A fire company that raised almost $41,000 by holding charity poker tournaments has been ordered to turn over the funds to the government.

According to media reports, the Westmoreland County Fire Department, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, recently raised a total of $40,814 by holding several charity poker tournaments featuring no-limit Texas hold ‘em at the fire department’s headquarters.

However, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Tom Corbett, said this week that the fire department must surrender the funds because under state law, individuals and organizations cannot profit from illegal gambling, media reports said.

A petition was filed this week in Cambria County Court seeking the ill-gotten funds, media reports said.

In addition, the organizer of the poker tournaments, Larry Burns, an attorney from Greensburg, Pennsyvlania, USA, faces misdemeanor gambling charges for running the tourneys, media reports said.

Poker is illegal everywhere in the State of Pennsylvania, including at the state’s dozen or so casinos, which feature only slot machines.

The term “slot machine” is broadly defined by the law, however, so video poker machines are allowed in the state’s casinos under the understanding that video poker machines are a type of slot machine.

No poker rooms with live poker games such as hold ‘em are allowed in Keystone State casinos yet, but state legislators are considering changing the law to allow them.

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