Houston Poker Clubs Legal

Posted By admin On 03/08/22
  • Hold ’Em or Fold ’Em: Policing Texas Poker Rooms for Profit
    A blog post from the State Bar of Texas discussing how the recent police raids of poker clubs in Harris County may pave the way for other local governments to try and shut down gambling clubs.
  • Texas’ Membership-only Card Clubs Circumvent Gambling Laws
    A 2019 article from Reporting Texas discussing how private poker clubs continue to operate despite the state's gambling laws.
  • Texas AG declines opinion on legality of poker clubs: The clubs claim they're operating under a loophole in state law. Ken Paxton left it to the courts to decide
    A 2018 article from a local Houston news station discussing the Texas Attorney General's decision not to issue an opinion on the legality of poker rooms.
  • Are poker clubs legal in Texas? The answer is unclear
    A 2019 article from the Houston Chronicle discussing how poker clubs are seeming to operate in Texas due to a gray area of the law and recent attempts by Harris County to bring criminal charges against them. May require a subscription.
  • North Texas poker clubs gambling that state law, police won't make them fold
    A 2017 article from the Dallas News discussing the gray area in state law and how enforcement varies depending on the interpretation of local law enforcement across Texas. May require a subscription.

On Wednesday, the law came down hard on a pair of Texas poker rooms.

The Post Oak Poker Club offers players a safe, legal, casino-style environment to enjoy. A Place for Steaks and the previous incarnation of Tony’s into central Houston’s first poker club. The River Poker Club, Spring. 429 likes 10 talking about this 38 were here. The River Poker Club is a upscale legal poker club in north Houston located at 19770 North Fwy (I45) Spring, Texas.

Around 11 a.m., Houston's Post Oak Poker Club and Prime Social Poker Club were raided by authorities and nine people arrested. Prime Social owner Dean Maddox and General Manager Brent Pollack were both led out in handcuffs just before a five-day, $150K GTD tournament was about to take place at their establishment. Also arrested were assistant GM Steven Farshid and comptroller Mary Switzer.

Over at the Post Oak Poker club, co-owners Daniel Kebort, Alan Chodrow, Kevin Chodrow, Sergio Cabrera, and William Heuer were all arrested.

Charges levied against them include money laundering, gambling promotion, and engaging in organized criminal activity.

'We got two of the bigger ones today and this is just the beginning. We need to shut them down.'

'Poker rooms are illegal in Texas,' District Attorney Kim Oggsaid in a written statement. 'We are changing the paradigm regarding illegal gambling by moving up the criminal chain and pursuing felony money laundering and engaging in organized crime charges against owners and operators.'

There are 27 poker rooms in the Texas area, and we at PokerAtlas provide complete and up-to-date information about every room in every location including Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Edinburg, Houston, Katy, Midland, San Antonio, Spring, and Webster.

According to reports, the raids were the results of a two-year investigation that included undercover police officers posing as players. The Houston Chronicle reports that documents state undercover officers 'were asked to pay a membership fee, a door fee and a fee to play at a poker table.'

Texas poker rooms have operated in a gray area where they function in a similar fashion to a country club on a membership model. Players simply play a fee and play. The club doesn't take a rake, instead driving revenue throughout memberships and hourly fees.

Houston poker clubs legal sites

According to Texas law, poker is only allowed if it meets the following requirements:

  • No person received economic benefits other than personal winnings.
  • Gambling must be in a private place.
  • Except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.

That said, the rapid rise of the rooms, and the problems that came along with it including a lawsuit between Austin and San Antonio clubs, as well as a high-profile shooting, were sure to catch the attention of authorities.

'We cannot allow illegal gambling to go on,' Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a written statement. 'It drives organized crime and fuels other criminal activity.'

He continued: 'We're not going to tolerate it. We got two of the bigger ones today and this is just the beginning. We need to shut them down. If you want to have these kind of establishments, the legislature needs to authorize it, otherwise we're going to do our job and shut them down.'

Post Oak Poker Club Houston

Since 2017, authorities claim $10 million in bank deposits have been made by the clubs. Those funds are now frozen and face seizure.

Poker Players Left Hanging

The raids came at an inopportune time for Prime Social players, many of whom had registered for that day's tournament. Their buy-ins, as well as all chips in play, became worthless when authorities entered and froze all assets.

'Nobody seems to know anything right now, so that's kind of why I came over here to try to find out,' said poker player Sean Maggio. 'I feel shocked like they took something away from me.'

One thing authorities did make clear was that players were not being targeted, rather they were after the owner and operators.

Wayne Dolcefino, a consultant for Prime Social, believes the raid was unnecessary given the club operates above the board and has done charity work for the community.

'They don't take a penny out of that money,' he said according to Click2Houston. 'I just don't believe the guys that I know have done anything wrong. And I believe they've been very, very meticulous about the way they keep records.'

Several other clubs operate around the state, and while it's business as usual for them as of now, the recent crackdown at Post Oak and Prime Social are sure to have consequences for the entire Texas poker-playing community.

Lead image: Post Oak Poker Club Facebook.