I'm a Criminal

I have a confession to make. I am a criminal. Let me explain. While traversing the internet the other day I came across this website that has a summary of the gambling laws of all 50 states. I'd been wondering for sometime about the law here in Nebraska so I found this interesting and thought I would share it with my fellow citizens of this morally upstanding state. What I've specifically wanted to know regarding our gambling laws is whether it might actually be illegal to play a social game of poker here in Nebraska and to my disappointment it is. A social game of poker is basically one where there is not a host who makes any kind of fee for hosting the game. What this means is that the monthly game I play in with my colleagues from work with a measly $10 buy-in per game is illegal. To me this is utterly ridiculous. Now I am sure convictions under this law are exceedingly rare, but just the idea that our government can arbitrarily make me a criminal for something some moralizing assholes don’t approve of is infuriating. Of course, the irony is that lottery and keno are legal in this state. So naturally, games that the state profits from are legal but games where they do not profit from are not. If someone can offer me a rational justification for this I’d love to hear it. Anyway, just thought I’d share this information in case anyone else plays a little poker with friends from time to time. What you are doing is a misdemeanor. Take care not to get caught.