opening a poker club

[britishpassport]

hi all
i would like to know the law about opening a non profit making poker club owned and run by group of players/investors

what can be charged in tournaments and in cash games for running costs and investment returns so that it is legal

subscriptions?
payment at door?
any help would be useful

[Sark79]

Hi, welcome to Blonde.   I will leave someone who is far smarter than me to answer your question  .   I did run a He-Man fan club once, but I can't really remember all the details about it. I was only eight at the time

[rivered]

Hi, welcome to Blonde

Things aren't too clear around that area at the moment, and the Gutshot club in London is currently going thru the courts - the outcome of this case will set a precedent for all other non-licensed clubs in the UK.

[fergus8]

im not sure if its the profitering or the gambling which is the grey area, prob both

[britishpassport]

Hi, welcome to Blonde

Things aren't too clear around that area at the moment, and the Gutshot club in London is currently going thru the courts - the outcome of this case will set a precedent for all other non-licensed clubs in the UK.

the gutshot openly advertises rake on thier website, i am only interested in a private club with an elected tresurer, board of directors making decisions etc etc and not a business.

[Wardonkey]

The Gaming Commission are the people to ask.

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/Client/index.asp

[britishpassport]

email sent

[turny]

let us know what they say when they reply

and oh yeah welcome to blonde 

[mikee_j]

Hi, welcome to Blonde

Things aren't too clear around that area at the moment, and the Gutshot club in London is currently going thru the courts - the outcome of this case will set a precedent for all other non-licensed clubs in the UK.

the gutshot openly advertises rake on thier website, i am only interested in a private club with an elected tresurer, board of directors making decisions etc etc and not a business.

All the university poker societies up n down the country are running on the basis of them being non-profit, self running private members club. I had some issues to clear up with the union when i setup the society at Reading but eventually i got it up and running. what we based it on was that there was no rake taken, it was on private property (the university seminar rooms, not the bar or public place), members were only allowed to play and we charged members £5 to join and this covered all the expenses of cards, chips, felt etc... This (we felt) was all inline with the law. At least our interpretation of the 1968 act (i think it was 1968)

the main problem we had was the union not endorsing gambling, even though there are fruit machines and IT boxes dotted round the uni!?! eventually we agreed to cap tournaments at max £10 and no rebuys. better than nothing i suppose. cash games were played on the side but as the president i turned a blind eye as we were not really mean't to be playing cash. In the end of the day, all our members loved the poker society and no-one became an addict or developed problems which the uni thought would happen. anyways thats a whole different story.

[mikkyT]

The gaming board have not really much of a leg to stand on over this. Cincinnati club was raided a while back and the outcome is still yet to be heard.

As far as I can see the issue, over and above licencing, is about these clubs taking rake in excess of gambing act 1968 pertaining to private members clubs. Hourly table fees seem the way to go, btw....

[Royal Flush]

The gaming board have not really much of a leg to stand on over this. Cincinnati club was raided a while back and the outcome is still yet to be heard.

As far as I can see the issue, over and above licencing, is about these clubs taking rake in excess of gambing act 1968 pertaining to private members clubs. Hourly table fees seem the way to go, btw....

Is CinCin's not run for profit?