 | tournament legality |
A reader asks:
Is it legal to have a poker tournament in your private residence (home) that included invitations being sent out to 50+ people and results in approx. 25 actual players. The entry is $20 and they can buy back in for another $20 in the first hour. Also, are minor children allowed to be in this home while the "gambling" is going on?The long answer in Texas can always be found on my texas poker legality page. For those of you who are lazy, the quick answer is yes, such a tournament is legal, provided nobody is receiving an "economic benefit" from the tournament (so no rake, pay 100% of buyins back out as prizes, no tipped dealers or waitstaff), it's in a private residence, and you are playing a variety of poker where everyone has the same chance of winning and losing (every common variety of poker meets this rule; that law mainly prevents house-edge games like blackjack or craps).
As to the question of minors, there is nothing in the penal code on gambling about minors at all, so minors around gambling in Texas is not prohibited if the gambling is legal by the gambling laws, but I can't speak for child safety and family laws, etc. I'd imagine photos of children at a poker night could probably be used, for instance, in a child custody case, but I believe that it is legal for minors to observe (and participate in) legal gambling in Texas.
Hell, a minor can drink in a bar with his father, or even the spouse if the spouse is of age (say a 19 year old girl and her 22 year old husband).
Also of note, in my conversations with Lubbock County ADA Grace, there have been cases made that a home game is illegal if it is advertised online on a message board. Reason being that you are advertising, not just playing with your friends. Judges have ruled in favor of this interpretation according to ADA Grace, though he couldnt give me references to specific case law at that time.
Food for Thought.
Evil. So evil.
Posted by: Jules on May 9, 2005 04:40 PMGreat post, as a law student who recently took a class in Cyberlaw, I have written a pretty comprehensive report on Internet gambling within the USA. I have included a link here in case you want to check it out. It is pretty full of legalese, but I give a good cheat sheet in my post.
Great site...Thanks for your work
Posted by: Michael G. Cohen on May 11, 2005 11:03 PMThis Lubbock County ADA Grace statement sounds wrong. I don't think there is anything in the penal code about playing with friends or advertising. It just needs to be in a private place - advertising doesn't make your house public, does it? If so, you'd better not advertise a garage sale... Do Texas laws suck that much?
Has anyone else noticed the utter lack of press coverage of the Phil Helmuth Houston Poker Challenge and also the utter lack of press coverage regarding its cancellation? Strikes me as strange to see absolutely nothing in the media about it...
Tom
( http://www.bayoucitypoker.com )
I look at cyber gambling as another example of freedom. If the U.S. (su;pposedly the country that professes freedom) will not embrace it's legality it will only lose the revenue and the jobs to other countries that are willing to allow such freedoms. Much the same as in my own state of Pennsylvania. Because my state refused to allow the freedom to partake in casino gambling, residents went to NJ and as a result have transferred hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue to Atlantic City. Freedom is always the best answer. It just annoys me when the people of the U.S. claim this is a "free country" when in reality we have less freedoms than most countries.
Posted by: Extagen no on June 7, 2005 11:48 AM