Poker Rooms In Houston Texas

Nine people connected to two Houston poker clubs have been arrested for allegedly engaging in organized crime and money laundering, one poker room owner being led out in handcuffs just minutes before a 5-day tournament was due to begin…

The Post Oak Poker Club and the Prime Social Poker Room were both targeted by Houston Police Department and the Harris County DA's Office as part of a 2-year investigation.

A pair of Houston card rooms were raided by local law enforcement Wednesday afternoon and more crackdowns of these establishments might be on the way. Prime Social Club and Post Oak Poker Club. Houston, Texas: Hotel casinos and gambling details including the latest gaming news, poker tournaments, slot machine info, parimutuel (horse tracks, greyhounds), and more subjects. Vital information and photos of most gambling facilities in Houston. NL $1/$3 Hold 'em w/1 Hand Omaha (Min $50, Max Table Match or $500) Offered Daily. Membership and seat rental fees apply. 5 players minimum. Reviews on Poker Room in Houston, TX - Lions Poker Palace (4.3/5), Prime Social Poker Room (4.7/5), Kings & Cards (5/5), Mint Poker (3.1/5), Champions Social Poker Club (5/5), Rounders Poker Room (3/5), On The Felt Poker Club (5/5), Texas Card House (No ratings).

District Attorney Kim Ogg announced the arrests and first-degree felony charges, explaining that players in the two clubs are not the target of the criminal probe.

The gambling laws in Texas have led to a murky existence for many poker rooms, state legislation only offering protection if gambling ‘takes place in a private place where no person receives an economic benefit beyond personal winnings'.

Houston PD Chief Art Acevedo explained the authorities approach this week, saying:

'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.'

Bank accounts have been frozen and investigators seized computers and hard drives in the raids, while the nine arrested were named by abc13 news as:

Post Oak Poker Club

• Daniel Jeffery Kebort, owner
• William Jack Heuer III, owner
• Alan Harris Chodrow, owner
• Sergio Diaz Cabrera, owner
• Kevin Louis Chodrow, owner

Prime Social Poker Room

• Dean Maddox, owner
• Mary Switzer, comptroller
• Brent J. Pollack, general manager
• Steven Farshid, asst. general manager

Contents

Nine people connected to two Houston poker clubs have been arrested for allegedly engaging in organized crime and money laundering, one poker room owner being led out in handcuffs just minutes before a 5-day tournament was due to begin…

The Post Oak Poker Club and the Prime Social Poker Room were both targeted by Houston Police Department and the Harris County DA's Office as part of a 2-year investigation.

A pair of Houston card rooms were raided by local law enforcement Wednesday afternoon and more crackdowns of these establishments might be on the way. Prime Social Club and Post Oak Poker Club. Houston, Texas: Hotel casinos and gambling details including the latest gaming news, poker tournaments, slot machine info, parimutuel (horse tracks, greyhounds), and more subjects. Vital information and photos of most gambling facilities in Houston. NL $1/$3 Hold 'em w/1 Hand Omaha (Min $50, Max Table Match or $500) Offered Daily. Membership and seat rental fees apply. 5 players minimum. Reviews on Poker Room in Houston, TX - Lions Poker Palace (4.3/5), Prime Social Poker Room (4.7/5), Kings & Cards (5/5), Mint Poker (3.1/5), Champions Social Poker Club (5/5), Rounders Poker Room (3/5), On The Felt Poker Club (5/5), Texas Card House (No ratings).

District Attorney Kim Ogg announced the arrests and first-degree felony charges, explaining that players in the two clubs are not the target of the criminal probe.

The gambling laws in Texas have led to a murky existence for many poker rooms, state legislation only offering protection if gambling ‘takes place in a private place where no person receives an economic benefit beyond personal winnings'.

Houston PD Chief Art Acevedo explained the authorities approach this week, saying:

'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.'

Bank accounts have been frozen and investigators seized computers and hard drives in the raids, while the nine arrested were named by abc13 news as:

Post Oak Poker Club

• Daniel Jeffery Kebort, owner
• William Jack Heuer III, owner
• Alan Harris Chodrow, owner
• Sergio Diaz Cabrera, owner
• Kevin Louis Chodrow, owner

Prime Social Poker Room

• Dean Maddox, owner
• Mary Switzer, comptroller
• Brent J. Pollack, general manager
• Steven Farshid, asst. general manager

Contents

For decades, if you wanted to find a game of poker in Texas you'd have to locate an underground game or card room.

Thanks to a loophole in Texas law, and a group of enterprising businessmen that is beginning change.

A handful of 'legal' poker rooms have begun to pop up in Texas. Whether they remain open is anyone's guess.

The Texas gambling laws

Texas law seemingly forbids poker, and outside of charity games and unraked home games, no one has challenged Texas's ban on for-profit poker games.

Section 47.02 of the Texas Penal Code states, it's an offense if a person:

(3) plays and bets for money or other things of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device.

But it also states:

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:

(1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;

(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and

(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.

A literal reading of the law would lead you to believe, poker is a-ok, so long as:

• you're in a private building;
• no one is profiting from hosting the game; and
• the game is fair.

How the legal card rooms work

The card rooms that are popping up in Texas are private clubs that provide rake-free poker games, as well as bridge, backgammon, chess, and beyond. Instead of a rake, which would make the game illegal per the Texas Penal Code cited above, the clubs charge membership fees, and in some cases seat rentals. The latter seems to be pushing the legality envelope even further.

Michael Eakman's club, Mint Poker in Southeast Houston is one such example.

'In our conversations with the city attorney here in our jurisdiction, we made everyone aware of what we were doing before we even signed the lease,' Eakman told the Houston Chronicle. 'I certainly don't want to challenge anyone to bring a court case, but I think at the end of the day we're handling this by being proactive instead of reactive is the way to do this … There are no regulations and guidelines other than the narrow scope of a very vague law.'

Of course, in addition to rake or a seat charge, the sentence, 'no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings,' could cover membership fees.

Will they stay legal?

Christophe claret poker watch price. The million dollar question is: How will the Texas Legislature react to these rooms?

Another owner of a private card club, Sam VonKennel, helped create the Texas Association of Social Card Clubs to lobby the legislature.

'The Legislature hasn't really seen it yet because it hasn't really existed,' VonKennel told the local press. 'As they pop up, I want to make sure the [legislature] is aware of them. What I would really like to do is get these guys to become licensed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and that way they're absolutely certain they're on the right side of the law.'

Legal Poker Rooms In Houston Texas

The problem is, the card rooms are new enough that they haven't landed on the legislature's radar yet, but like Daily Fantasy Sports, their success, and proliferation may end up being their undoing. Right now there are about a half dozen such clubs, but if they prove successful they'll likely be popping up across the state.

University of Houston political science Professor Brandon Rottinghaus was quick to point out that being 'technically legal' may not be a good enough argument, particularly in the conservative, and historically anti-gambling Texas legislature.

'It probably violates the spirit, if not the letter of the law,' Rottinghaus told the Houston Chronicle. '… in instances like that, there will definitely be a push back where the Attorney General and local law enforcement might take offense to the idea that there might be this illicit expansion of gambling, even if it's not technically speaking illegal gambling.

Poker Rooms In Houston Texas

'Trying to get around the law on this issue is never profitable. I think that's the real danger that the people running these clubs have.

You may technically be in the right, but this issue is so fraught with politics and morality that you're unlikely to succeed.'

Even if they're deemed legal, I would expect the legislature to look at imposing regulations and taxation/licensing fees.

Legal Poker Rooms In Houston