Received an e-mail today from Mint Poker about the freeroll they are offering for a $10K WSOP Main Event seat plus $2K for travel expenses. Question to everyone here:

1. Based on Michael Eakman's past reputation/deeds would you trust him to pay it out if you won?

Here are the details from the e-mail they sent:



SATURDAY MAY 19 – 12 NOON

FREE MINT SWAG FOR ALL & MEMBER APPRECIATION BBQ

WIN A $12,000 2018 WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT PACKAGE

INCLUDES ENTRY INTO THE 2018 WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT AND $2,000 IN CASH FOR AIRFARE, HOTEL & MEALS

PLUS AS A BONUS – YOU’LL BE UPGRADED TO DIAMOND STATUS MEMBERSHIP AND RECEIVE COMPLIMENTARY MEMBERSHIP FOR THE REST OF 2018!

TWO WAY TO QUALIFY . . . . .

1. EARN 30 PLAYER POINTS TO QUALIFY FOR AN AUTOMATIC SEAT | 1 POINT FOR EVERY DAY YOU PLAY

2. BE ONE OF THE TOP 100 PLAYERS IN POINTS - LEADER BOARD WILL BE POSTED IN THE CLUB

*LIMITED TO ONE POINT PER 24 HOUR PERIOD - EARN POINTS THROUGH NOON ON MAY 18

Sounds like a good deal if you play there a lot. Too far for me so I've actually never been there. Thoughts from players that play at MINT?

Circumstances are a lot different for Mint than what happened with the ME seat with Eakman. I would insure the ME seat for $100 against Mint not paying out - I think there's basically 0% chance that's an issue. So the question is, how many people do you think will qualify and play - the fewer the entries, the better the value. Mint has an awful lot of daily regs so you're probably looking at around 50-100 entrants, which imputes a value of about $150. Not exactly worth bending over backwards to qualify.

I disagree (about not being worth the time). If you read the 2 qualifications you only have to play there 30 times to be guaranteed to qualify. The date of the tourney is 2 months away so that is basically 15x's per month of play to qualify. If you play that much and live near there it would be worth it to go for the free roll. I would take my shot to beat 50-100 players(half of which would probably have no shot in the tourney to win a free Main Event seat and $2k). It's not a bad promotion if he actually pays out.

They are also probably trying to hurt Freerolls which will probably be their biggest competition. It is scheduled to open in April and offering a new model as far as payment(daily flat fee as opposed to time charge). If they get their regs tied up in trying to qualify for their promotion that would probably hurt Freerolls. So Eakman is basically offering a free roll to hurt Freerolls. Say that 3x's fast!

keep in mind eakman has a long list of cheating people out of these events - the whole thread was started with this happening and it did not stop there with all the charges against him online reported...

Here's what you have to look at. If you don't have a monthly membership there, you would have to pay $10/day for 30 days = $300, then play cash and pay $10/hr. So let's say you play an average of 2 hours a day x 30 = $600 for a total of $900 for those 30 days plus whatever you tip. So let's just say you tip a total of $100 for those 30 days which a very low number, now your total is at $1,000. Plus factor in your drive time and gas for those 30 days. Why not just play a $1000 tourney with 12 people, winner take all and have a 1/12 shot instead of going against 50-100 people! Makes more sense to me. Just saying lol

I've played at Post Oak, Prime, Lions, and Mint. The BIGGEST difference I saw players at Mint NEVER have to pull cash out of their pocket to pay for the seat rental or for tips! Which is great as a player, but at the same time, it's a way for some players to "go south" with chips.
1. Because they allow it, essentially, if I buy in for $300 and win a $1000 pot for example, I can take $300 off my stack, go to the cage and get $100 of tip chips and $200 of time chips (which NO ONE can ever win from me) and now I'm free rolling on the game!
2. If it's a 10 handed game and each player paid their tip chips and time chips with the cash chips, and let's say each player tipped $5 each for 1 hour of play, that means on average, $150 per hour comes off the table that you or any other player can NEVER win! So if that's not a "rake", then I don't what is! Lol.

All the other places won't allow that so I have to constantly pull out cash to pay for time cards.

Wanna think about something crazy?!? Mint is celebrating their 1 year anniversary in May meaning they've been open 10 months so let's do the math on a conservative level. Let's just say they averaged 3 tables for 3 hours each day which we know is more like double that, but again we want to be conservative. That means in 304 days Mike has raked errrr made $273,600 that came off the table and NO ONE can EVER win!! And that's just the time chips!! And THAT'S ONLY 3 TABLES AT 3 HOURS A DAY!! MIND BLOWING!!

Yeah I mean it's definitely a perfectly fine promotion. My experience in freerolls makes me think they're probably going to be like hyper turbos so I don't really assign any value to the skill edge in the freeroll itself.

I'm 100% serious when I say I'll insure the seat for $100. Eakman isn't self-destructively stupid. When people in poker end up short on their obligations, it's rarely because they intended to scam outright. It's because they manage their money poorly/gambling addiction and don't have a way to easily recuperate lost funds. Mint makes more than enough to cover the seat in one weekend.

I mean yeah, the point is if you were going to be playing there anyway, the promotion would be an incentive to maybe put in a few extra days.

I had a guy try to buy $20 in tip chips literally in the middle of deciding what to do vs a river jam. I had the floor called to make it stay in has stack until the hand was completed. Not because I actually cared, but because I was bluffing and it seemed liked a good opportunity to feign concern for what my opponent's stack size was.

I don't think this is really as big of a deal as you think it is. There are certain regulars at Mint who are always playing scared money and are certainly huge losers in the game. They consistently hit and run/rathole every time they win a major pot. Frankly I wish they'd let these fish go south with their stack if it meant they wouldn't cash out the instant they double up.

Also got a text today saying Legion is reducing their hourly to $10/hr or $40/day which is a huge improvement and exciting for people looking to play in north Houston.

This is a great post and spot on. One of the great things about playing at Post Oak (and Prime) is that all the money stays on the table. The stacks get deep and many of these players have no idea about how to protect their stacks.

Have they completely shifted operations to the new location? Heading north last night around 8P, I saw no vehicles in the lot at the old location (just north of 2920 off the feeder road).

The last time I went (a couple weeks ago) they were running both. I'm not sure if that's changed.

Looks like they're trying to do what Freerolls is doing. Which I agree would be great for players cuz at Post Oak for example, you pay $15 for your daily membership fee, then they require you to buy at least 4 time cards which is $30, for a total of $45 for 2hrs of cash play. And sometimes less if you sit down between X:00-X:14! That's already $5 more than what Legion is doing and you can play all day! I normally average 5-8hrs when I go play at Post Oak so with the daily fee, I average paying out of pocket $90-$135 every time I go play there! That's why I'm hoping Freerolls has decent action when they open because it would save me a **** load on time card fees even tho it's an extra 30 minutes of driving for me, it's worth the savings! At least for me. Some people with $$$$ to burn don't give a ****! lol

Yeah unfortunately the action players don't really care about this kind of thing. The major San Antonio room is $5 daily + $8 an hour so paying $15/hr at POPC always hurts even though the action is bat**** crazy.

I like that there’s no seat charge for tourney’s at Freerolls. Play the tourney and don’t have to come out of pocket again for cash. There does seem to be a lot of people that just want to play a tourney so that might keep them away.

Prime's pulling out all the stops for Friday - no entry fee if you get there before 7, free drinks, bring a friend and after 1 hour of play you each get $25 and after two hours of play you get a free dinner as well.

FB Page says ESPN will be there again Friday and "Stay tuned for more details about celebrities, bounties, and giveaways."

Isn't competition great for the players!

Not really because you go to most places you pay a daily fee of $10, $20 tourney fee and $10 dealer special = $40 still. And like you said, HUGE plus for when you wanna play before or after the tourney. Some days at places, tourney fee is $30. Any way you try to spin it, freerolls is the best bang for your buck. At least mathematically

Yes it is great for players, but Prime knows they're struggling to keep players there for cash so they're trying to out spend everyone with all these promos and will only put them further in the hole! But anyone who's been around poker long enough can see the writing on the wall when places started doing bonuses and "get this if you do this" kind of stuff. You don't see places like Lions doing daily promos to get people in there. They just have the wsop promo and that's it. I've already seen some of these places doing things like if you're the first 5 players, "no daily fee and no seat rental for the first 2hrs"! That means they're struggling just to get off 1 table! Inside the Beltway Loop is just too saturated already! People think they can just open up and make money! I don't understand how people can go play a $0.50-$1.00 game and pay seat rental! You would have to felt the whole table just to recoup your daily fee and seat rentals! Lol!

Been in Houston for about 4 years, and have played/play at 10+ Underground games over that time as well as dealt at a few, and understand underground game economics etc. from time spent in florida and Tennessee during college and grad school dealing and donking.

Def not a lawyer, and along with the average person walking into the doors of these establishments with their money, I can say they don't care about the legality/politics. Calling a spade a spade POPC is solid, nothing spectacular, nothing too terrible (crazy lady TD is pretty janky but oh well). It seems safe to the rec players/avg joes, and the action is there for multiple poker demographics (gamblers/nits/donkeys/you name it). I personally think being first is the biggest advantage POPC has because the rest of the rooms have the same dealers/dealer quality, same prices, similar tourney structures. I like Lions/Prime guarantee along with better blind structures, POPC going to 10 min blinds is terribad for any knowledgable player but the avg joe doesn't care.

Underground games far enough out of the loop, that are sticking to their guns and player pool are not having any problem, social media/advertising to a less knowledgable recreational player pool would be worth hundreds of thousands to these businesses, too bad they probably won't pay the marketer to do so...

I concur, its great time for poker in Houston right now, we just have to fight to keep blinds 15+ for these tourneys or else the "seat fee" becomes unbearable.

Hey guys visiting Austin in 2 weeks what’s the best room to play in atm?

I've only played at Texas Card House. But it's top notch. Well ran. Lots of players, great action.

nice guess thats my best bet

Still running both places... The 2920 location is having more games though.

New spot has opened up in San Antonio - right near my home so I suspect I will be a frequent visitor. Rounders Card Club, as a private, members only club. You can find them on a .com or on Facebook under the name noted for details if interested. I have seen 1-2 and 1-3 games running plus daily tournaments. They are also located on Poker Atlas app. They have been open just under 1 full week. Check it out if you are in San Antonio.

I'm also not a lawyer, but let me see if I can also offer an example of what it could mean if you insisted the operator of these clubs "received economic benefit". If that were the case, you also need to prosecute Papa Johns, because my private poker group, that meets at my home, always orders pizza from Papa Johns. Therefore, Papa Johns has received economic benefit from our private poker game.

So, if you aren't ready to go after Papa Johns for this prosecution, I don't see a logic which actually fits for the prosecution of the operator. Its just not rational or reasonable.

Check out Texas Card House.