Legality of Home Games

[Snarf]

Discussion ensues...

[beyeond]

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Discussion ensues...

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I live in Virginia, and from what i've read they are legal unless the host of the game profits from it (i.e. rake).

[smoore]

All good here in CO, as long as:

Everyone knows each other.
There is no rake/fee.
You don't sell food or drink.

edit: oh yeah, there is some confusion about whether or not Gaming License holders are allowed to particapate, one gaming agent I asked said "No problem, but they will get the license yanked if there is *anything* illegal about the game." License holders are specifically barred from internet gambling according to my wife's employer. She never did win anyway /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Snarf]

[ QUOTE ]
All good here in CO, as long as:

Everyone knows each other.
There is no rake/fee.
You don't sell food or drink.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats always been my theory...but looking to solidify it.

Where do I look up IL laws on it?
(I'm lazy)

[neverforgetlol]

is the law really going to stop anyone either way?

[Snarf]

[ QUOTE ]
is the law really going to stop anyone either way?

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my gf is paranoid and refuses to play if there are new players present.

[Rockatansky]

As Bob's Cardplayer article pointed out, they are most definitely illegal here in South Carolina. There is also a crazy law granting gamblers a civil cause of action against anyone to whom they have lost more than $50.

[The_Bankroll]

in GA, it's the same as most states listed above. You can host a game as long as your doing it without making a profit via rake or selling stuff. Making profit via destacking donks is still cool though.

[Georgia Avenue]

All:

This is an issue we are dealing with in Maryland a lot, becuase here PLAYING poker is illegal (as in SC?)not just operating "casinos". No one has been busted yet, but there has never been a poker boom before. We'll see.

Frankly, if there are legal cardrooms, I don't know if home games should be legal...this seems just an open house for the sketchos of the community, both players and operators.

Are home games legal in Las Vegas?

--GA

[smoore]

http://www.gambling-law-us.com/

[Bob Ciaffone]

The best place on the internet to check out the state and federal laws on gambling is the website of poker player and gaming lawyer Chuck Humphrey.
http://www.gambling-law-us.com/

[Bob Ciaffone]

Sorry to disillusion you, but playing poker is illegal in Georgia even if the house does not derive revenue from the game. This is Georgia law:

16-12-21.

(a) A person commits the offense of gambling when he:
(1) Makes a bet upon the partial or final result of any game or contest or upon the performance of any participant in such game or contest;
(2) Makes a bet upon the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or upon the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or
(3) Plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, or balls.
(b) A person who commits the offense of gambling shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

[Snarf]

Hey Bob,

I live in IL. Can you break it down for us legaleese simpletons?

(I actually did try to read the codes and didn't get it...)

[VoraciousReader]

That was an interesting read. Thanks for the link. Reading the KS Constitution was informative, enlightening, and entertaining (in a laughably sad kind of way.)

Blatant hypocrisy is always entertaining (I knew our lottery law was hypocritical, but I didn't realize until I read the exact language just how hypocritical it was):

Article 15 Sec 3:
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Lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets are forever prohibited.

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Article 15 Sec 3c:
[ QUOTE ]
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3 of article 15 of the constitution of the state of Kansas, the legislature may provide for a state-owned and operated lottery...

[/ QUOTE ]

I also learned why my grandmother's weekly game of bridge where everybody pays in 50 cents and the top winner takes home a whopping 2 bucks could be illegal, but it's perfectly okay to pay 50X the value of a plastic bracelet in order to win it at SkeeBall.

I learned that hosting any kind of home game is illegal, but you really really really don't want to be caught collecting a rake, which would change it from a class B misdemeanor to a felony.

And, assuming I read the statute correctly, since I use my internet significantly more for poker than for anything else, Time-Warner Cable could be required to disconnect my service if they learn that I'm doing it.

/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Edited because on a reread my grandmother may be okay...I'm not 100% certain.

[bobbyi]

"Everyone knows each other" seems like a bizarre stipulation. What is it supposed to mean? If I meet up with some people from twoplustwo whom I've never met before in person to play cards do we "know each other"?

And once the game has been going for a while, everyone will in a sense know each other. I have friends now whom I met for the first time in a home game. At what point did I know them well enough to play in the same game as them?

[Warren Harding]

Don't under estimate Bibles and guns. Social conservatives in gov't prosecute all sorts of harmless consenual provate acts in the name Jaysuhs.

Play poker. Keep your blinds drawn. And vote.

[GBP04]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Bob,

I live in IL. Can you break it down for us legaleese simpletons?

(I actually did try to read the codes and didn't get it...)

[/ QUOTE ]

I would fall into your category also, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a ban on it. Don't worry though, the Illinois lotto is still going strong /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Fly Fischerman]

[ QUOTE ]
All good here in CO, as long as:

Everyone knows each other.
There is no rake/fee.
You don't sell food or drink.


[/ QUOTE ]

How can the cops really prove that everyone knows each other? I understand that over a certain number of players, it's clear that there's more than just a friendly neighborhood game going on, but other than that...

MOreover, why does it matter? If no money is being made off the game by anyone running it, that is.

[VoraciousReader]

[ QUOTE ]

How can the cops really prove that everyone knows each other? I understand that over a certain number of players, it's clear that there's more than just a friendly neighborhood game going on, but other than that...

MOreover, why does it matter? If no money is being made off the game by anyone running it, that is.

[/ QUOTE ]

As far as proving/enforcing it, I have no idea. Regarding rationale, I speculate that the motivation behind the law was to protect outsiders against being cheated by a core group including the host.

Pretty silly provision regardless.

[slamdunkpro]

[ QUOTE ]
This is an issue we are dealing with in Maryland a lot, becuase here PLAYING poker is illegal (as in SC?)not just operating "casinos". No one has been busted yet, but there has never been a poker boom before. We'll see.

[/ QUOTE ]

Baltiomre City busted a private poker club a short while ago. The operators are facing multiple feloney counts, with a possible outcome of life.