Legality of running a raked game?

[DavidNB]

Why rake the game this size, sell food and drinks instead and let all the buyins get paided back out.

[johnnyrocket]

its definitely illegal. Period, not worth risking it, my friends dad got arrested for it.

[MTUCache]

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its definitely illegal. Period, not worth risking it, my friends dad got arrested for it.

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So is driving over the speed limit... there's a certain degree of risk here that the OP is looking for help in judging. He obviously knows that it's illegal, or he wouldn't be asking about penalties. I don't think that's the issue.

Yes, going through life ALWAYS following the rules is probably safest. But not too many people are interested in leading the safest lives possible. I'm sure the OP thanks you for your concern, but something tells me he's going to be hosting this game anyway. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[jbrent33]

You are correct, I was more looking for people with personal experienced getting arrested, not a bunch of people telling me how stupid I am.

I want to run a friendly small stakes game that I make a little money off of. It is a 6 hour drive to the nearest casino, and I know a bunch of people who are recreational players who would like to play once or twice a week.

Not to be chicken little, but barring some major changes internet poker is on it's way out, and there are a lot of people(recreational internet players not pros) looking for a game.

I'm going to be at least 4K in the hole (got to get a plasma for the basement) to start in the first place, and I don't have any moral qualms about making money, so why not.

Also for the poster who said I should sell drinks and snacks. Let me think: I could have 27 people in a tourny paying $15 bucks juice, and a 1-3NL game going raking at least $50 dollars an hour, for say 4 hours minimum.

If I could get everybody there to buy 40 cokes at a dollar each you might be on to something.

Food and drinks will be on the house.

I'm open to any other suggestions though.

[Lottery Larry]

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You are correct, I was more looking for people with personal experienced getting arrested, not a bunch of people telling me how stupid I am.

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Then you shouldn't be asking about it here- having a (most likely) illegal business venture in a home is NOT the same thing as hosting a home poker game. Moreso, I'm sure 2+2 isn't interested in having people give advice on an illegal activity- ask the Legislation forum about that.

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I want to run a friendly small stakes game that I make a little money off of.

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The two parts of this sentence don't go together IMO.

[jbrent33]

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I want to run a friendly small stakes game that I make a little money off of.

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The two parts of this sentence don't go together IMO.

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I have played in quite a few games like this over the years. Not everyone (read casual players) is bitter about paying a rake. In exchange for paying rake, you get some food, drinks, competent dealers,etc. Why would you not play in game like that? I would, and have, especially when there is no reasonable legal alternative.

Edit: Mods, if this topic is not kosher with 2+2 policy please feel free to lock. But I'm not real sure how discussing a raked home game is any worse than the 9000 threads in the ZOO on how to circumvent the UIGA.

[nowags]

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its definitely illegal. Period, not worth risking it, my friends dad got arrested for it.

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So is driving over the speed limit...


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Driving over the speed limit isn't a felony. "so is armed robbery" is a better comparison.

OP, for the stakes you are playing and what the game is, just host it, BYOB, and if you buy snacks or anything, ask people to chip in. Getting stuck with clean up, buying snacks, etc, is part of hosting a home game. If you don't want to deal with it, don't host.

[MTUCache]

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Getting stuck with clean up, buying snacks, etc, is part of hosting a home game. If you don't want to deal with it, don't host.

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That's my take on it too... if you're only in this to make money, you're going about it the wrong way.

Talking about dumping $4k on crap like a flatscreen and chips and mood lighting is just idiotic. You said earlier that you're not expecting all that much money to be in the room. Even if you have a big night and there's $10k+ in the room, how much of that do you think is going to end up in your pocket? After providing all the snacks, drinks, competent dealers, etc, you'd be lucky to pocket $200 at the end of the night. At that rate you might as well just get a regular job on weekends.

If you're not willing to host because it costs too much, that's fine, people will completely understand. But if you think you're going to get away with skimming 10+% off of everyone who walks in your door, you're crazy. It wouldn't even take a month before your players would wise up and start playing elsewhere.

In order to make something like this work, it's got to be a BIG operation. Trying to half-azz it is just going to make it fail that much more quickly.

Get your $10 "donation" from each player, order your pizzas, watch your 30" television in the corner, and maybe... maybe... in a few months you'll be able to get some nice ceramic chips for your crowd. Treat them like friends, not like clients... you're not going to be nearly good enough of a host to keep them coming back when it's costing them money.

Then again, you also need to consider... where the heck is all this money really coming from (and where's it going)?? It's going to take some major work to keep the fish coming in and covering the costs of the good players. I personally don't know too many people in our local rooms that would keep coming and losing money if it was strictly about "business". Especially if you're going to be depending on them dumping several hundred dollars per month. They'll come and drop a hundred a couple times per month maybe, if only for the opportunity to have their "guys night" out with their friends and have some laughs... but if the game went up in price and got all serious, they're not coming around anymore.

[Yads]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned tworooks yet.

[jbrent33]

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I can't believe nobody has mentioned tworooks yet.

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Thanks, I'm not opening a casino in my basement just a few poker tables once a week