Poker And Gin Rummy Gambling Leads To Forty-Two Elderly Arrests

It is common throughout the world for the elderly to get together and play cards for small stakes. In Cyprus, forty-two elderly women found out the hard way that the police have no compassion when it comes to gambling.

Forty-two women between the ages of seventy-five and ninety-five, were arrested this week when Cyprus officials raided a home card game. The amount of money the women were playing for was almost laughable, less than one hundred pence was confiscated.

The women, one of which was ninety-five years old, were hauled off to jail, booked, and released. The women will have to appear in court at a later date to defend their casual card playing. The women could land in jail, but the more likely scenario is a small fine.

"It is unbelievable that people would even complain about such a game,"s aid Mary Grattler, when referring to the complaints from neighbors that the game was creating a stir in the neighborhood, "If police around the world start busting up gin rummy games, there are going to be a lot of elderly people heading to jail."

The games are so popular that in some retirement communities, the clubhouse has a gambling card game nearly every night of the week. Most of these games are played with nickels and dimes, and rarely do pots exceed five dollars.

In the US, police agencies have been cracking down on video gambling halls that cater mainly to the elderly, but even there, authorities have been slow to bust the actual gamblers themselves. Home raids on the elderly have been even less popular in the US.

November 24, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Submit News!