Poker Game Legal?

Last weekend, 21 players, 10 of them from Missouri, were arrested at a Hold'em tournament at the Prairies Golf Course in Cahokia.

Poker's explosion in popularity has players, and sometimes authorities, confused about its legal implications.

A whole new crowd is playing the game, often without realizing they are breaking the law. And the law varies greatly from Missouri to Illinois, where different rules govern games played for charity in church basements and amateur tournaments in taverns.

While it's not likely that authorities will barge in on a friendly game at a private residence, the laws apply there, too.

Texas Hold'em is a version of poker in which each player is dealt two cards down and five common cards are dealt up between betting rounds. Players can risk all their chips on a single turn of the card.

The game is not considered gambling the way it's played at the Action Cafe, on North Lindbergh Boulevard, so it's all perfectly legal.