I live about 5 minutes from Vantage Park as well.

How many tables were they running?

I was there this weekend as well and they had 5 tables going. Most of the time they seem to have at least 3 going.

TCH North is beautiful as already mentioned. Rivals many Vegas card rooms I've played in.

Apparently HEB complained already so they are already looking for a new spot already. They have yet to open..

Vintage Poker is now Post Oak Poker Club

https://www.postoakpokerclub.com/

That sucks not so close to me any more

Uh oh. PostOak is a lot more convenient, and has the benefit of (afaik) not being run by a known scammer. Would appreciate any trip reports and the like. Doesn't look like they have a functional mailing list yet.

That is some expensive real estate. I guess that's the reason for the higher fees. $15 daily membership fee and $15/hr seat charge. Even so, I'll definitely check it as it looks nice and is very convenient.

That price is fairly ludicrous. Have fun beating a 1/3 that's clawing $150/hr+ off the table.

I don't know how these places operate: do you prepay each half hour? Do they come by the table, but you cannot pay with chips (I would assume that paying with chips would make it indistinguishable from rake).

In any case, my understanding is that they are clawing the money from the pockets of the players, not off the table. Which, while it comes from the same ultimate source, is a pretty big difference, right?

At Plano you give them your ID when you get there, and when you cash out or leave you pay the fees.

Stack depth is pretty much the same as any raked game I've played in for pretty much all these places, if that's what you mean. Functionally it's the same, but yes strictly speaking it is not.

No, what I mean is that, when you win a $100 pot, you pull in $100. You don't pull in $87 and slide a $1 tip to the dealer.

Stack depth should stay a *little* deeper, a *little* longer.

Don't get me wrong: $15 an hour seems very high. I'm pretty sure, though, it's roughly equivalent to the rake paid in many games. And, significantly less than the rake paid in larger games/pots (many of the games pulled in 5% - 10% per pot; those are %, not dollar signs--rake was essentially _as much as you could grab without the players complaining_).

That sounds like a recipe for trouble after someone loses all his money at the table.

I would agree if it's a typical 1/3 game with a 300 max buy in. But the trend now is more and more 1/3 are no max buy in so the game plays much bigger. Now with that said I think they will most likely have to scale the hourly fee back to 10 bucks an hour which is on par with all the other places.

I've been playing at Mint Poker a couple times a week and i honestly love the place. Lots of customers any given night. Only a few problems i see from what all other places are saying is that were allowed to tip dealers and staff anytime. also everyone including employees lets us take chips of the table for tips and Hourly chips, hell i even see guys going south with chips regularly. Ive asked the staff on numerous occasions and well according to owner he says he cant tell us what to do with our own money. Also the rules seem to always change on that and when i ask anyone they say well we're a new club. Shouldnt those rules have been set in stone before any hand dealt in the place. Thats only issue i have about the place and i can live with the adjustments. I wonder what other clubs policies are on chips being removed from table or being allowed to pocket chips anytime

My observation is that most everyone at Mint mentally budgets $ towards their (i) playing chips, (ii) time chips, (iii) tip tokens. As a result, there is ZERO rake or house claw on (i) at any time...
...recently people have started paying for $5 time chips with their stack...
...but even then, that is different from clawing it from the middle

The economics of Mint should be look at your direct cost = $10/day + $10/hr or ~$50 for 4 hour session
@ 25 hands per hour (conservatively)
= 100 hands or $0.50 per hand

... from that point it's up to you on if you can manage to cover $50 over a 4 hour session based on (a) number of hands you play, (b) your edge to win pot, (c) average pot size

Any thoughts? From me it seems like a player favorable configuration, but perhaps I am missing something...

@jwebbtx1836, I think your assessment is correct with a couple of concerns

* I believe (but I don't even play a lawyer on TV) that players paying time and/or tipping out of their stacks moves these rooms from grey area to clearly illegal.

* Mint has some reputation issues related to the moral character of its owner that you have to decide for yourself about.

* Places like PostOak, that are insinuating a $15/day; $15/hour are probably edging towards economically unfavorable, but it's up to the market to force them out of business if so.

It is/was just a matter of time before one room's stupid **** brings a hammer down on places across the state.

Looks like the Post Oak Poker Club is going to open by the end of the month. The fees are posted on thier website. And unlike any other texas room they actually posted thier tournament structures and payouts on thier website. From the pictures and the website these guys may be worth checking out.

https://www.postoakpokerclub.com/tournaments

Might check out www.bets-4-vets.com
as long as we are discussing rake free games in houston tx

one thing you are missing is that NOTHING is free
want a soda - $3 / want a coffee $3 - want snacks - you get the picture

What you don't get - any form of security - owner is the sole person for security and he leaves at 10pm generally
BUT
his teen or some say sub teenager is the first line of defense for she guards the door
fortunately there are clear class windows for all to see ....in or out and surely nobody who is getting their cash inside would worry about someone from the outside seeing you get paid before you walk out

So clivestraddle your gonna charge $1 door fee and $2 per hour? How will you make any money to even pay employees and much less pay rent/bills? are you still gonna run your insane raked game at home the one thats been going on for 20+ years? Now your gonna have both a Legal and Illegal operation going at same time. I have friends who have played in your game from time to time and they have told me about your rake and Clive dollars that you have taken over the years. I also see your a big basher of Mint Poker and i understand the owner has done some very non-honorable things in past but whats it to you? there are lots of game runners in houston that have done some bad things in past and you frequent them games. I dont personally know Mr Eakman and he isnt at his club all the time but the games he has are great 5+ tables of live action a day beats going to lake charles to play in fair games. I know these clubs popping up all over town but Mint has done it right just yesterday i overheard at table that he put a few underground games out of business in the area i even heard its hurt your game Clivestraddle.

my games at the home have never been better - almost every one of my players (we average 150 players / month and 25-40 new players per month) has been to mint and won't go back

I support every rake free game and even made a FB group for all to advertise
I don't like what Michael Eakman - he has a horrible reputation LV and has done nothing to correct all the lawsuits against him

As far as making money...i hardly need it - I announced I am retiring after running a game for over 20 years (btw...clive dollars are rebates for the first $1 taken in rake so we don't even rake till pot gets to $20)

As far as games going out of biz.....this time of year is the worst time of you..a lot of the games have been declining for years and this might have just put them over the edge...

Poker in general has been in a decline for nearly 5 yrs -22 rooms in Vegas have closed and the total number of tables in Vegas is down 27%

I am not setting up a poker room btw..i am setting up a game center and for helping veterans - the employees will get 80% of the proceeds and i hope to donate my 20% to vet causes - the revenue stream of memberships will be sufficient to pay all expenses.

If i had to rely on my game as a revenue stream - i would be on food stamps a long time ago...we give back nearly 25-30% of all back to the game - I have been a stock trader for 45 yrs and I do more in a week than the game makes in a year.

That being said - and to sum it up - I have no problem with and will support all the rake free games in houston EXCEPT MINT - If i can break even at the current rate and everyone makes enough - I will keep it that way - however i expect the "real" number will be 1BB or $2 per half hr...$5 for the door where i can not charge for soda and drinks and have a food vendor that will serve a 3 course meal for $5 - that's my goal

last thought..yes there are things that other game runners have done over the years..but nobody tops this guy - he steps on the little people and I have a real problem with that