Legal Advice - Tournament organization

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I've been asked by a local bar to organize a poker tournament sometime during the winter, to bring in people during an otherwise quiet season. The whole thing has to be very legal as the bar is centrally located, reputable, etc.

Massachusetts law basically states that in order to have a poker tournament, it has to be organized by a non-profit and cash prizes cannot exceed $25. So it kind of stifles the action. Is there any way around this? I can think of a non-profit to use in this pretty easily, but I'd rather organize an event with a better prize pool. As it is, we'd have to give out gifts or cash equivalents.

I'm going to talk to a few local bar owners that have run tournaments in the past to see how they've handled it. Anyone have experience with this kind of stuff.

This is the legal brief from Tom Reilly that drops the big douche bomb on the whole kibosh.

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

NT