How poker game hosting works with the money
In the movie at the start they give one envelope with 10k for buy ins to Molly, she hold the money and from time to time a player go to her to buy additional 10k. Molly is only pay with tips, but they never explain how the Molly Boss get profit for hosting the game.
My guess was he keep a percentage from the buy ins but later on the movie they say that is illegal move. Of course they also never say if Molly Boss was running a legal operation but Molly was very adamant she will be legal even paying tax and stay away from drugs and prostitutes.
When Molly start running her own game, a guy was losing a lot and keep signing in for 100k at the end he owe 1.2 million and said he didn't have that amount of money. Even when later give a check for that amount.
So how she give credits to the players. If they don't pay she isn't like a mobster and doesn't have some muscle to send to collect. Even when she claim do some research on the players before invite them, i think is kind of naive.
Later in New York in another game with 3 million on the pot she said
If I couldn't pay one time, would be the end of the game.
and then:
B calculate 2% of the pot and take it off the table. Take comision on violation of criminal code 1955
Here again looks like she is allowing player play without put any money. But the most surprising is how the players allow croppier take money from the pot unless that was a rule before the game, not something you do in the middle of a game.
Best Answer
Of course they also never say if Molly Boss was running a legal operation
Yes, they do.
It's said a number of times that hosting a poker game is not illegal provided players don't pay a rake and/or, I think, pay to play.
She's an event planner and the poker game is the event...and these guys tip BIG.
At one point she says:
At the end of that year I reported an income of four-million, seven-hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars. Every square inch of it legal and on the books.
At that point I was the biggest game runner in the world. All Tips. I still hadn’t taken a rake.
Certainly, the government could make a case that the players have to tip to get invited back but unless it's explicitly stated that they "tip to play" she has a valid defence..
Of course players were permitted to play on credit but Molly did extensive research on them to establish if they were good for it.
As it turns out some of them weren't, to the tune of, IIRC, some 3 million dollars and she specifically won't use extreme measures to recover the money.
If this naive? Sure, but it's part of her character.
As for the rake starting in the middle of the game...that would be unlikely, certainly in my 15 years of playing poker around the world.
I'd suggest that this particular scene is a bit of dramatic licence although one could argue that the players didn't consider it consequential in view of the amounts being wagered.
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How does the host of a poker game make money?
Rake is the scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom operating a poker game. It is generally 2.5% to 10% of the pot in each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount. There are also other non-percentage ways for a casino to take the rake.How do you host a cash game?
In general, it may be legal to host a poker game as long as the game is not raked but it is probably illegal to host a raked game. In some states and countries it is illegal to host a poker game whether the game is raked or not. Again, call your local police department.Can you host a poker game?
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