I would like to organise a poker tournament at home and advertise for
poker players in my area. Is this Legal? Thanks.

Dear ozmandos-ga,

If you are going to advertise, it would appear that you may be
breaking the law as you will need a license. Having said that, it may
also depend on whether you are going to make a profit out of it,
charge a levy, admit any members of the public to your private house,
and so on. In other words, will it be a commercial operation?

The Gaming Board for Great Britain is the regulatory body which deals
with this. Its web site carries a page on card competitions and notes
the following:

"Under current legislation there are three ways to operate card clubs
in Great Britain. The main differences as between one kind of club and
another relates to charges.
? Licensed Casino Premises ? Gaming Under Part II Gaming Act 1968 
? Premises Registered under Part II Gaming Act 1968 
? Gaming Under Part IV Gaming Act 1968
[...]
POKER COMPETITIONS 
Under the current legislation it is virtually impossible to legally
organise a poker competition other than in a licensed casino as
breaches frequently occur with regard to location, access by members
of the public, advertising, charging an entrance fee or making a levy
on stakes or winnings
[...]
Any person wishing to set up a card club or organise a competition is
strongly advised to seek legal advice"
http://www.gbgb.org.uk/card_clubs.htm

Their main page is
http://www.gbgb.org.uk/


The Gaming Board is part of the Department for Culture Media and
Sport. They give the follow advice,

"Poker is a card game involving chance and skill and is therefore
classed as gaming under the Gaming Act 1968.

Where can poker be played?
Gaming in Great Britain can take place on a domestic occasion in a
private dwelling but not in a public place. Gaming for commercial
profit is allowed but only if the operator has a certificate of
consent from the Gaming Board and it takes place on licensed premises.

Can poker be run in a private members club?
Equal chance gaming can take place in a private members club. The club
must have a membership of not less than twenty-five and must be formed
for the general benefit of its members and not for commercial gain for
the proprietor or any such persons. Gaming must not be the principal
purpose for which the club is established or conducted. No bankers'
games are allowed.

Where the club is registered by the licensing authority they can
charge members up to a limit of £2 per day. Clubs that have not
registered can only charge 60 per day."
http://www.culture.gov.uk/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=5&page_id=4475392&query=poker&hiword=POKE+poker+

Additional reading
Gaming Board guidelines for Casinos mentions rules concerning Poker
Tournaments (page 15)
http://www.gbgb.org.uk/bcaguides.pdf

Draft gambling bill November 2003 (early stages of the new proposed
bill but usefully comments on Poker Tournaments)
"Temporary permitted activities
3.74 The draft Billalso makes provision for the holders of operating
licences to serve a licensing authority with a notice informing it of
their intention to use unlicensed premises (temporarily)for gambling.
Such a notice will be useful, for example, in the event of a poker
tournament taking place in a hotel.The notice must be made available
to the Gambling Commission, the police and Customs and Excise, all of
whom will be able to object to the notice.
[...]
"The Bill will not affect private and non-commercial gambling that
takes place at home or at work between colleagues. Private card games,
bets, poker nights will be unaffected."
http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/68567BFC-DD20-4FEF-9FD6-6B4D1AFE96C0/0/26328GambBillpolicy.pdf


So, in conclusion, I think you may have to set out in how exactly this
tournament is to operate and then seek legal advice.

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

answerfinder-ga

Search strategy
Knew of both sites and used their search engines to find the information.

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Request for Answer Clarification by ozmandos-ga on 14 Apr 2005 02:52 PDT

Hi,

Thanks for the answer. So, if I was to not charge the players or make 
any profit, this would be OK?

Regards,

Chris

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Clarification of Answer by answerfinder-ga on 14 Apr 2005 04:39 PDT

If there is no advertising, no fees, no profit for organising it, and
no other commercial activities, and it is behind ?closed doors? in a
private house, then you seem to be within the law. Having said that, I
again advise you to seek legal advice before embarking on this. The
organisers of Poker Million fell foul of the Metropolitan Police
because of their choice of venue as the police viewed that it was ?a
place to which the public had access? as defined in the Gaming Act. It
seems to me that by advertising you are taking the game beyond a
domestic private card game between friends or work colleagues. You are
inviting members of the public to your house for the competition not
for a social gathering and this may be viewed as a ?place to which the
public have access?.

Poker Million articles
http://www.thegoodgamblingguide.co.uk/news/2002/poker/latestpokermillion.htm
http://www.winner.com/Articles/_GBR__Met_Halts_GBP_1M_Poker_Game/_GBR__Met_Halts_GBP_1M_Poker_Game440001.asp

Unfortunately, the Gaming Act 1968 is not available online but you can
download it from the Tso bookshop.
http://www.tso.co.uk/bookshop/

Please note the discliamer below.

I hope this helps.
answerfinder-ga

Thanks! Just what I wanted!