Poker has become one of the most popular card games in the country these days and the evidence can be found everywhere; the Internet, television, and even now on the iPhone. There are applications available for purchase and download from the App Store that allow iPhone users to play poker on their phone in case they are not in front of their computer to play an Internet game. Well, not everyone is happy about the growth of poker, especially Cook County in the state of Illinois.

Cook County, like the city of Chicago, already bans video gambling throughout the county. The county banned video gambling because they feel there is no way to regulate these machines, which can lead to fixed games and unlawful winnings by the establishment that owns the machines and operates them in their buildings. A retired FBI agent, James Wagner said video games provide “an open invitation to organized crime to become a partner in gaming business. They are with us, they will always be with us and they do salivate over cash businesses.”

Many councilmen in Cook County feel that allowing video gambling to take place at any establishment in the county will feed fuel to a criminal fire. One councilman compared it to bringing a bottle of alcohol to the Betty Ford Alcohol Treatment Center. Others called it a ‘cockamamie scheme’ and cited the county’s record of corruption. There are many people in the county opposed to the ban, most notably the establishments losing money from not having the machines in their buildings.