Lions open again today.

id highly recommend people get in there and cash out any chips they might be holding immediately. not to play but to cash out if they have any chips

michelle - a question of economics

Just an exercise that is just an opinion

Given the position of the clubs and personnel involved - what is your estimation of cost of a successful defense (range)?

Much depends on who they ultimately choose to engage. All seven used public defenders for the bond hearing but expressly requested that the Court NOT appoint counsel for representation beyond the bond hearing.

At the low end, for State charges only, I would expect them to see an anticipated fee of at least $40-50K plus costs for any forensic specialists that might be required. If there is a need for appeal, then additional costs come into play. That being said, there are plenty of people I would not use even for a misdemeanor DWI that would charge between $5-10K. If they go Rusty-level, then fees could easily top six figures.

Representation on federal charges would be higher if anything gets filed at that level.

Not all of those fees would need to be paid upfront. Most defense attorneys in the area set a flat fee for each client, with the structures being based on what work is being performed. In other words, one fee if the case resolves without a trial, an additional fee to go to trial and then the aforementioned appellate fees if the same attorney was used in an appeal. However, a lot of people who go an appellate route utilize specialists who generally do nothing but appellate work.

What really sucks for them is that it will be costly to prove they did nothing wrong and the State will owe them nothing when the case is kicked...

Wow. Just wow. Spoken like the sleazy true believer criminal defense attorney that you are. I guess we’ll see you offer your services pro bono so you can come to the rescue of these poor wrongly charged innocent people. Vomit.

How does the money laundering claim work for something like this, very curious? Are they saying that it’s a place players would use to launder money? Some player with illicit funds claims the money was won playing poker? Or are they saying the owners/investors are laundering there own illicit funds as proceeds from the poker room?

I pasted the current language of the statute in post #1530. The charge, in this State, is used when any money enters into the underlying felony conduct (in this case, the EOCA resting precariously upon the tenuous misdemeanor charge of gambling).

Unlike what one sees on television shows, it is not a washing of the funds from illegal activity through legal mechanisms that gives rise to the charge. The charge appears most frequently when a drug dealer is caught with a large sum of cash but is occasionally charged with a game-room operation. The activity that the funds supported or were obtained from HAVE to be through criminal activity that is either a felony in THIS State or that would result in a sentence of more than one year in jail under the laws of another State. In this instance, the HCDAO has filed the Criminal Complaint pinning the underlying conduct on the aforementioned felony.

I have to admit that I was surprised at the volume of funds alleged to have gone through the bank accounts of both establishments...between them, there was more than $10M in less than a year and a half. That is a LOT of door fees. membership fees and seat rentals...so I hope their books are in order.

The advantage to how the case has been pleaded for both the criminal charge and the civil case is that we get a ruling sooner than later that should support that poker being played in a private place was not gambling in a manner contrary to Texas law. In the interim, the underground game runners will get extremely healthy as they cater to those who don't want to go to Louisiana or Oklahoma and have to get their fix on before the WSOP...

And which part of the analysis are you finding fault with? How much time have you spent reviewing the Harris County files (to include the earlier histories involving game room cases)? What did your review of the civil case suggest to you?

I always find it interesting how much people want to mock those of us in the criminal defense realm...until they have cause to need counsel.

I didn’t review any of the above, but that’s ok, I think I understand the laws alleged to be broken pretty well. Guess it’s up to your DA, and perhaps the feds, to do their jobs.

And I always find it interesting how holier-than-thou most of you defense attorneys get when you see a perceived “injustice” which is really just law enforcement enforcing the laws on the books. But I guess you’ll blame that belief on my past history as a prosecutor.

Thanks makes more sense now. $10M does seem like the high end of what I’d expect but between both rooms over a 1.5 year period doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Plus they both have full kitchens and bars so that adds to the total. When POPC first started booming , didn’t the owner say they were making $300k a month?

Mike Eakman where are you? Where did you run and hide with the jackpot money you’ve been taking last 3 months?

FYP

Are you saying you wanna do bizness?

The state of Texas just needs to get of their ass and legalize poker and be done with this ****.

I don't think its a morality flaw. They're bank accounts are frozen. They probably don't have access to any cash. They're box property should be returned.

*Their

i dont think the clubs have the money to pay them right now either, til they get back whats been seized. but i know everyone who was in there playing on that day it got shut down and had a big percentage of their roll in the game has got to be pissed and worried when theyll be paid. i blame all the people who swore it was legal, nothing to worry about and nothing will happen and fooled all the first time visitors who went over to play some poker and was about to cash out their profits when things went down. lots of people play far less poker than u or me, they dont spend 200 hours a month in a poker room like we do. and they had absolutely no reason not to fully take everyone at their word it was 100% legal. they didnt know, they see it advertised prominently by poker media, how are they supposed to know? but see how bad theyre ****ed. the poker social media sites need to be held responsible as much as the clubs. This would include the ownership and management of 2+2, poker atlas, etc.

What about all the other clubs? Are they up and running, right?

This is complete crap.

ALL players were aware that it was a gray area but that most of the rooms were operating within a reasonable interpretation of the relevant statutes. Knowing that there was no regulatory body, however, I cannot see why anyone would want to keep any amount of money in the custody and control of the club.

It is ALSO critical that people recognize that an arrest and even an indictment does not mean that actual criminal conduct has occurred. An accusation is simply that...an accusation. Cases result in dismissal and acquittals on a regular basis in courtrooms all across the country on a daily basis. There are even cases set aside on appeal when it is discovered that an error of law occurred and that even the prosecutor and judge were unaware of some element. In more than one case, even in Harris County, there are dismissals granted where the free-form language will read that there was no violation of the law. Not that it cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt but that there was NO violation of a Texas law...

This is not a matter that will resolve overnight and, especially now that we know that the POPC defendants have hired Chip Lewis, won't resolve inexpensively.

Rounders in Spring closed. Mint is suspended - Eakman was in Belize when this went down and is supposedly holding an employee meeting Saturday.

(THIS IS A POST FROM FACEBOOK)

Here's what we know so far about the status of poker in the Houston-area:

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**Raided on (5/1)**

- Prime Social, response: "We apologize for any inconvenience. Prime Social is currently closed until further notice. We appreciate each and every one of you and will keep you updated." Link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/primesocial...45320545699104

- Post Oak, no response: https://www.facebook.com/postoakpokerclub/

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**Voluntary Closures**

- Players Poker Club of Houston, as of 4:22pm (5/1): "Our Tournament has been cancelled tonight. We will be closed tonight due to the weather. Have a nice evening and be Safe!Thank you, King6" Link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/PlayersPCHo...57389791333567

- Mint Poker, as of 10:05pm (5/1): "Mint Poker has temporarily suspended member services while our legal team investigates the closing of two clubs in Houston. We value our staff and members and will be back in service as soon as we are advised that it is ok to proceed. Check back for updates." Link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/MintPoker/p...62645917416277

- FreeRolls Poker Club, as of 7:33pm (5/1): In a message to our page from their GM, "We closed for cautionary reasons...We are trying to re-open Friday but waiting to make sure."

- Rounders Poker Room, LLC, as of 5:01am (5/2): "Rounders Poker Room is officially closed. Thank you to everyone" Link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/RoundersPok...68305490000918

- Paramount Social Club, as of 11:05am (5/2): "In line with recent events and comments made by the Harris County District Attorney, Paramount Social Club has decided to suspend all member services until further notice. To uphold the integrity of our Club, its members, and staff, we will do an internal review to ensure compliance and update the community through social media and our website. We thank you for your support in light of these unforeseen events and will continue to keep the interest of each member in mind as we move forward." Link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/paramountpo...82687321882095

- The Poker Club at West Houston, as of 1:33pm (5/2): "We will not be running any games tonight due to the current situation at hand. The decision to reopen will be made tomorrow. We will update everyone as soon as we have the answers we need. We are very sorry for the inconvenience." Link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/thepokerclu...81725112553362

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Clubs Still Operating**

- Kings & Cards Poker Club, as of 5:42pm (5/1): "Kings & Cards will be open tonight at and have a great tournament scheduled at 7pm.We hope that our players continue to support us and other clubs!We are confident that we have operated legally and look forward to serving the poker community. Anyone new that comes to the club this week will be given a free weekly membership to try out Kings. Good Luck on the Felt!" Link to the post:
https://www.facebook.com/kingsandcar...83448788644636

- Star's Poker Club, as of 2:42pm (5/1): "Star's Poker Club will be closed today.We will be open tomorrow at 4pm with a cash game starting at 5pm. Sorry for the inconvenience. See you tomorrow." Link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/StarsPokerC...20253961384598

- Royal Social Club, as of 11:46pm (5/1): "5/2-Promo. First 15 players in the doors between 2p-4 get free 3 hrs cash play time. 7p $2k gtd nlh tourney! 3720 s. Gessner" Link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/RPC365/posts/276175429953015

- Lions Poker Palace: We've been notified that Lions Poker Palace is still open and advertising their games to members today (5/2). See comments for details.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Status Unknown**

- Lone Star Social: https://www.facebook.com/Lone-Star-S...9640479548158/

- Grinders Social Club: https://www.facebook.com/GrindersPokerCyp/

- The Tournament Room: https://www.facebook.com/thetournamentroom/

- The River Poker Club: https://www.facebook.com/theriverpokerclubspringtx/

- The Mayfield Social Club: https://www.facebook.com/washingtonPOKER/

- South Houston Poker Club: https://www.facebook.com/Sohopokerclubhouston/

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As always, we will continue to update this post as more information becomes available. If you have any additional or conflicting information than what we have above, please either post below or message our page **with evidence of your claim.**

Info shared from “Free to Compete - Texas”

I noted that Rounders in Spring has revised their page and is now claiming a poker-themed social club and will be charging a $40 daily fee with no other fees (and obviously, no rake).

Personally, I don't see that lasting long...if you have to pony a fee up each day at that level, you are not going to get the traffic from the player who just wanted to play a few hours after work, if that much.

These people were already being priced out by the daily membership fees, something I never understood.

$40 is just the $10 door fee and 2 hours of $15 seat rental. However, I think many will just ball at seeing $40.
Also, SoHo was open yesterday

Freerolls has already tried this model...and we've all seen how well it's worked out for them.