Do most home tourneys take a small cut for food/bev costs?

chekraze · #1 08-23-2005, 02:18 PM

my friend is hosting the 16 person tourney and wants to do BYOB (since there are various levels of drinkers playing) and collect about $5 for wings, chips, dip, etc. buyin is 35+5.

I think this is perfectly fine as i dont think someone should lose their gambling and grocery money to the same group of guys on the same night, but he's a bit reluctant. i told him i'd gladly bring my beer and pay $5 rather than host it myself and deal with all it entails.

what do u guys usually do or expect hosts to do?

spicychili · #2 08-23-2005, 02:25 PM

I host a game twice a month. It is BOYB and bring a dish or snack item for everyone to share. There is always more then enough food and everyone is happy to being something for everyone to share. In most states it is illegal to ask for any money that is not being paid out to the winners. It is considered a rake even if it is going to pay for food.

I have hosted games as large as 35 players and like I said there is always more than enough food to go around.

Zetack · #3 08-23-2005, 02:35 PM

Tourney I've been playing in has run once a week for about two months now. I've played in it the last four times with numbers of people ranging from 12 to 27. Fifty dollar buy in.

He just started chagring 5 bucks to play in it. And he doesn't provide anything (although he's had to buy a buncha chips and built another table, and the last game he was sitting next to me kinda hammered and offered me shots...).

I don't really begrudge him the five bucks, although I think it was inspired by the guys at the game soliciting for a 400 plus 40 dollar tourney. And I do begrudge those guys their juice, its one thing for a few bucks (ok a hundred for the tourney I've been in) for your trouble, its another for me to be part of your endeavor to make a couple of thousand bucks.

So no, five bucks for hosting and throwing in snacks too? Not a problem.

--Zetack

4_2_it · #4 08-23-2005, 02:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I host a game twice a month. It is BOYB and bring a dish or snack item for everyone to share. There is always more then enough food and everyone is happy to being something for everyone to share. In most states it is illegal to ask for any money that is not being paid out to the winners. It is considered a rake even if it is going to pay for food.

I have hosted games as large as 35 players and like I said there is always more than enough food to go around.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is what we do also and it works fine.

varoadstter · #5 08-23-2005, 04:02 PM

When I host I usually provide something like pizza, chicken strips, hamburgers, etc. and have others bring their own drinks and chips/pretzels/etc. It spreads the costs out a little bit.

AliasMrJones · #6 08-23-2005, 04:11 PM

Personally, I shy away from home games with a rake no matter what it is for. A home game with a rake no longer qualifies as a home game any more. I host home games and I provide some snacks and ask players to BYOB. Aside from a general issue with the rake (whether you want to call it that or not), you cross a legal line, even in states where home games are legal, when you charge a house fee regardless of what it is for and/or whether you actually net anything.

smoore · #7 08-23-2005, 11:21 PM

If the food is acceptable to good I pay the $5 happily. If it's cheetos and some unidentifiable "chili" then I don't want to pay it. I collect NO rake at my games but I only provide a bag or two of chex mix, BYOB. I tell people that they should bring snacks for everyone sometimes and some people do.

cunningham22 · #8 08-24-2005, 01:10 AM

I have hosted most of the games past few months. I don't ask for money, and I stack up the fridge with iced tea (underage - parents are a nuisance) and the tables with chips. No one has offered and I haven't asked for money. Basically, I take enough that I don't need to charge on top. $5 shouldn't turn heads though, if you need it.

kona · #9 08-24-2005, 03:43 AM

If you were getting together for baseball or Yatzee or whatever I think its ok to tack on a fee to cover expenses if you like. When your talking about poker then you talking about a whole new game. I would pay close attention to what people have been saying about the legality and being a rake. No matter what you want keep your game legal. Here in the Los Angeles area we had a couple of games busted up by the police. People were arrested because they were taking a rake on the action. I will not take any chances and I would suggest anyone should think twice before following that course.

Zetack · #10 08-24-2005, 11:29 AM

[ QUOTE ]
If you were getting together for baseball or Yatzee or whatever I think its ok to tack on a fee to cover expenses if you like. When your talking about poker then you talking about a whole new game. I would pay close attention to what people have been saying about the legality and being a rake. No matter what you want keep your game legal. Here in the Los Angeles area we had a couple of games busted up by the police. People were arrested because they were taking a rake on the action. I will not take any chances and I would suggest anyone should think twice before following that course.

[/ QUOTE ]

In my state, juice or no juice, if you're playing for money its illegal. So the rake doesn't change anything except perhaps the liklihood of the game being busted. The fuzz is much more likly to go after a money making operation than a friendly home game. But legally they can go after both.

--Zetack