i live in STL, MO. it is illegal to play poker outside a casino...for money. who isnt in that situation? duh.

but, anyway, i am trying to think of a way to get a biggish league started that may someday put someone in the WSOP, or give away a substantial prize, and donate a decent sum of money to a charity along the way. i thought i'd start putting my "idea" on paper/internet (LOL) to open it up to multiple opinions. hopefully, someone out there is more of an expert on the law and can tell me if i am headed in the right direction.

i received an email from a friend about a "no BI tourney," but asking for a "voluntary donation to charity." the tourney mentions nothing of prizes, so i assume they get around the BI/donation that way. and, it got me thinking...

my idea would be to start a "no buy-in" league. ask for an optional donation to a charity, but also allow players to play without giving anything. hopefully, get some sponsors to give small "door prizes" for the individual tourney. but, for those players that give a donation, allow eligibility to accumulate points for the league standings. so, those that do not give to charity still have something, like a gift card, to compete for. and, those that want to play month after month, for the points, donate to the charity.

the hangup is how to reward the league champion? we could give prizes with no monetary value...like trophies, gift cards, etc, but even the gift cards are dicey, legally, i assume.

how would i build the incentive to play in the league without crossing some sort of line involving the law? (i suppose i could just pay the police off...lol)

i dont think it would be too hard to get a bar to sponsor a couple of small prizes for the tourney winners because they make it back in the amounts of food/alcohol consumed during the tourney.

golf tourneys can always take from the "donation" pool and create prizes that dont exceed a predetermined monetary figure. but, i dont think poker tourneys can do the same thing.

any help would be appreciated.