Poker and game center closes MetroPlex site

Staff report

liberty

Club Infiniti, a poker and game center that had operated in the MetroPlex Hotel, just off Belmont Avenue, has closed.

Police Chief Rich Tisone said he received information that the club had been served with an eviction notice Monday.

“All the tables and equipment are gone,” Tisone said.

C.J. McCormick of Girard, club president, said the club plans to reopen, but he “has no idea” where.

Tisone previously had met with McCormick and Kevin Forestal of Liberty and told them the club was violating Ohio’s gambling laws and police would raid it and file charges. Robert Johnson, Girard city prosecutor, said the fact the owners receive earnings, directly or indirectly, from the business that involves playing of poker means it is illegal.

Club owners also had appeared in Trumbull County Common Pleas court, after filing a complaint seeking to prevent police from filing charges and closing the club. The complaint was dismissed.

When asked why the club closed, McCormick said only that it was moving to a new place.