Warrant Executed at Home of Poker Pro Richard Lee

It was 10 pm on a Tuesday night in the high-end district of Shavano Park when the news broke on WOAI News 4 in San Antonio, Texas. An illegal gambling warrant had just been executed at the home of 2006 World Series of Poker sixth-place finisher, Richard Lee.

It seems the final table of the WSOP has been plagued with controversy, and just when the Gold vs. Leyser $6 million lawsuit began to lose momentum, another shocking headline became fodder for the press.

According to news station WOAI, vice officers executed a warrant to break up an alleged illegal gambling operation at a home owned by a recent WSOP poker champion. It was announced that officers were inside the home taking inventory of each piece of property.

Bexar County Appraisal District records showed that a Richard Lee owned the home. Confirming that information was a man identifying himself as Lee's lawyer, who stated that the home's owner is the same Richard Lee who placed sixth at the World Series of Poker and won nearly $3 million a few weeks ago.

Police spokesman Joe Rios told WOAI, "Our vice detectives have been conducting a comprehensive investigation where they believe proceeds from illegal gambling have bought a lot of items in this house."

Rios told Card Player that an Internet gambling website was operated from the house. The name of the URL won't be available until the case is unsealed later this week. Rios said the website allowed people to gamble online and that some of the proof that was confiscated included receipts and checks of payments paid to players.

"We're not talking $20 to $30, we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars," Rios said. "It was run like an online gambing site."

Rios couldn't say what kind of gambling was going on through the computers seized at Lee's property.

When asked about the seizure proceedings, officer Rios responded: "Anytime we have that type of investigation that leads us to believe there's illegal property in the house, we have the authority to seize it."

Rios confirmed that police would be towing every vehicle while removing all personal property from the home.

"No one was arrested," said Rios, "although now that we have found the evidence, we can move forward."

Rios confirmed that the home has been under investigation for months. He says that during the search police found multiple gambling receipts.

"It's basically what we refer to as a bookie taking bets online and then placing those bets," said Rios. "He's doing that illegally here in San Antonio instead of Vegas."

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for all the facts about this story as they unfold.

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