Texas HoldEm at Sidelines
* How it works: Contestant pays a set amount to enter tournament, is given a
set number of chips with no monetary value and competes with other poker
players at Texas HoldEm. Winners determined by the player that ends up with
all chips at a table. Winners then go on to compete against other individual
table winners until only eight players left. Final eight compete at final
table, and winner of this table is crowned champion.
* Actual money gambled: None.
* Who acts as the "house": Because no money is actually gambled, no one --
although entry fees are paid to the sponsor to pay for administration and
prizes, and sometimes donations are made to charities.
*
Charitable requirements: Optional, although Clear Channel does donate some
of the money it makes on its tournament to charity.
Last Sunday, Dennis and Donna Jackson of Casper made their way up to
Sidelines Sports Bar to play a game they, like many other Americans, have
grown to enjoy immensely in the past year -- Texas HoldEm.
They headed to Sidelines, as they have an many recent Sunday afternoons, to
play in Clear Channel Radio's weekly Texas HoldEm tournament against about
60 other card sharks.
Neither Jackson came out on top on Sunday, although Donna finished second at
her table and Dennis has won his table before, they said.
Despite the fact they didn't come out on top, they did have fun, they said.
And their enjoyment only cost them $25 apiece.
The Jacksons didn't risk any money playing in the tournament, so they didn't
think what they did at Sidelines was gambling, they said.
However, there is some debate that, legally speaking, the Jacksons' take on
Sidelines' tournament, and other Texas HoldEm tournaments that have popped
up at bars around the state, is wrong.
Texas HoldEm is a style of poker made popular by such televised events as
the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour.
State law makes it clear that professional gambling is illegal in Wyoming.
What is not so clear is whether Texas HoldEm tournaments are professional
gambling.
Local Clear Channel General Manager Bob Price said neither his company nor
Sidelines engages in illegal professional gambling by holding the
tournament.
Professional gambling is first defined by Wyoming law as "aiding or inducing
another to engage in gambling, with the intent to derive a profit therefrom."
Neither Sidelines nor Clear Channel intends to profit from the poker
tournament, said Price and Bobbi Gerlock, general manager of Sidelines.
At the Sidelines tournament, players pay $25 to enter and are given a
certain number of chips, Price said. They are then seated at a table with
seven other players, and the eight play Texas HoldEm until the winner
controls all eight players' chips, Clear Channel's Staci Ownes said.
The chips used in the games have no monetary value, and the winner of the
table is given no monetary reward, Price said. Instead, the winners advance
to later rounds in the tournament.
The tournament's eventual champion will win a trip to Reno, Nev., and the
opportunity to play in a World Poker Tour event there, Owens said.
Revenue from the $25 entry fees is used to pay for the administrative costs
of the tournament, to pay for prizes, and a portion is donated to St. Jude's
Children's Hospital, Owens said.
While the hosts and sponsors of the tournaments may be careful not to take
direct revenue from the games, there are still some questions regarding the
legality of poker tournaments at bars, because the hosting establishment may
earn indirect revenue via food and beverage sales, Wyoming Attorney General
Pat Crank said.
Gerlock, however, said most poker players are not the type of people who run
up big bar tabs, as they tend to remain sober while playing.
"Do we see an increase in business" on Sunday afternoons when poker is being
played? "Not really," she said.
While Natrona County officials haven't stopped the tournaments at Sidelines,
Laramie County and Albany County officials have taken aim at some poker
tournaments in Cheyenne and Laramie. Cheyenne police, for example, asked
bars to voluntarily shut down their poker tournaments after police consulted
with state, county and local attorneys to determine that the games are
banned under state law.
Skill or luck?
Wyoming law further defines professional gambling as "participating in
gambling and having, other than by virtue of skill or luck, a lesser chance
of losing or a greater chance of winning than one or more of the other
participants."
Texas HoldEm tournaments do not fit this definition of professional gambling
either because poker, unlike blackjack, is not a broken game which
intrinsically favors one player over others, the Jacksons said. The only way
a player has an advantage in poker is if that player has more skill.
"Poker's a game of skill where you play your cards and you play off other
people," Donna Jackson said. "It requires reading people."
Neither Jackson considers the way they spend their Sunday afternoons
gambling, they said. It is totally different from playing games like
blackjack in Deadwood, S.D.
Players in Clear Channel's tournament know how much money they are going to
spend on playing, $25, and know they will not win any money for their
efforts, Dennis Jackson said.
A Texas HoldEm tournament such as Clear Channel's is no different than a
billiard tournament or a dart tournament in which players pay an entry fee
and the winners end up winning prizes, Price said. Poker, pool and darts all
take skill and some luck to win, he added.
Texas holdem at Sidelines
How it works - Contestant pays a set amount to enter tournament, is given a
set number of chips with no monetary value and competes with other poker
players at Texas HoldEm. Winners determined by the player that ends up with
all chips at a table. Winners then go on to compete against other individual
table winners until only eight players left. Final eight compete at final
table and winner of this table is crowned champion.
Actual money gambled - None
Who acts as the "house" - Since no money is actually gambled, no one.
Although entry fees are paid to the sponsor to pay for administration,
prizes and sometimes donations are made to charities.
Charitable requirements - Optional, although Clear Channel does donate some
of the money it makes on its tournament to charity
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