Poker club offers safe haven for legal winnings

By DANIELLE WELTY / Daily Nebraskan January 20, 2005

Dan Morris wanted to find a place where he and a few friends could play poker without worrying about the legal consequences of underage gambling. So, the junior math and political science major created one: the UNL Poker Club.

“Over the past few months, poker has become really popular on college campuses,” Morris said. “My friends and I wanted an environment that we could play in legally, so we submitted the paperwork to create one.”

In November, Morris, now club president, proposed a letter of intent to Association of Students of the University of Nebraska to have his club recognized as a UNL student organization.

But he encountered a stumbling block – finding a way to let members play poker for money without violating state or university gambling laws.

The solution: He made the club a non-profit organization and regulates the cash prizes given out.

Morris arranged for 25-35 percent of the $20 monthly dues from each member to be donated to a charity and the prizes given at each tournament to be regulated.

“We hope to bring about four or five charities as options to the meetings and we will vote each month on which charity we choose to give to that month,” Morris said.

Martin Frenzel, freshman physics major and community service chairman for the club, said the members hope to give to a different charity each month a tournament is held.

So far, Frenzel said he has picked out two charities – Mosaic, which provides support for people with developmental and physical disabilities, and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.

The club will spend the remaining money on supplies, such as cards or advertising, and the prize money, he said.

Morris said the club would hold Texas Hold 'Em tournaments on a weekend toward the end of each month, with prize money and prizes like gift certificates divided among the top three finishers.

“Because the winnings have a set price it's considered a prize, not winnings,” Morris said. “It's no different than signing up for a raffle ticket at a basketball tournament.”

Ben Keele, chairman of the ASUN Special Topics Committee, said the poker club was a legitimate student organization as long as it followed requirements, including a minimum number of five members, abiding by the non-discriminatory clause, adopting a constitution and having a faculty adviser.

The UNL Poker club received its approval the first week of December and held its first informational meeting Tuesday.

Morris said he estimated 40 people have shown some sort of interest in the club and expects more in the future.

He said those who choose to continue to play for larger amounts of money without campus approval would not diminish the poker club's numbers. As word gets around, he said he hopes to have about 200 people involved.

“People who are really serious about poker as a game will play in the sanctioned, consequence-free version that the poker club offers,” Morris said.