I dont think anyone will stop him lots of talk that he is expanding his brand and plans to make his mark all over Houston, he openly says all underground rooms should be shut down by law enforcement. I see that Post Oak Poker club is opening soon and the place looks nicer than most casino poker rooms, whoever put this place together has some major funds, rumor is its guys from Texas Card house and IhostPoker owner. This new place with location will do major damage to all underground games in Galleria area. If these rooms continue to pop up it will be a great thing for players all over town who have gotten murdered by rake games all these years

I agree it will be great for poker players - Houston has millions of people and many players - the battle ground is open for business - there are already at least 6 in austin and San Antonio and all are doing a brisk business.

Though poker in general is down and I do expect to see a pull back in this sector in the next 6 months - it has brought out a lot of the people that don't play in the underground but long range we all know that 10% of poker players are winners - 10% are break even and the rest are long term negative.

Its a tough biz and if you look at the numbers financial reports of casinos - poker hardly generated 1% of their total revenue. There was no exciting news with this new winner of the main event - frankly I doubt poker will barely exist in 20 yrs from now.

I was playing at Texas Card House North (Austin) last night and one of the dealers
mentioned that Throne Poker on Braker had closed down.

I had heard that they were getting a fairly steady stream of business?

Their website is down... so maybe rumor is true?

https://www.thronepoker.com/home

Indeed, they said it on their Facebook site. I think it was open less than 4 weeks. I plan to check out The Prestige soon. Not as nice establishment like TCH north side, but it is far cheaper in fees. Got to see if the game action is any good.

I just wish Texas Card House wouldnt constantly smell like the next door Discount Tire.

I've moved this 'home game' thread to the Listings sub, as the shameless plugging is more appropriate here.

As an Austin poker player for the last few years, here's the jist of these new rooms:

monthly 'membership' fee
hourly fee
no tipping
no immediate rake from the table

Our legitimate home game group has two police officers in it, and both of them aren't sure or unsure of the legality of these games. The law of the land is that no money can leave the poker table for any reason--hence the no tipping/raking. The grey area is whether or not the 'membership' fee is legal. Nobody knows for sure.

Texas Card House started with just one location in South Austin about a year and a half ago, and now they're blowing up with (I think) 5 locations. As our group reads it, either they're legally confident in not being shut down, or they're running the system to the ground while they still have the window to make money.

throne poker lost their parking rights....plain and simple...didnt want to go through the process all over again of finding a location

Looks like some community activists are organizing against Mint Poker: https://www.stopillegalgamblinghoust...-Scandal-Grows

They also have published a legal guide on their site with a detailed explanation of why they believe membership-based poker rooms are illegal: https://www.stopillegalgamblinghouston.org/legal-guide

...it's getting interesting lol

I wonder who Mint pissed off. I'm sure someone on 2+2 will sleuth out who is behind SIGH (hint, hint). But ... yeah ... all it takes is one lawmaker wanting to make a name for themselves.

Can't imagine the site was put up by underground room operators (it's far too literate and lacking errors and typos to be any of the room operators I know). But I don't know who else would benefit economically from the closing of the membership rooms.

It *could* be a purely ethical objection, but ... that's pretty ****ing rare these days ...

Oh please oh please be this guy: http://www.qxjustice.com/

This would definitely result in maximum entertainment.

95% Sure I know who did this haha. I just cant say the name of person who Guaranteed Mint is going down.
Doing this doesn't mean there gonna go back to your UNDERGROUND CLUB despite what your hoping for.
Shouldnt website SIGH name Underground rooms too?

Hello Mr. Eakman! Did you pay those tourney guys back yet?

Lol I don't have an underground club, just ran across these guys on Facebook.

Interesting question on listing additional rooms. I think the website has a submission button for these?

Let me through a thought out there and see if it passes muster

What about a club....
Members pay monthly dues - those dues would be about the operating cost / number of members
When they wish to play - they can play absolutely free - but if they wish to hire a dealer at $/hr
Some overhead charge of support staff would have to be build into the model
each would be built into the model of cost / number of users

In this model - each time a person signs up - they will be given a number of players for that night and what their cost per hour would be (lets say in blocks of 4 hrs)

As the number of people signing up for the night goes up - the price per 4 hr block goes down

thoughts?

A minor mention on mint poker, it is from my hometown area of Clear Lake / Webster, TX area. A small southeast Houston suburb near Galveston Bay. I have not been to the venue, but I'm not surprised there is already a movement to shut it down.

I read the stop gambling Houston website. They are certainly passionate about the Texas penal code on gambling. They are also noting the other card rooms clubs around the state. Appears this person is likely going to continue their crusade to get these shut down. Reading the text, seems they are on a "holy quest" to stop the evil. They even list tips for each local police department, local city officials, and local press outlets to notify.

To note in Austin, 104.9FM even did an afternoon sports show from Texas Card House in Austin so they are not hiding from anyone. The guy for TCH said he studied all the laws and this doesnt cross the line. He even did a few TV interviews here in Austin. Im a bit curious how much they are making in revenue. They pay out a bad beat jackpot. Rent + electricity + employees + security guard + city taxes can certainly add up. Should be interesting to see if anything new plays out in the summer or fall this year to try to shut these places down.

As I calculate it
Dealer $25/hr - 1 dealer for every 10 players
Security $20/hr - lets say club is capped at 40 players - so one needed
Floor man - $15/hr - 1 needed for night

It would break out at such
10 players - $6/hr
11-20 players as low as $4.25/hr
21-30 players as low as $3.67/hr
40 players as low as $3.38/hr

I will be your dork. It's about $15. $20 with a BBJ.

Far surpasses the ones in Vegas, IMO. Even the Aria and Bellagio cardrooms are hurt by the constant clang of casino slot machines nearby. Weirdly reminds me of the Golden Nugget.

Lone star card house in Conroe is only charging a $25 per day membership fee right now. No seat rental fees or tipping allowed. I am sure they will charge in the future when they get thier player base up but for know that has to be the cheapest game in town. To bad they are only open Thursday, friday and saturdays.

you're missing rent, utilities, and massive profit, but other than that you're spot on.

As a poker enthusiast I truly hope these places remain viable and continue to thrive and expand.

Unfortunately they are fighting two fronts:
1) The people who want tell us grown men and women that we cannot spend our hard earned money on a hobby that we enjoy because they find it objectionable.
2) The underground game runners who have been filling a void illegally and charging exorbitant prices for an in demand service.

Specifically to Mint Poker in Clear Lake:

• I have played there about 4 times now and find the place to be great. It beats any underground game that I have ever played at and rivals cross border casinos for Texas Holdem action.
• The times I have played I have found the staff and dealers to be very polite and professional.
• I have never felt unsafe and have observed off duty uniformed police officers providing security. I have never felt unsafe, even leaving the place at 3:00 am after cashing out.
• The action is fantastic with 3-5 tables of 1/3 (and sometimes a wait list running) with very decent sized stacks on the table.
• I have seen many players that I have run into at local underground card rooms and to a person they have said they will not play in an underground game as long as Mint (and others like it) are open and viable. I feel this, more than anything else, is the source of some comments found in this thread and others like it.

We finally have a model that can potentially allow us to enjoy our hobby with our money and not have to drive 2-3 hours each way or pay extortion level prices to a truly illegal underground game runner. I believe that we as a poker community need to support these types of establishments and do everything we can to ensure that they can remain viable, deliver a value added service to the player community, and remain on the right side of the law.

you are correct and i forgot....the total expenses at this new location is just about 3k/month - it is produced by the monthly membership of $30 for 100 people

Essentially the member would pay all the expenses - and it would be THEIR CLUB with any members after the initial 100 to share in the profits.

This is strictly a break even model but it passes the test of being a private club. No longer would there be a seat rental but the players that night would "hire" the staff required for the night. Thus the club is not profiting from the game - You are paying for services rendered.

Its a work in progress the goal is to have a place which is 100% legal and the price is kept low and the membership is limited to select individuals.

If I'm reading this correctly (https://www.stopillegalgamblinghouston.org/legal-guide), the point is that the friendly poker game stuff was put into the gambling laws to let people play poker privately with friends...but not make money off poker outside of personal winnings. I guess before that all poker was illegal?

In any case, I applaud you thinking through this, but your idea of hiring staff to deal cards doesn't seem like it would work. The staff gets an economic benefit, violating the law.

Say what you want about these activist guys...but they put one hell of a guide together.

maybe you are right but given that..wouldnt every game in the state be illegal

Only the ones where someone is guaranteed to make money. Me getting together with some friends around the kitchen table isn't illegal.

Scenario 1
players order pizza...pizza man makes money

Scenario 2
player's daughter really "sl*tty" - dr makes money

Scenario 3
Ed goes to play poker
Wife has lover
Divorce lawyer makes money
Scenario 4

Generals get together for a game
Russia attacks - arms dealers makes money

Scenario 5
Capt of Valdez plays game
Enviromentalists gets huge donations

Scenario 6
C3PO plays against Wookie
Robot repair man money

When you play poker - you can't hire dealers
When you can't hire dealers - you get ****ty dealers like fred
When you get ****ty dealers like fred - you get into fights
when you get in fight with fred - you get lawsuits
When you get in lawsuits - you have to get a part time job
When you get a part time job you deliver pizza to ****ty poker games with fights

Don't get a part time job delivering pizza to ****ty games with fights

I rest my case your honor