That website does not look legit at all, it looks like he paid his nephew 100 dollars to throw it together.

Wait until the doors open and you can tour the place in person before giving a penny, and if you do use a VISA cash card or something. That looks shady as hell.

By the way they aren't the first group to try and do something like this (even in Houston).

hello clivestraddle
i am looking fora game in houston to play, can you send me a pvt messsage or some other way of contacting you to join your game
thanks

PM sent...

Is club 333 still around and legit?

Yes unmarked

I suppose some few folks will want to believe in this deal so bad, that they will actually send in the money. That's how the Nigerian former finance ministers get by with their offers too.

Actually, there is a curved portion of the building at the end of the center where Scout Bar is located (in back, facing Clear Creek). If you do the overhead/satellite view, you will see the area I am referring to.

That being said, I have no idea about the legitimacy of that operation...I question the claim of licensed by the city and always think of that as being another jurisdictional no-man's land given the proximity to other pocket communities. And...I am not going to drive that far to play...it's bad enough trying to get down there for the occasional show at the Scout Bar when friends come to town...

It has been over a week now.

And Mr. Eakman wont respond to my facebook message.

Neither will Mint Pokers facebook page.

I looked at the Club 333 website. Sorry Clive, but unfortunately this model is not legit. Charging for access to gambling is not legal in the State of Texas.

This is what your membership fee does...charges for access to gambling. If you're also charging a seat rental, like Texas Card House does, this is illegal as well for the same reason.

Don't just look at Texas Card House and think what they're doing is okay. It's not. They just haven't been busted yet...but it's coming. Please make sure you have an attorney who knows gambling laws helping you. Would hate to see you have an issue.

if its illegal and a scam and you lose your money you wont go to jail.
if it isnt and illegal and opens and gets busted you are one of the owners and can face criminal charges likely and still will lose your money.
if it opens and its good go and play and take your chances on the other things that can happen.

Good luck to Mintpoker room with numerous clubs within 10 miles this guy has no chance anyway. These so called Legal rake free rooms are popping up all over town and arent fooling anyone ask Clive how 333 is doing but cops are to busy catching bad guys right now they have no time for games.

So I'll bite. What happened with club 333?

Clubs have existed for over 20 years and not a single one has been shut down for legal issues - however - the profit margin is very small with overhead costs and 1 table of even at a rake of $5 max outperforms 5+ tables of door fee and probably about 3 tables of hourly charge.

I created the club as a social club - I cap the buy-ins so that nobody comes in initially and run over the table - the average hours played is about 5 per players. The dealers make about $20/hr which is way below what a comparable dealer makes in a raked game. In addition we have a definitive closing time (2 am with the philosophy "if you are stuck at 2 am - you ain't gonna get unstuck unless you gamble - GO HOME - tomorrow is another day).

We are not a gambling joint - I have never seen a table of players that everyone is having a good time and we often have 4-6 winners at each table compared to MAYBE 1 winner at the raked (low stakes) games.

Its a different philosophy set up to give the player's a "fair chance" but also an environment that emphasizes player satisfaction vs profitability.

Other than rarely getting anything that was more than one table, not much. There were issues beyond that which contributed to my decision to stop traveling south, but it got to be a glorified home game without new blood which wasn't worth a door fee plus the other major annoyance that I have previously discussed with Clive.

Admittedly, I was not a fan of the low buy-in either...personally I don't see a problem with a $500 buy-in at low stakes games but it seems that some hold to a philosophy that such an amount means running over the table. The $200 amount was too low...

i think the model of Rake free poker rooms is a great idea, it wont be very profitable for any employee or owner but great for players. Club 333 was never gonna work though location isnt the best and although Clive is very intelligent and knows alot about game lets face it he cant be a face of that type of franchise. Why cant anyone just run low rake game with good location thats what most us players want and need. Dont wanna sit in small stakes game with 1000 on the table with a 20 rake, we have no chance its bad enough the games i go to have about 4 house stacks sitting on table. When someone runs a low rake game down south you can count me in and my few friends that drive to Lake charles every week to play. They hate south houston poker

"he cant be a face of that type of franchise"

Agreed - to paraphrase that ancient greek saying (and changing the gender)

He has a face that would sink a 1000 ships.

Superb Owl - you can't say the other name - has disappeared...Phil has disappeared

Dealer is out of uniform and people are clearly photoshopped in. He is probably cutting in lease guy to say poker room is coming this has shady written all over it.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using 2+2 Forums

how bad is Fishtank rake?

Pretty bad Spew. They rake up to $25 per hand but the games are very splashy. Most pots get big so lots of chips being raked off the table. Luckily Jerry will occasionally put the rake back in the game if you know what I mean. George plays a little tighter. You do have those "hot" game girls though!

Well saying they are rake free is misleading, they are simply doing time games which is a different way to rake games but is generally better for players than a straight rake. California games should put up big signs that they are rake free too! They can say we have no rake, we have a drop!

Most places with daily tournaments want fast structures so they tournament finishes in a reasonable amount of time, if this guy wants to really clean up he should make tournaments with amazing structures, you can pay $60 to enter a tournament, win it and then pay $90 in seat fees!

As Roman said "the 10$/hr charge for the seat in a 60$ tournament seems well thought out." From the house side it sure is

yea..time charge never makes sense in a tournament...double trouble for the bubble..lol

word is they were shut down over the weekend - politely told...You need to shut down

How do you hear about all these things Clivestraddle? The Fish tank got raided wonder who is next hope not one of the clubs i play at

Anyone else find it funny they choose to take the name of a busto online poker site?