Mentions of them in the legal poker rooms come to texas thread.
I know of Austin having texas card house south, throne poker off braker, Chisholm, and soon to be texas card house north.

San Antonio has some.

Plano has poker rooms of texas.

He's at it again. http://mintpokerclubs.com/texas-stat...championships/

I was actually at Mint tonight. They actually have a really nice 'front,' so to speak. While I was aware of their 'seat fee + membership' thing being illegal, the casual poker player will certainly be fooled by this place. Looks, seems, and even feels more legitimate than any room I've ever played at in Houston. Hell, even the $10/hr seat fee is enticing. That's far less than what any room in Houston that I'm aware of is raking from their pots. This is NOT me encouraging anyone to go- I am simply stating why this place may be attractive to the casual Houston poker player.

Michael was there tonight running the tournament. After reading and learning all of this about him tonight, I'm shocked he shows his face, let alone has a business attached to his name.

The key question is whether the tournament structure is Chainsaw approved

Just kidding, it's whether you would get paid out if you won. Big Ruk says slim chance!

"Play for an estimated *600k prizepool"

Why do you say the seat fee and membership thing is illegal? There are multiple rooms in texas with the same model.

This is exactly what concerns me; people on 2+2 may be able to see right through the facade, but there are recs in Houston out that are seeing this and thinking, "$600K? Sign me up!"

I say that they are illegal because they are. Paying the house in any way to play poker in Texas is illegal, as previously mentioned multiple times in this thread. Just because there are many rooms in Texas with this model doesn't mean it's legal. There are way more rooms around that just take a rake for their profit, just like the casino does, and they're still open for business.

i think since he is just starting up this place, the risk of not getting paid after winning the tournament is low for now.. after reading this thread though, you should be prepared for that..

also i believe those who didn't get paid was in a "chairity" event tournament where he (michael) had to recoup his expenses first.. unlike the tournament happening inside his game room where there really isn't "extra" expense on his part..

he could scam by taking more money off the tournament and not letting the players know but it had to be a tournament with lots of players to be "unnoticeable" .. this happened in a legal casino (isle of capri, louisiana) a few years ago and lots of employees involved got fired..

for cash games, the risk of not getting paid is a bit low..

Discounting the chance that it might get raided?

ALL game rooms in Texas have risks of getting raided or robbed. They are all illegal inspite what they claim.

The matter regarding my tournament win at the Playboy Mansion in '09 has been settled amicably with Michael Eakman.

Mods - this thread is locked, so I'll let you decide if it can be updated:
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...64/index3.html

Thanks, NVG, for your advice over the years. It's always good when the poker community looks out for each other. I won't be discussing the terms of our agreement, but I will say that I'm happy Mr. Eakman and I were able to put this behind us and I'm hoping Houston's poker scene will continue to thrive. Someday, I'll have to make a trip down south and experience it in person. Funny to think I've been fortunate enough to play poker on six continents, but I still haven't played Texas Hold'em in Texas

I am going to merge this thread into the older thread and, with some trepidation, re-open the old thread (I reserve the right to re-close the old thread if it warrants).

Awesome news, bigruk!

congrats