Runnemede, New Jersey is a small suburb of Philadelphia. Located in Camden County, the borough would be happy to let you know about its summer recreation program. The borough got some other publicity at what was once a Curves health club.
Curves is a health club for women. The Runnemede, New Jersey club closed some time ago. There are lots of things you can do with an empty health club. I wouldn’t recommend what was done here: An illegal poker club.
Gambling in the United States is regulated. To open a legal poker room, you need to have various government approvals. Thomas Rand of Williamstown, New Jersey and Ryan Dion of Blackwood, New Jersey ignored that small step. There’s also the other minor difficulty that the only legal live gambling in New Jersey is in Atlantic City, 52 miles from Runnemede.
The club, which ran no-limit Texas Hold’em games three times a week, was shut down by state police in March. New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman stated, “These defendants operated an old-school gambling club, complete with cash cage, poker tables, and a wide-screen TV for patrons to watch the sports on which they gambled.” The club ran for eight years according to news reports, and included a link to an online sportsbetting website.
Mr. Rand and Mr. Dion pleaded guilty to gambling charges; they’ll be sentenced in early October.