BY TOM SOMACH

A barber who usually deals with straight razors is in big trouble for dealing straights and flushes.

Gary Chatterton of Galena, Kansas, USA, is being tried in court on a felony count of commercial gambling, in connection with a November, 2006 poker game in a building that houses his barber shop, the Associated Press reported.

He also faces a misdemeanor charge of permitting his premises to be used for commercial gambling, A.P. reported.

According to the wire service report, a police officer testified at Chatterton’s preliminary hearing Wednesday that he took part in a sting that put him in the alleged game with six or seven other players.

The police officer stated that he gave Chatterton $20 and in return received poker chips and a cup full of coins, the report said.

The officer then stated that he lost the $20 and left, after Chatterton gave him fliers to post around town advertising the poker games, the report said.

Chatterton’s defense in the case is a novel one–he claims he wasn’t running a gambling operation, but was instead just teaching people how to play poker.

During the hearing, when Chatterton’s attorney questioned witnesses about the game, the attorney referred to Chatterton’s gambling operation as “poker school.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.) =A0