Nebraska Charity Poker

My name is Brian Pick.  I'm the Sales Manager for Linoma Software.   I've worked at Linoma for ten years.  Prior to that, I worked in a public accounting firm as a licensed CPA.  My responsibilties included preparing tax returns, conducting audits and eventually primarily selling accounting software.  My experience in public accounting and reviewing charitable organizations' books helped me understand how difficult it is for charities and non-profits to meet their financial goals.  Unfortunately for them, figuring out how to consistently raise money is as critical to a charity as the services they provide.  If they're unable to raise funds, then they will have to reduce their employees and/or reduce the services they provide.   

 

On the personal side, I am married with two children.  I used to be active in many sports including golf, softball, volleyball and basketball.  Due to a bad back, I can no longer competitively play those sports.  A few years ago I was introduced to poker and I quickly picked up on how to play it.  I enjoyed playing against friends and at the casino against players I didn't know.  To me, poker is a great social game that allows me to use my skills to try and beat my opponents.  It reminded me of the sports I used to participate in and gave me the same level of enjoyment.

 

After a year of playing poker with friends on kitchen tables and flimsy fold up tables, I decided to look into purchasing a poker table.  The cost of a table seemed high so I decided to look into making a table myself.  I made a poker table and eventually I had friends asking me to make a table for them too.  After making a few tables for friends, I put up a website (www.PicksPokerTables.com) to see if people outside of Omaha would want a custom poker table.  It's not a huge side business but over the last few years I've shipped tables to Texas, Oklahoma, California, Georgia, Michigan and last year I even shipped three tables to the largest casino in Romania (below).  I make maybe one table every couple months.  It's a fun hobby.

 

How I came up with the idea of legalizing charity poker
Earlier this year I took a call from a guy in Michigan who was starting up a charity poker room and he requested some poker table pricing.  This charity poker room idea got my attention as I asked how it worked and what people thought of it there.  He told me that the charities loved them because it's an easy way for them to make some decent money in a short period of time with minimal effort.  The state liked them because it generated over 4 million dollars in permit fees last year.  Bowling alleys, VFW halls, golf courses, bars and restaraunts liked them because they generated additional food and beverage revenue for them.  He of course liked it because it allowed him to start up his own business managing charitable poker events.

 

I did some research on the gambling laws in Nebraska and found out they're pretty strict when it comes to poker but do allow other forms of gambling including keno, bingo, pickle cards, lottery and horse racing.  I got to thinking that with the right restrictions in place, charitable poker could be very beneficial to the people and charitable organizations in Nebraska and should be included in the list of 'acceptable' forms of gambling. 

 

I've read many reports where it says charities are seeing donations much lower than previous years.  As a parent of two kids in school and activities, we're being asked to raise money for the school, our church and the activities they participate in by selling candy or magazines, working at concession stands or buying raffle tickets.  These activities raise maybe a few hundred dollars on average but from what I've read, a four day charitable poker event can raise anywhere from 1 to 3 thousand dollars.  I thought it just doesn't make sense that poker is illegal while other forms of gambling (which are purely game of chance and require no skill) are legal and they don't directly benefit charities.  So that's where I am now.  I'm trying to get the state senators to consider an amendment to the state constitution to allow charitable poker.  The charities need the extra source of revenue.