Quote:
Originally Posted by First Lady
I love poker....and hate to be a party pooper, but do your homework.
From AGLC:
Are poker tournaments in Alberta legal?
The AGLC, on behalf of the province, is responsible for licensing, regulating and monitoring charitable gaming activities in Alberta.
In addition to the requirements of the Criminal Code, gaming activities in Alberta must be conducted and managed in accordance with the Gaming and Liquor Act, the Gaming and Liquor Regulation and the AGLC’s Casino Terms and Conditions and Operating Guidelines.
The AGLC only licences eligible charities to conduct and manage casino events in licensed facilities. The AGLC will not licence individual poker tournaments or games to be conducted outside of licensed casino facilities. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, all forms of gambling, including poker, must comply with the specified qualifications set out in the Criminal Code. Any form of gaming that does not comply with the qualifications is illegal. Questions about whether a specific game or scheme is legal under the Criminal Code should be directed to a lawyer.
http://aglc.ca/gaming/faq.asp#IsPokerLegal
And from the Criminal Code:
Gaming and Betting
Keeping gaming or betting house
201. (1) Every one who keeps a common gaming house or common betting house is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Person found in or owner permitting use
(2) Every one who
(a) is found, without lawful excuse, in a common gaming house or common betting house, or
(b) as owner, landlord, lessor, tenant, occupier or agent, knowingly permits a place to be let or used for the purposes of a common gaming house or common betting house,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
It goes on to list exemptions: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/C-46/2...rp13=50#idhit1
I am no lawyer (far, far from it) but my initial thoughts are it looks like it needs to be less than 10 people and no rake.
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Buzz kill.
My guess is that in practice, home poker games are not what this law is intended to stop--but illegal, for profit gambling operations being run without proper licensure. The amount of money we're talking about is so tiny that any official attention to it would be a vastly losing proposition.
In any case, I'm guessing many of the games will be under 10 people anyway. My feeling is that unless we're sure there will be 30 people, it doesn't make sense to take on the extra cost of renting a venue or putting up with the rake at a casino. Maybe the thing to do is to start a list of "interested" parties, and see what kind of numbers we're looking at. That list should include what level of buy-in you're comfortable with and how often you think you could play. That might be helpful information right off the bat--so we're not dealing in hypothetical numbers.
I could play once a month or so--I'm already in another monthly game, and I play rec hockey--so biweekly is just not going to fly with the missus (not even sure if another monthly game would!). I'd be comfortable at around 50 bucks--if it were 100 or more, I'd likely drop out--or perhaps only come once in a while.