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One senator wants to make it legal for people to gather at public "card rooms" for fun and cash, and for businesses to profit from it.

The only catch is the house can't rake in a percentage or let the dealer win hands. Instead, it can charge a taxable fee per game.

Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, is eyeing a system set up in Washington and California that gives licenses to establishments to run poker, rummy, bridge and cribbage games.

Most forms of gambling in public are illegal in Alaska, yet it continues on a daily basis. Cowdery said about 15 underground poker games are played a night in Anchorage.

Senators listening to the bill did not express opposition but are withholding comments until a final draft of the proposal is complete.

"I think we can all acknowledge that there can be some social costs of gambling," said Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage.

In Seattle, houses charge about $4 per hand and can make $90 an hour; establishments are allowed to have 15 tables in the room to run 24 hours.

Customers buy from the house a maximum amount of chips and play until they run out. The game is monitored by a house employee.

A manager at the Viking Lounge in downtown Juneau said he would be interested in setting up a few tables if the bill passed.

"Sounds like a lot of fun. Just like the millions of other games that people play - pool and darts - one more game to bring them out would definitely be exciting," said manager Justin Kanouse.

The popularity of the game has surged nationwide, sparking coverage of tournaments on ESPN and Fox Sports Network.

Perry Green, a former professional poker player from Anchorage, testified Tuesday at the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Senate Bill 165.

Green said Alaskans drive to Whitehorse, Canada to participate in the World Poker Tournament via satellite. Finalists compete for several million dollars in Las Vegas.

Some 140 players participated in a Matanuska-Susitna Borough tournament to win a finishing pole.

"That shows you how much people are interested out there," Green said.

If 13 card rooms open in the state, an official from the Alaska Department of Revenue said they could be a $2.5 million industry in Alaska. That number doesn't include money made from food and beverages served to customers.

The proposal says licenses will be given to one establishment per 30,000 people in a community. By the 2000 census figures, Anchorage could host eight, Fairbanks two and Juneau could service one.

Establishments would pay a $25,000 application fee, and taxes of $10,000 per table each year. Houses would have to host charity tournaments for education quarterly.

Applicants must have no felonies in their criminal records.

• Andrew Petty can be reached at andrew.petty@juneauempire.com