Michigan has carefully analyzed the pros and cons relating to charity poker rooms in the state. There has been a huge push during the past few months to completely stop all charity poker in Michigan but as of now it looks like the state will not pass any such law.
Michigan will allow charity poker rooms to host poker games all throughout the year based on the new bill that was unanimously cleared by the Senate on the 24th of April by a Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. The Senate has approved the bill, it still needs to get House approval. The new bill acts as a counter to the proposal that was earlier made by the Michigan Gaming Control Board which did not go down well with the charities as it severely limited their ability to raise funds.
The new proposal from the gaming control board will come into effect in March, unless it gets opposed before the 30th board has taken its time to carefully study and analyze the various ways it could manage these popular “millionaire parties” that enable charities and non-profit groups to fundraise by hosting various games like Blackjack and Texas Hold ’em.
The argument posed by the board is that these events brought a number of concerns such as gaming violations, violence and illegal activities as the existing laws were not designed to monitor such high profile and million dollar events. The charities on the other hand were against the proposal to enforce strict rules as it said it would clamp down on these games and in the end result in a lack of funding for them and limit their effectiveness in the community.
The new proposal from the board took into consideration some of the concerns raised by these charity groups and the proposal was modified to allow these charity poker events to take place but only four nights a week. The proposal also states that only two millionaire parties can take place on the same day and in the same location.
While the new proposal is more accommodating, the charities and non-profits are still not happy with it and want state representatives to approve Senate Bill 878 which will allow poker rooms and other locations to host charity poker games 365 das a year. The only restriction here would be that a maximum of four charities can hold events on the same day in the same location.
