Chan's poker club in Houston, TX was closed over the weekend. Here's a quote from The Mouthpiece (Mike Matusow's podcast):

"I talked to Johnny Chan for quite a long time today, and...according to Johnny, when he was in Vegas for the World Series, his partner emptied out the bank account, and all the money in it and...took off..." He went on to say that the partner also emptied out the on-premise lock boxes.

Er...what??

I searched, and didn't find any discussion on this on 2+2.

Thoughts? Anyone with additional info? This seems like it could be a disaster for the perceived (real too?) integrity and safety of the much-vaunted Texas poker club scene.

There is an active thread on TX membership based rooms in the Home game listings thread. There has been some discussion on the room there.

Before they closed, there was a week or so that cash outs were limited to $2000 per day.

There is also new room, opened by Johnny’s prior partner?, that has been undercutting the rake at pulling players. This new room owner is said to have a very shady past in California it appears that room is doing some shady things since before it’s day one. I would not be surprised if that room was violating numerous federal laws. IMO it is ripe for a federal raid and shutdown. But whether this is tied to the 88 Social problems (Chan’s room) I can’t say.

It may make sense to move this to that sub thread. But it may be big enough news to leave here with broader visibility.

Nope can't talk about it here. Mods will move any discussion of Texas poker to the hinderland referenced in a prior post. Stupid.

If that is the mod’s decision, no need to move these posts. All of the information here is already in that thread, so just close or delete. Imo.

Why can't it be discussed here? This kind of thing solidly covers all three letters of N, V, and G. The growth of the Texas poker club scene has been big news, and this possible meltdown would be the highest profile news from that scene, ever. Add in one of the top 5 ever poker personalities, and you have NVG gold.

Also, I've tried twice...I can't find that thread.

Will defer to mods to interpret and explain policy. But to find the other thread

Live poker
Home Poker
Home game listings sub thread (will have to accept a terms notice)
( link is in top using old format )
Texas membership based poker posting

How about keeping the thread in here and moving you to the hinderland of the forum?

I like it

Seriously though; I'm not sure why that topic is buried in the home game listing area...it doesn't even have it's own thread there. Thanks very much for your attention!

The issue, AFAICT, is that the TX poker rooms are operating under a loophole, and half a decade ago 2+2 didn't want to be seen as encouraging lawlessness by putting these rooms in the same forum as above-board casinos. And maybe they didn't want "the fuzz" to easily find out where these rooms are located.

All seems silly now when rooms like The Lodge have entire YouTube shows and it's become clear most D.A.s in TX aren't making any effort to close these rooms any more.

There are definitely a few locales that still actively discourage including threats of prosecution. Collin County, McKinney, Ft. Worth are three that I am aware of.

I don't think the intent was to hide them since it really isn't any harder to locate the discussions. But more importantly, these rooms then and now were openly advertising: radio, storefronts, bill boards, etc. Heck at least one of the big early ones in Houston donated a bunch of toys to a Houston Police charity for kids. And at least a couple were trying to get an ordinance passed in Houston to "legalize" them (and thus help regulate?).

They weren't then or now trying to hide.

Lets let Mason post some info on one of his books in NVG and keep this stuff out - LMAO. Carry on!

Again, I’m for keeping that thread here and you out.

wouldn't cash out people's chips over 2k at a time so obviously intended on closing down and not repaying their obligations in chip/time/employees... Interesting people talking bad about legends management ITT when 88s was 1000x worse after david left

Wait…do employees or owners of card rooms routinely have access to the contents of player lockboxes?
I’ve never had one, so I really don’t know if this is standard policy.

Typically they’re set up if you don’t have both keys (one the owner of the box only has access to the other is the master the casino employees keep) you can’t access them. They get drilled if you lose a key so I imagine he drilled all them

Please get the facts straight before you go talking about other clubs. The shady person you are referring to David is Not the owner of Legends club. I can assure you that. You can go to Houston City hall to get this information if you like. Legends is no way involved with 88. 88 killed themselves by running a cash poor club and legends just came in at the right time with promotions that put the nail in the coffin.

Let me make sure I understand this.

Players in a live poker club in Houston, would play a session book a win > $2000 and not be able to cash out full amount.

Or are you saying players put money on some some sort of account or had a box at the club and could not withdrawal > $2000

or both

Didn't think I'd ever be pro shut down poker stuff. But wow. such a cess pool of puke down there

All those clubs need to be shut down or regulated. There, I said it.

Regardless of the player robberies , Im shocked a player would leave money in a box. Isnt Texas a It's OK to carry a machine gun state. robbery problem solved.


https://www.poker.org/johnny-chans-88-social-poker-club-shuttered-as-accusations-flood-houston-poker-scene/

the second a poker business restricts withdrawals is a red flag to get away from it like your hair is on fire.

Apparently David La had already confessed to ignoring gaming law in California, and was forced to sell the business because of it, so for anyone to partner with him falls under 'fool me twice shame on me'.

Failure to pay wages to employees puts a business on the fed's radar.

You cant carry a gun into the club so you would have to make it to your car first.

spend $300 to hire a thug to escort you.

But seriously if you play somewhere and the choice is leave your chips with club owner who is likely a crook. or walk to your car and have to worry about guns....

prob need to rethink what your doing , where, and why

You are correct. Towards the end, Johnny 88 operation was so cash tight that they limit you to only cash out $2000 daily. Imagine buying in 10k to a game and you can only cash out 2k. It's a joke to play in a club like that. They were basically barely surviving and Legends took them out.

As for the private cash box. Those are for players that want to leave there money in the club and not take it home. It's like a safety deposit box for the big players. It takes 2 keys to open up the box

Basically there was some bad management and skimming going over at 88 where instead of printing money they were "Printing Chips" and did not have the reserves to back up all the chips outstanding in the market. Johnny was not the main money man behind 88. He was given shares of the company so they can use his name to promote it. I do not believe the interview with the "mouth" that the Johnny's partner took the money and ran. The owner realize how bad the situation was and closed down. Now Johnny is looking for a investor so he can get whatever remaining value the club has. Towards the end some of the employee was even paid in chips....

Buddy of mine ran well in 2/5 and 5/10 and was being followed to his hotel. He ultimately pulled into a gas station and called the cops. He even immediately checked out of his hotel upon arrival and checked into another one just in case they had followed him to the original one .. after he waited an hour. GL

I go to poker clubs in San Antonio and just assume that 10% of people in there have a gun on them. Which is definitely a good thing.

I like poker