That's a relief to home players like Stuart Lisonbee of Orem, who hosts a weekly game. Sometimes the games at Lisonbee's house are free, with no prize. Sometimes players "buy in" to play, for the chance of winning money.

"From a strictly technical standpoint, I suppose I'm breaking the law every time I play poker in Utah for money. . . . I think that perhaps most poker players in Utah don't feel that they're breaking the law. But overall, I'd say most haven't bothered to give it any thought," he said.

He played his first poker game for money when he was 12, he says, and "none of us there considered the law. We were just some kids enjoying each other's company. I think that's how most Utah poker players feel. They are just some friends getting together to do something that they enjoy."

He tries to be a law-abiding citizen, he says. "But we all break the law at times. Who doesn't speed a little or roll through a stop sign on occasion? I suppose I would say that I feel comfortable breaking this particular law. Mostly because I know that, for now at least, Orem city behaves as if it's not against the law much in the same way they behave as if going 45 mph on State Street is also not against the law, even though technically it is."

Lisonbee, who is LDS and considers himself "a strong member," says he knows many LDS poker players who have quit the game since LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke against gambling at the church's general conference in April.

As for Lisonbee, he says that even when he plays for money he doesn't play because of the money; he plays to win. "I like to compare it to playing church ball."

That Utahns are conflicted over poker was never more evident than last winter, when Utah Valley State College and the Alpine School District teamed up to offer a community education course titled "Texas Hold 'Em: Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em." After getting their "hands slapped," according to one college employee, the course was canceled.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com; jarvik@desnews.com