One of the 48 people involved in the poker game said he thought he was playing in a legal tournament -- for charity. Another player, who frequents the poker table, said he doesn't see a problem with people having "some safe fun."
But Tennessee law, and investigators, are calling it an illegal game.
The poker game in question unfolded Aug. 22 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4848 on Riverside Drive. The game was proceeding as normal, with a standard $35 buy-in, when members of the Chattanooga Police Department's Special Investigations Unit, its Crime Suppression Unit and the Alcoholic Beverage Commission served a search warrant and wrote a slew of citations to participants.
Investigators involved with the case said they "learned about the illegal operation through citizen complaints," according to information released by the police department.
Investigators said that the VFW site was rented for the event and that the gambling operation "was not an official veterans meeting and that the individuals participating in these illegal activities would have gone wherever the games were being held."
Participants involved in the game disagree.
One veteran involved with the VFW said poker games had been taking place there for a long time.
"The officers that stormed in here should be busy doing other things," he said.
A participant in the game, who spoke on condition that he not be identified, said that he was told by men running the game that it was a charitable event and the proceeds were going to the VFW.
"I am truly a victim here," he said. "I know gambling and playing poker is illegal in the state of Tennessee, but I was told this was a legal charitable event."
Police charged two men, identified as Rodney Randal and Michael Humphrey, separately from the other 46 people charged in the incident. Both men have been charged with gambling promotion and possession of a gambling device/record.
Investigators said that they had been "looking into illegal gambling concerning [specific] promoters for about one year."
Officials with the Chattanooga Police Department said games move all around the city, and there is reason to believe that this particular raid could be connected to larger gambling activity.
Multiple people who played in the game at the VFW are wondering why it was singled out.
"Nobody knows why they messed with us," one player said. "I am mad they took everyone's money."
Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6592.