertising in the Press and there are specific provisions in the law which prohibit advertising gambling on licensed premises.
‘In general terms regarding gambling-type events, our advice is always that it is for the organiser to take their own legal advice if they believe it necessary.’
It also confirmed that this was not a matter for police.
