Question about forming a No Rake Home Poker Club in Ohio

The case law on unraked home poker games is scarce. In theory, the law in all 50 states, including Ohio, gives ample power to prosecutors to press charges against hosts of "home games," even unraked ones, with people outside their circle of friends. You can play with your high school buddies, the other dads, people from work, etc., but you can't play with people you don't know. Germany has similar laws to the U.S., and home games are strictly illegal. But unlike United States, in Germany the state hires enough prosecutors to enforce its laws. In the United States, the charges against people running unraked home games were mostly in conjunction with other violations of law or ordinances--assaults, robberies, or disturbing the neighbors. For U.S. prosecutors with limited resources, wife-beaters and drug dealers have priority. Among the 10,000s of people who hosted friendly unraked home games over the last century, less than a dozen have gone to jail. Prosecutors have regularly arrested people running raked games. But OP has no intention of raking the pot. So unless OP is among the unlucky 0.001 percent, his home game is fine. There are plenty of good lawyers, poker players themselves, ready to sell the OP a get out of jail free card.

Where OP tests the law is his intention to found a "club" to play poker. Under law, a club, such as a Rotary Club or veterans club, is a social gathering not in your home. The law in all 50 states clearly forbids poker in clubs, except for charity. The restrictions are severe depending on the state. In Massachusetts, clubs may host only three charity poker games per year, and you have to register each with your municipality. In my long-running game, the various clubs shut us down when they learned about the law. But even when the police, after a tip about a drug deal, raided our raked game in a warehouse, they scanned our drivers licenses but the prosecutors never pressed charges. If anything, it seems like the law is more relaxed. For decades, playing poker for money outside the home, even in casinos, was strictly illegal in Texas. In the last decade, players have overcome the restriction by founding clubs that charge a membership fee. These clubs clearly violate the law, but everyone knows about them. Prosecutors have used their discretion and let them flourish.

Hosting a poker club, you are more likely to get robbed than prosecuted. The rake in casinos pays for transparency and security to play with people you don't know.