| Re: How can I accept money and keep the game legal?
Well, as far as the illegalities go, it's a bit disingenuous to just write it off as, "Well, it's illegal anyway, so why worry about it?" For example, here in Virginia, playing without a rake is a misdemeanor. Playing with one is a felony. Big difference, even though both are technically "illegal."
At a minimum, I'd make sure that any money exchanged for food/beer/whatever is kept completely separate from the game, and not correlated to stakes or anything else. Keeping everything voluntary is also a good idea. Hell, if you were getting together to watch a football game, and everyone pitched in to send someone around the corner for pizza and beer, it wouldn't legally constitute "selling alcohol." Now, admittedly, having a poker game on the premises could change things legally, so this ain't true legal advice, but it's probably a good minimum threshold. | 
