Will new Wyoming law end poker games like the one at Yo’s Poker Palace?

A new law aimed at shutting down illegal gambling halls in Wyoming bars rewrites the rules for every friendly poker game in the state, potentially affecting longstanding social games like the one at Yo’s Poker Palace in Alpine.

Four nights a week, retired municipal worker Yolanda Navarrete deals cards upstairs at the Bull Moose Saloon. The game draws locals with nicknames like Smiley and Spud, occasional traveling pros, and the occasional tourist. The biggest pot anyone remembers was around $400. Dealers might collect a dollar tip per hand on a good night.

Recently enacted Senate File 44 seeks to close the “friendly game” loophole that allowed some bars to run commercial poker operations under the guise of social games. Now, no person may receive “any remuneration from facilitating, participating in, hosting or organizing the game… other than the direct realization of winnings.”

That language could affect Navarrete’s tips. The law also requires games be “not advertised” and participants have a “bona fide social relationship” not arising for gambling purposes. Navarrete’s blog advertising the game and tourists passing through could potentially run afoul.

Navarrete doesn’t think the law targets her game. “We don’t take a rake,” she said. “It’s all just basically pretty social.” A sheriff’s deputy and police officer used to play occasionally, she added, and a Gaming Commission inspector once asked about the poker and moved on without issue.