BY TOM SOMACH

Some cops arrest poker players and some cops embrace poker players.

While police throughout the USA are busting poker players who run or participate in illegal poker games, police in at least one U.S. city are promoting the game.

Police in Joliet, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, are holding a poker tournament to raise money for charity.

Officially, it’s the Joliet Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, which represents the department’s patrol officers, that is holding the Texas hold ‘em tourney.

The money raised will be used for a children’s Christimas party and a donation to Easter Seals, said Council president Eric Stanley.

“We had to decide if it was appropriate for police officers to hold a fundraiser involving gambling, but we saw other community organizations have had success with these tournaments.” Stanley said.

The Council had to get a temporary gambling license from the State of Illinois to run the event, he said.

The winners of the charity Texas hold ‘em tournament will not receive cash payouts, he said.

Instead, they will get prizes such as DVD-players or big-screen television sets, he said.

The event will be held at a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post in Joliet on Saturday, October 20.

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