Vermont Has No Social Gambling Exemption

§ 2141 ('Winning or Losing by Gambling'), draws no line between a casino table and a kitchen-table card game. ' Section 2141 exists to reach conduct § 2133 does not: private, informal wagering among friends, family, or coworkers, wherever it happens. § 2143 lets a nonprofit organization run raffles, casino nights, and other games of chance for charitable, religious, educational, or civic fundraising, but no comparable exception exists for a private social game played purely for entertainment among individuals. Every participant who wins or loses is exposed to the same $10-to-$200 fine, not just a host or organizer.

In practice, Vermont rarely prosecutes friends over a low-stakes card night, and the provision traces to 19th-century gaming-house suppression law, so it sits largely dormant. But dormant is not repealed: the text on Vermont's official statutes site, current through the 2025 legislative session, still fines anyone, winner or loser, wagering 'at any game,' with no dollar threshold and no distinction for stakes played among friends rather than strangers.

Violating § 2141 is a fine-only offense: not less than $10 nor more than $200 per person who wins or loses money at the game, charged separately from a § 2133 gaming-house count (fine up to $200 or up to 60 days in jail). No license, warning, or civil-recovery mechanism is named in the section, a state's attorney would charge each participant individually, and it's Vermont's district courts, not a gaming board, that would hear any prosecution.