A raid on a popular poker house has highlighted determination by police to crack down on illegal gambling in the city.
Angry poker players spent Tuesday night at Central district police station in Sheung Wan following the raid on the Hong Kong Poker House in Hollywood Road, Central, but said they were acting within the law.
The raid occurred at 8.45pm on Tuesday as the city's best-known poker venue was throwing a closing-down party. The owners said they were closing down because the landlord had refused to renew their lease, not because the business was an illegal casino.
Police gatecrashed the party and arrested 176 people on suspicion of illegal gambling in a casino. The 131 men and 45 women, aged between 26 and 61, were released on bail.
About HK$22,000, 10 Texas hold'em gambling tables and 24 boxes of gambling chips with a face value of HK$13 million were seized.
This follows raids on a mahjong house in Mong Kok that was running poker sessions in a back room on the premises last month and on the Seven Deuce Poker House in Jordan in May. The Blue Room Poker House, in Stanley Street, Central, was raided five months ago and forced to close after an undercover police operation.