News article about Texas Card House (north) Austin, with video:
http://www.twcnews.com/content/news/...-success-.html
Poker clubs in Austin double down on gaming success
By Victor Diaz
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 09:42 PM EDT
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AUSTIN, Texas -- Any night of the week in a Northwest Austin shopping center, you could either wipe out or win big playing poker.
Thousands of dollars are on the line every night at the newest Texas Card House, where the atmosphere is similar to a casino poker room.
"People still don't still believe it, it's almost too good to be true," said Texas Card House founder Sam Von Kennel.
Von Kennel said he has heard the horror stories about underground poker games and saw a good business opportunity when he opened the first Texas Card House in South Austin two and half years ago.
He's also a former legislative aid for the state's licensing committee, which handles gaming.
So he knows how to toe the line on state gambling laws.
"It's rake free, it's tip free and inside the club whether you're playing for a dollar or a million dollars it's a completely legal game," said Von Kennel.
The success of his first club in South Austin enabled expansion to North Austin, where he says twice as many poker players live. The setup is like a country club, you pay a membership fee starting at ten dollars to enter and you're charged for the amount of time you spend inside. The house doesn't get a cut of the pot, the money gambled all goes back to the winning players.
"We take great steps to make sure that everything we're doing is legal, no tipping, no rake but if something does change we're going to try to be ahead of it," said owner Ryan Crow.
The owners say they've had no legal challenges so far. Other card clubs are now running in Round Rock and Pflugerville, giving the local poker community even more opportunities for action.
"You take a growing vibrant city and you combine it with a recreation that really has a world wide affinity and its a good combination," said Texas Card House partner Justin Northcutt.
That's a combination they hope remains a win win situation for the club owners and players.
-- Learn The Differences --
Illegal poker rooms
No charge to enter a game
Rake a percentage of each pot
Dealers accept tips
Legal Poker Clubs
Charge a membership fee
Charge for the time spent in the club
No rake taken from the pot
Dealers can not accept tips