Is It Illegal To Play Poker With Friends For Money

Illegal Gambling

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts sponsors an array of lottery games – Megabucks, Mass Greenbacks, Mega Millions, scratch tickets and the insidious Keno. As interest wanes in a particular lottery, the Massachusetts lottery trots out a new version, advertises it on radio and television, and reaps the bounty. To give the buyers the impression that scratch tickets involve something more rubbing off squares or circles of dry silvery colored paste, the Massachusetts Lottery gives these tickets exciting casino names like "Lucky Die," "Blackjack," "Lucky 7'due south," "One-Eyed Jack," and "Joker's Wild."

These are games of adventure merely. Democracy vs. Plissner, 295 Mass. 457, 463 (1936). The heir-apparent is lucky or unlucky and there is footling to nothing he can do to ameliorate his odds. And these are long, long, long odds.

The Democracy of Massachusetts is making billions off gaming. Who buys the nearly lottery tickets? The poor and the gambling addicts. For the poor, a lottery ticket likely represents their simply risk at the "good life." To the gambling addict, a lottery ticket is a momentary distraction from his inner misery. Like a drug dealer-peddling crevice on a street corner, the Commonwealth cares nada at all for the downtrodden it hoodwinks into betting on a long shot, the lonely it turns into Keno zombies transfixed by a dusty television screen, or the afflicted it turns into gambling junkies. At least a Las Vegas casino serves you lot a free drink, offers entertainment, and may comp y'all a nice suite. You can lose at craps and yet have a practiced time. For the Commonwealth, all that matters is the profit generated past the lottery.

Cambridge Criminal Attorney: Legality of Poker in Massachusetts

Playing poker for money – a game largely of skill – remains illegal according to the Massachusetts Chaser Full general's Office, even if played for pocket-sized stakes by a grouping of friends in someone'due south home. See, Massachusetts Attorney General's Office Advisory. Savour a few beers and laughs with your buddies over a card game and you place yourself at take a chance for criminal prosecution. For simply hosting a "home game," a person may exist charged under G.L. c. 271, §7 with a misdemeanor punishable by fines of up to $ane,000.00 and up to ane year in the House of Correction or with a felony punishable by fines of upward to $3,000.00 and up to three years in country prison.

The Chaser General's Role is, arguably, incorrect near the legality of poker. It classifies poker every bit a "lottery" made unlawful past G.L. c. 271, §seven – a very outdated statute. A game is considered an illegal "lottery" if:

1. Players pay something of value to play the game (including entry fees and charitable donations) or bet money or anything of value during the form of the game; and,
2. Winning players receive something of value, and
3. The game is considered a game of run a risk.

Poker is a Game of Skill

Why does this still seem like gambling to you? I mean, why do you remember the same five guys make it to the final table of the World Series of Poker EVERY SINGLE YEAR? What, are they the luckiest guys in Las Vegas? It's a skill game, Jo.

~ Matt Damon, in "Rounders"

To date, no Massachusetts court has adamant whether poker falls within the category of a "lottery" for purposes of applying the state's primitive anti-gambling laws. Still, in determining whether a game is properly classified as "a game of chance," Massachusetts' courts assess whether chance or skill predominates. If luck, rather than skill, predominates the game is an illegal "lottery." Commonwealth vs. Lake, 317 Mass. 264 (1944); Commonwealth vs. Plissner, 295 Mass. 457, 463-464 (1936).

Is poker a game of chance? To anyone who plays poker regularly, it is an absurd question. Stuey Ungar won the World Series of Poker in 1980, 1981 and again in 1997. Johnny Chan won the Globe Series in 1987 and 1988 and finished 2nd in 1989. Dan Harrington won the World Serial in 1995 and finished 3rd (out of a field of 839) in 2003 and 4th (out of 2576 entrants) in 2004. Ungar, Chan and Harrington weren't lucky, they were poker geniuses. So good was Ungar at putting an opponent on a manus, some players felt as if they were playing with their pigsty cards confront up.

The World Poker Bout, which hosts No-Limit Texas Hold'em poker tournaments all over the world, has turned apprentice and professional poker players into celebrities. Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Mike "the oral fissure" Matusow, Scotty Nguyen, Erik Seidel and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson are at present recognized all over world for their incredible poker skills and consistent winning on the felt – not for how lucky they have been.

While some casual players bemoan or celebrate their "luck," serious poker players focus on improving their games. They devour books on poker theory, watch poker videos, study books on interpreting body linguistic communication, and hash out poker with their friends. Indeed, there are today more than 200 books on poker: books on strategy, tells, probabilities, etc. If luck, rather than skill, dictated the event, no poker player would squander his time or coin on a book.

In Commonwealth vs. Club Caravan, Inc., 30 Mass. App. Ct. 561, 563 (1991), the Massachusetts Appeals Courtroom indirectly conceded poker is a game of skill when information technology ruled that video poker, despite failing "to utilize nigh of the skills that brand for a proficient poker histrion (e.g., the employ of bluffing, raising, throwing in a hand), still employed some element of skill (albeit 'less than twenty-five percentage') because it rewarded prudent calculations of the probabilities of filling in various 'dealt' hands through discards and draws weighed against the known rewards if the draws should be favorable." The Courtroom in Commonwealth vs. Plissner, 295 Mass. at 463-464 noted that "[t]he mere fact that skill equally well every bit chance may enter into a game, however, does non prevent it from being a lottery."

In a well reasoned decision the Oregon Supreme Court in Country v. Coats, 158 Or. 122, 74 P.2d 1102, 1106 (1938) addressed whether a pinball game constituted an illegal "lottery."  The Courtroom opined, "If any substantial degree of skill or judgment is involved, it is not a lottery.  Of course, all forms of gambling involve prize, chance, and consideration, but non all forms of gaming are lotteries.  A lottery is a scheme or plan, as distinguished from a game where some substantial element of skill or judgment is involved.   Poker, when played for money, is a gambling game, but, since it involves a substantial element of skill judgment, it cannot reasonably be contended that it is a lottery." Poker is nada if not a game of judgment. If a player consistently exercises bad judgment at the tabular array, he'll hemorrhage coin. A very skilled player exercising good judgment will, over fourth dimension, win money.

Recently, Pennsylvania Estimate Thomas A. James, Jr., ruled that Texas Concur'em is a game of skill and, therefore, under Pennsylvania state law not gambling. Judge James opined: "In determining the skill/chance aspect of gambling, some states have relied on a 'predominance test.' Under this examination, 'an activeness is considered illegal gambling if a person risks something of value on an activeness predominately determined past hazard for the opportunity to win something of greater value than he or she risked. The Pennsylvania courts appear to be in line with those using the predominance exam. Using the predominance examination, in conjunction with analyzing skill versus gamble using the 4 prong dominant factor test, it is apparent that skill predominates over take a chance in Texas Hold'em poker. First, each player has a distinct possibility of exercising skill and has sufficient data bachelor to make an informed judgment. Second, each player has the opportunity to practice the skill, and they possess the skill (albeit in varying degrees). Third, each player's skill and efforts sufficiently govern the results. Fourth, the standard skill is known by the players and governs the results. Sill comes with varying degrees of competence, merely that is the example with any competition involving skill. The academic studies and the experts generally agree that a actor must be expert to be successful at poker. At the showtime, chance is equally distributed amongst the players. But the outcome is eventually determined by skill. Successful players must possess intellectual and psychological skills. They must know the rules and the mathematical odds. They must know how to read their opponents' 'tells' and styles. They must know when to hold and fold and raise. They must know how to manage their money."

A bad player looks at his cards and decides whether to bet or not, with piffling to no regard for the situation he finds himself in. In contrast, a successful poker role player recognizes that poker is a situational game and he analyzes the situation before interim. He is able to appraise the strength of his opponent's paw by: (1) considering his opponent's position; (two) detecting the opponent'southward betting patterns; (three) observing his body linguistic communication, facial expressions, etc.; and, (iv) comparing that information against the community cards, if any. From the bachelor information, a good poker player will brand draw reasonable conclusions about the forcefulness of his opponent's paw and decide whether betting (likewise every bit how much to bet), checking, or folding is his all-time pick. Indeed, while last that he is currently behind in the hand, a expert poker player will calculate his "outs," the probability of hitting ane or more of those outs, and the "pot odds" his opponent may be offer him. While luck or chance may ultimately determine the outcome of a manus despite a solid histrion's accurate calculations, the skill level of a player determines whether he wins a poker tournament or comes out ahead over the course a lengthy cash game. Over many easily, no amount of luck is going to salve an unskilled player from the abyss. Skill predominates over chance in poker.

Criminal Defense Attorney Kevin J. Mahoney is an accomplished poker player. If you or a loved one is charged with a gaming law-breaking, give him a phone call at 617-492-0055.

Poker Hosted past Non-Profit Organizations

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General, under Massachusetts law, simply a veterans' arrangement chartered past the Congress of the United States, a church or religious organisation, a congenial or congenial benefit society, an educational or charitable organization, a civic or service club and other clubs or organizations operated exclusively for nonprofit purposes may, after acquiring the necessary local and state permits, host a poker tournament, "Las Vegas Night," or lottery. Although the law requires these charitable institutions to utilize the proceeds exclusively for educational, charitable, religious, congenial or civic purposes, or for veterans' benefits, these institutions must pay the Massachusetts Lottery Commission 5% of the proceeds. Similar whatever organized, ambitious criminal enterprise, the Republic must always become it'south cut.

A non-profit organization because hosting a "Las Vegas Night," a poker tournament, or a lottery, Massachusetts heavily regulates these beneficial civic events and it is very easy to run afoul of the laws governing such events. The Attorney Full general'south Role provides a summary of how the state's gambling laws are applied to non-profit sponsored poker tournaments. It may be worthwhile to consult with a lawyer before holding a tournament.

Contact a Cambridge Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you or someone you care nigh is charged with an illegal gaming law-breaking, contact a Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer at 617-492-0055 or use our online contact form to schedule a complimentary in-office consultation.

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Source: https://www.relentlessdefense.com/practices/white-collar-crimes/illegal-gambling/

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