I want to start my own poker game in side a bar or club,?

Question

How do I get started and with what kind of licensing do I need to get registrar ed with my state?

Answer 1

It depends on the state.

I happen to know a guy who does this in several bars.

First he formed an LLC, which normally costs a few hundred bucks.

Then he bought some tables, that sit on top of bar tables, some chips, some cup holders, and some Copag plastic cards.

Twice a week they set up the tables and deal ten person freeze out tournaments that each person pays six dollars for.

There are no prizes, you just win points.  Then the points get posted on a leader board.

Every couple of months or so they have a freeroll tournament that is free to enter, and you can win prizes.

The trick to running a successful pub poker league is ensure that in no way can it be considered gambling.  You can't make someone play a certain number of games to be allowed a chance to win a prize, or it is gambling, which is illegal in most if not all states.

Of the $60 per game you collect, you will need to pay the dealer, set some aside for profit, some aside for equipment maintenance and repair, and some aside for the free roll tournament prizes.

If you find a busy venue it would not be unreasonable to get ten games in a night.  Depending on how you set up the blinds and starting stacks.

If all this is too much hassle for you, do a local search and see if there is a poker league in your area that will do all this for you.

Answer 2

Usually nothing, except (from what I've heard) California. The trick is the place is not allowed to take a cut per hand or profit from the individual wins or losses of players. The California poker rooms charge rent by the hour to sit at a table, like a pool table.