Online Poker Puts UK Mayor Behind Bars
Written by Renee K | Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
It’s not every day that we hear of a mayor of UK town getting hooked on online poker. And it’s even rarer to hear about a mayor being sent to jail for stealing money to fund this habit, yet this strange-but-true story turned up in the UK press last week and it’s worth repeating.
It seems that Jayne Yeomons, who once served as the mayor of Carlisle in the United Kingdom, was caught after she managed to steal nearly £40,000 from her club in order to pay for her online poker debts.
Yeomons, a 49 year old grandmotherly figure, who looks as unlikely as an online poker addict as she does a mayor, pleaded guilty in a Crown Court for stealing the money from the South End Constitutional Club where she ran the bar.
When Yeomons was nearly caught by an alert club secretary, she forged her own husband’s signature to get her home re-mortgaged and thus access to a further £25,000 in funding.
Yeomons was in the throes of an addiction problem, but took full responsibility for her actions and tried to pay the club back bit by bit. At one point, the poor woman even contemplated – and attempted – suicide, even leaving a confession note before her botched overdose attempt.
Speaking about her addiction before she appeared in court appearance, Yeomans said to the press: “At first it was fun, but it made no sense at all because I was useless at it.”
Online poker experts may jump at this statement to stress the importance of (a) recognizing that poker is a game of skill and should be practiced for free or at low stake levels before players take on games at higher stakes and (b) any sign of addiction should be treated on the spot through great help lines available in practically every country in the world.
And let’s not forget too, that Yeomon’s case made headlines because she’s a former mayor. Millions of poker players take on this sport online each day, with only a sliver of a fraction developing any type of addictive tendencies.
Yeomons, by the way, was sentenced to 12 months behind bars for theft.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
