Authorities raided the Piney Chapel game room Saturday night they found 25 people inside, many who were at a poker table taking bets.

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely described it as a mini casino just like "a little poker room in Tunica, Miss."

And he said when authorities raided the Piney Chapel game room Saturday night they found 25 people inside, many who were at a poker table taking bets.

"They had two poker tables, a waitress waiting tables who was working for tips and two (card) dealers," said Blakely. "It was just like a little poker room in Tunica."

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Tunica is in Mississippi just south of Memphis, Tenn., and is home to dozens of legal casinos. The one in Piney Chapel, though, was not legal, the sheriff said.

Arrested and jailed during the 9 p.m. raid were David Randel Garrett, 61, of 20467 Elkton Road, Athens; Danny Joe Carter, 47, of 22675 Alabama Highway 99, Elkmont; and Barry Dale Usery, 49, of 20987 Holt Road, Athens. All three were charged with promoting gambling, a misdemeanor offense. All posted $1,000 bail bond and were released from the Limestone County Jail.

A fourth person, Paul Stringer, 44, of Cullman, was also arrested. Blakely said he was a customer and had a gun in his pocket. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

"We think they had been operating for about a year in this building behind Garrett's house off Elkton Road," said Blakely. "We had received some information that this was going on, but we had no idea of the scale this operation was."

Called "Linda's Game Room," the operation apparently was so popular that people from throughout the area were regular customers.

"We had people from Giles and Lincoln counties in Tennessee, people from Cullman, Huntsville and Limestone County there when we raided them Saturday night," the sheriff said. "They didn't have any slot machines -- just the two poker tables that would seat 11 players to the table."

Blakely said no alcohol was being served and apparently has not been served in the operation. He said non-alcoholic drinks and dinner meals, though, were available to customers.

Authorities confiscated $1,100 from one poker table.

Source: The News Courier