Poker rooms--Legal?

[dawgball]

I have read and heard about the pokr rooms like the ones portrayed in Rounders (I am aware that this might be a fabrication) in New York City.

My questions:

1. Is this LEGAL?
2. If so, how? Is it due to local laws?
3. Would it be legal in other states and/or cities?
4. If yes, is either Georgia or Tennessee a state where that would be legal?
5. If it is city by city, is either Atlanta or Nashville a city where that would be legal?

Thanks for any info. I have searched on the internet for related stories but have come up with nothing. I thought this would be the best place to ask.

 

[SmashMouth]

I'm a member of a club in New Jersey. Appropriately named rounders. It was 55 bucks to join.( 1 time fee) they had live action 7 nights a week and awesome tourneys. They took a time fee from all players at table every half hour. This place even has website, and is listed as as a hall on pokerpages dot com and pokerschool.com. For their last big tourney they had 1 off duty and 1 on duty cop. I always had my doubts to the legality of the poker hall, but having on cops secure the 7 grand in cash for the tourney made me believe.
This weekend they got shut down pending legal review. They were told that being they did not take a rake and ran as a private club they were good to go. Now they are closed with a court decision ( Im told) due thursday.

The ones in nyc are still going but not legal. They change locals frequently.