One of Chicago’s largest sport and social clubs may take a gamble that poker isn’t all about money.
Players Sports Group general manager Carl Campagna believes the same people who flock to softball and touch football will enjoy the social aspects of poker, and he is looking into creating a poker league.
He hopes to announce plans as early as next week, with play beginning sometime soon after that.
Instead of playing for money, players would play for points, and a champion would be crowned, just like with the other sports. The only money exchanging hands would be to join the league.
“It is obviously different than if you’re playing for money, but because you’re not playing for money, it lends itself to being more fun and more social,” Campagna said.
Campagna and his wife, Sherry, had noticed all the poker shows on TV and sent out a note to friends wondering if anybody might want to play. Eighteen people responded. “We didn’t really have any idea that any of my friends would be interested in playing,” he said.
On New Year’s Day, the group of 18 gathered and played for about eight hours, without any money changing hands. The only prizes were gag gifts of little value.
Campagna began looking into the legality of a poker league and contacted Chicago’s Department of Law and the state’s attorney’s office for their opinion. He says they faxed him a copy of state law, but they have not told him that poker leagues, even without gambling, would be legal.
“We don’t have to get approval,” Campagna said. “But in this situation, considering the laws, we want to be clear before we go into it.”
