Cribbage Declared Illegal
I’ve been following (board)gaming news off and on lately, so I’ve decided to inaugurate a new gaming category with this ominous tale of an allegedly new gambling law in Maine: Cribbage players run afoul of state law.
“The rules are there; we don’t understand them,” O'Conner said. “(Cribbage) is like playing monopoly or dominos. We don’t know where the law came from. They just made it up. In Waterville, they went in and confiscated their cribbage boards and cards. They were just playing for fun and not having a tournament or anything. Just a couple of guys playing at the bar.”
Rep. Stephen Hanley, D-Gardiner, said it’s not only veterans who are being hurt by this law; senior citizen and community centers also are feeling the pinch. And what about all the office sports pools and bars and taverns that supply cribbage boards for their customers, he said. Are they illegal?
Perhaps Language Log will parse Title 17-A (Maine Criminal Code Chapter 39 Unlawful Gambling) for the confused Mainers, although it’s not nearly as excitingly ambiguous as Arkansas' Act 441 of 2007, Section 1.
© 2007 M. C. DeMarco
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