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Poker Rooms under attack in Texas (3 Viewers)

I know that just a couple years ago there was a bill to legalize and regulate card rooms in the state but it never got out of committee. Like Russ said most of the patrons in OK and LA come from this great state, it would be nice to keep the money here and do it in a safe environment.
 
Almost certainly. Otherwise they would mention something about who is funding it? I couldn't find anything resembling an "about us"
 
This happened in Wichita, KS after the state of KS opened a casino just south of town. There were about six poker rooms in Wichita that took no rake but charged a "chair rental fee" to play. They operated for several years before getting shut down. The state didn't want any competition.
 
Here in Maryland, as a teenager I used to frequent a crusty pool hall that had a bunch of illegal video poker machines. The pool was cheap because they made their money on the machines. They operated for decades with zero issues. I presume somebody was getting paid to ignore it.

Same week our casinos opened it got raided, shut down, and never reopened.

The casinos must pay better. :rolleyes:

In case you might think our politicians are not on the take...please remember this is a town that bought enough healthy holly books written by our mayor to give each school kid ten of them, yet in the wild so few exist they go for big bucks on amazon. Corruption is real folks.
 
CraigT78 said:
Yeah. Apparently poker IS illegal in Texas. Only a matter of time for the Austin rooms.
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I’m actually in favor of the cardrooms but... you’d figure the hammer was gonna drop sooner or later if these places were (are) operating in a gray area. These clubs can only hide under the country club “fee” model that “happens” to have poker and charges an hourly fee in order to pay for accommodations, for so long. Bottomline these clubs have to answer the simple question - are you making money (profit) off of gambling, yes or no?

But yea i wonder when the plug is gonna be pulled in Austin. :nailbite:
 
TxGoodfella said:
I’m actually in favor of the cardrooms but... you’d figure the hammer was gonna drop sooner or later if these places were (are) operating in a gray area. These clubs can only hide under the country club “fee” model that “happens” to have poker and charges an hourly fee in order to pay for accommodations, for so long. Bottomline these clubs have to answer the simple question - are you making money (profit) off of gambling, yes or no?

But yea i wonder when the plug is gonna be pulled in Austin. :nailbite:
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Don’t get me wrong. I’m also all for card rooms in TX - just wish the DA would make up his mind.
 
CraigT78 said:
Don’t get me wrong. I’m also all for card rooms in TX - just wish the DA would make up his mind.
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My understanding is that this is in fact a gray area of Texas law. They are probably illegal but there is some doubt. If a DA decides to then any could be busted. That said, plenty are still in business. There is one about 3 miles from my house, just outside the city limits. If it wasn't so poorly run, I might play there more often - while it's still in business.
 
Highli99 said:
In case you might think our politicians are not on the take...please remember this is a town that bought enough healthy holly books written by our mayor to give each school kid ten of them, yet in the wild so few exist they go for big bucks on amazon. Corruption is real folks.
Click to expand...

Not a group buy.

:rolleyes:
 
I’ve played at post oak. Wild action. A bunch of rich folks looking to get their gamble itched.

Not surprised they’re hit but there are two dozen smaller ones out there floating around. Will be interesting to see what happens next.
 
I was a dealer at one of the rooms in Plano and was there from before they opened. They worked closely with the police chief and city officials. Everything seemed to be going well and the owner was very cautious about keeping within the country club model. Then one day he was told that there was a problem. He decided to close rather than try to be a test case.
I can also tell you the country club and fraternal organization games are going strong, with absolutely no problem.
The underground games are enjoying a resurgence it seems, but i don't play nor deal at them.
The state's attitude toward this makes no sense.
 
Chauncy said:
The state's attitude toward this makes no sense.
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IMO that’s because the state doesn’t have a stated position. Each local politician and DA decides for their municipality. That can change on a whim.
 
I was playing at a private social club in Houston last night and what I heard from a couple folks, that I would consider to be more well informed than most, was:

The clubs were tangential to (same persons involved) a money laundering investigation that had been ongoing for about 2 years. The same people that I talked to did not express surprise that those arrested were implicated in money laundering (as they were widely considered to be involved in much other crooked shit.)

I also heard that another club (The Mint) in the Houston area was raided, but have heard no other verification of that.

The Harris County DA was the face mostly being seen on and quoted in the media, the HPD was the muscle on the raids, but the, authority was from a three-letter agency out of Washington, DC with local offices everywhere.

No other rooms, that I know of, were directly affected and the cards were in the air as usual at the unaffected clubs.
 
It is assumed that the reader understands that the FBI doesn't get involved in local political spats over poker.
 
It is important to note the DA et. al. appears to be proposing a stacked charge starting with promoting gambling ---> organized crime ---> money laundering. This means civil forfeiture of seized assets and a lengthy "worst case" jail sentence.

We have seen this type of strategy play out millions of times in the USA. It is the biggest reason almost everyone pleads guilty in America, even if they think they are innocent, rather than risk a jury trial. Fun fact: The state can use the fact you asked for a jury trial to assess higher penalties vs you pleading guilty.

So who risks decades in prison and the certainty of hundred of thousands in legal bills vs what ever sweet deal the DA offers? Not very many people I bet.

The players aren't being charged, so far as I know, but it seems unwise to keep sizable amounts of money in the form of chips in your pocket or cash in a lock box on site. Play if you want, just know there is a modest chance your night is the night of the raid where you might lose your buy-in.

It is a sad thing, but not too surprising here in Texas -=- DrStrange
 
dkersey said:
It's been suggested that the OK casinos may have applied some pressure since these rooms are hurting their business, where as I don't think the rooms in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin are impacting them at all since they are much further away.
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Your fooling yourself if you think OK casinos are influencing this. They can’t even run their own shit right, much less interfere in another state. Especially about Poker- most oklahoma Casinos would just as soon it go away. If Texas took all their poker business I think they would think it’s a blessing and give them a real reason to quit dealing it.
 
No offense @softchewy but a seat charge is not a rake. Rake is based on the amount in the pot. If you are at the table for two hours and never win a hand, or even play one, you have not paid any rake. Under the same scenario you will still pay your seat/time charge.

I've heard the suggestion that Winstar and Choctaw are partially behind the efforts to stop rooms in the Dallas area, but don't know that i agree.
 
Tiny technical differences are what make things legal vs illegal.

Just as there is a difference between promoting gambling and promoting illegal gambling.
The state itself promotes gambling (lottery) but not illegal gambling.

If the gambling in question cannot be shown to be illegal, then any charges based on the gambling in question would fail.

A lot of this ambiguity is due to poorly written legislation.
 

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