yes its like a casino and you play with random people,different tables have different stakes and yes they make money on hourly collections ,fees depend on the stakes you play.yes you can play with your friends on the same table,but why pay the collection while you can play at home.gambling is illegal,that why cash does not exchange hands,tokens are used and exchanged for prizes later which can be exchanged for cash in a somewhat seedy way.thats how they get around the so called gambling.