Poker Loss Admitted by Dykstra

Len Dykstra, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, testified Tuesday at the trial of a Mississippi man charged with running an illegal gambling establishment. Dykstra portrayed himself as a novice poker player who lost $78,000.

Dykstra took time out from spring training to testify for about 45 minutes in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss., at the trial of Herbert Kelso of Ridgeland, Miss. The government contends that Kelso ran a betting parlor in Indianola, Miss.

Testifying for the government, Dykstra admitted that in February of 1990 he wrote two checks--one for $29,000 and the other for $21,000--to cover some of his losses while playing poker after the 1988, 1989 and 1990 seasons in Indianola and Jackson.