Police say no deal to Hickory poker

Christopher Dietz, 52, was charged Thursday with operating a gambling game at a business off Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard, SE.
Investigators with the Hickory and Boone police departments busted the operation at Holdum Foldum at 336 Eighth Street Drive, SE, No. 13.


Deitz owns the business.


Five people were issued citations, including Dietz, said Maj. Tom Adkins of the Hickory Police Department.


Dietz, who began the poker operation in October, says he’s going to fight the charge.


“I’m not going to pay my fine,” he said. “I want a jury to decide. How can they punish me for what 75 percent of the country is doing?”


Dietz contends these are games of skill, not chance.


“Here, in tournament play, you give me $50, I give you $2,000 worth of chips,” he said. “You’ll have to play two to three hours to even win a dime. The chips aren’t worth anything unless you win first, second or third place.


“In a poker game, $50 buys you $50 of chips. You get in the game, play one hand and win, say, $200. You can take that money and walk out the door.”


A search warrant of the business led to the seizure of U.S. currency, paperwork and other items. Dietz says they also took a credit card processing machine.


Dietz admits he’s walking a fine line, but says people will play poker elsewhere.


“I know it’s a gray area,” he said. But I’m providing a safe place to play, where there’s no alcohol. Some of my best players are women. They even bring their kids.


“If they close me down, people will still play cards, just somewhere else.”


Others issued citations were:


• Ronald Lee Bryant, 39, of Twentieth Street, NE, operating a gambling game.


• Trevor Monday, 26, of Shannon Drive, Newton, gambling.


• James Parks Fox, 22, of Vernon Bradley Road, Old Fort, gambling.


• William Deshawn Blount, 24, of Spring Avenue, NE, gambling.


• Jonathan Scott Yount, 17, of Valley Field Road, gambling.


All were released at the scene except for Monday, who was arrested for an outstanding warrant by the Newton Police Department.


All are scheduled to appear in Hickory District Court on April 6.

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