Home Poker Game Law: Exploring Why This Card Game is Illegal

Home Poker Game Law: Exploring Why This Card Game is Illegal

Can anybody give me a reason why home poker tournaments that take a small rake are considered illegal across the country? To this day, I have not heard a good one.  I can only chalk it up to complete ignorance on the part of lawmakers across the country, but how can that many lawmakers be that ignorant?

I know the old song and dance.  Poker is considered gambling because it is a game of chance, not a game of skill.  If that is so, can somebody tell me why, for years, the same people kept winning the majority of the tournaments? I know, with the massive popularity of poker, it’s sometimes harder to differentiate the more skilled players from the amateurs and wanna-be professionals, but if the Professional Golf Association were to allow 700 players into every major golf tournament, Tiger Woods would be fortunate just to win more than one or two tournaments, too.

Let’s take a look at a game very similar to poker – backgammon.  I play a lot of backgammon, and the last time I checked, the American Backgammon Tour (ABT) has at least one major tournament every month.  The tournaments have entry fees and rakes, just like some “illegal” home poker tournaments.  Both games involve degrees of skill and luck.  Both games have instances in which the best player does not always win.  In fact, the best players probably win just a small percentage of the time in major tournaments.  Yet, one is considered a “Tour” and the other is considered illegal gambling?

Just as a little experiment, I researched the ABT players of the year for the past several years. The players who win this prestigious honor must perform well throughout the year, earning points at various ABT sponsored events.  I wanted to see how far back I had to go in time before I found somebody who won the award twice. Finally, after traveling back in time to 1999, I found that Neil Kazaross has won the award twice since then.  So, in the last nine years, only one person has won the award twice.  Yet, this is more a game of skill than poker?  Here is the rundown of the past ABT Players of the Year.
  • 1999 – Neil Kazaross

  • 2000 – Bob Bishop

  • 2001 – Jake Jacobs

  • 2002 – Steve Sax

  • 2003 – Malcolm Davis

  • 2004 – Frank Talbot

  • 2005 – Neil Kazaross

  • 2006 – Richard Munitz

  • 2007 – Ray Fogerlund


  • I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of these players and I can say, without question, these are some of the smartest, most intelligent men I have ever met. Their backgammon skill is obviously superior to most players.  When these gentleman are in a town with a local backgammon club, they are perfectly welcome to practice their craft at the nearest pub or meeting place and win a few bucks in a backgammon tournament.  Usually, the director of the backgammon club takes a small rake from the tournament entry fees to pay for various costs of running the club.  Yet, the players don’t have to worry about local law enforcement storming in with riot gear and guns drawn.  They don’t have to worry if a police officer is going to confiscate the $200 dollars they have in their wallet. Poker players, for some odd reason, are not afforded the same luxury, even in the comfort of their own homes, and it simply makes no sense.

    I can only reason that poker, in the eyes of lawmakers, still has the stigma of being similar to back alley pool halls (another activity in which wagering upon it is legal). If this is the case, it is a shame.  I think it’s about time lawmakers pull their collective heads out of the sand.  Poker is a means for many average and normally law-abiding citizens to sit back, relax, meet friends, and have a good time.  Poker is not a bunch of crooks, thieves, and hustlers trying to cheat the entire world. It simply makes no sense that I can legally invite people over to my house to watch the Super Bowl and ask them to contribute $5 for pizzas, but the minute I have a small poker tournament and do the same, it is illegal.

    Can anybody answer give me a good reason why poker tournaments are illegal?  Anybody?   Anybody?



    [thanks to nukeit1 and kc via cc]

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