is this legal

hi i know a company that i believe is illegal please advise
the company plays poker at over 10 different pubs with more than 10 members per pub they charge £5 stake which i know is legal with also a points system for each venue league
+an overall league any player can play in any pub league i think this is also legal
the question i have is they also charge £6 membership fee for every player each time they play
i have been researching as i am thinking of copying the system but do not want to break any laws
many thanks for your time and expertise paul

im going to go and say no, its not illegal..there hosting a tourney...one fee is the prize money..and the other fee is there profits, cause there not hoolding it for the good fo their health...thats jsut off the bat could be totally wrong but id say its that

Yeah I think it's okay.

umm, this sort of depends in what country you're in.

Yeah... but... at least where I live at the moment... No one enforces "illegal gambling" there's a weekly $40 buy in tourney at the strip club here and no hassles about that ever... so far

Yea, and in the US, it also depends on what state you're in, because every state has it's own gambling laws. Sean, for you, I doubt you will have any problem living out west where you're at. But a lot of places more east can be pretty strict about what is tolerable.

I believe there was a news story maybe about 6 years ago. People having home poker games (East Coast) that would get raided by thugs to rob everyone there? And then the cops started raiding them to get eveyone to stop playing. Anyone remember this or have a link back to that story?

Seems legal.

But, why out of all the poker sites you could play on and get good deposit bonuses, with tons of fish and cool software like full tilt, or pokerstars, or ultimate bet, why do you find some only god knows type of site and decide to deposit there? Hahaha just seems funny to me.

Before you do anything like this I'd pay for an hour with a lawyer and run all this by him. I would want to check it all out to be sure.

I'd say the best thing to do would be to ask a local officer if it is legal or not in you're area, and if illegal find out how "strict" they are about it

i knew of a similar operation out here in philly where it is illegal, yet some of the local officers were playing lol so obviously it was not taken seriously with the law... it all depends on where the games are being held

Critical info. Impossible to have a sensible discussion without this.

i think the place he's talking about is the North Pole... does Santa play NL HE?

In the US it would depend on a state by state basis. Here in Ohio if it is a public place it is a no-no. And definitely not allowed where alcohol is served.

Maybe someone from the UK who is in the know is better to respond to this one!

It all depends on the country/state/province you are in. As an example, The games I run here in Ontario are to be completely rake-free with no additional membershuo charges, yet in Manitoba they are able to charge rake and/or fees. As said before, it is probably best to speak with a lawyer or at the minimum the local police detachment about it. But be careful if you are speaking to the police, as if it is illegal, you might inadvertantly tip them off to it and it may get shut down.

Actually, come to think of it, contact your local district Gaming Comission office. They will be able to tell you exactly what you can and can't do, and may even be able to offer you a permit to keep everything nice and legal. The permit may cost a bit, but it is a good way to keep everything on the level.

tbdbitl, as long as the participants are not charged any fee or forced to buy drinks they can play cards in a bar. But the minute they are charged money it is considered gambling and therefore illegal in Ohio. A few years back they busted a bar league here in Columbus but the judge threw out the charges since the participants were not considered gambling by Ohio code.

hi sorry guys i am in england the law states that there is a £5 max stake per player with £100 max prize money it also says there can be no charge to play but not sure if this applies only to a landlord (publican) this is an out side company that provide every thing thing and just use the pubs as venues ?

Every countrys different the poker law. I dont know what is free and what is not in England.

In Hungary will come too hard poker law now. This what do you like in England my country is illegal already.