2 poker clubs raided (Prime Social and Post Oak), 9 owner-operators charged w/money laundering, a 1st degree felony. Clubs' bank accounts frozen and face being seized. Result of 2-year investigation by DA's office & Houston Police. Prime Poker Houston follows the international gaming standards. 88ProBet strives to provide a comfortable and responsible gaming environment by offering assistance to players in need.
Prime Social Club and Post Oak Poker Club were raided by officers from the Vice Division of the Houston Police Department. In total, nine owners and managers were arrested on charges of money.
In what was a stunning afternoon ofactivity in and around the city of Houston, several top 'card clubs' – basicallypoker rooms that were skirting the laws of the state – were raided by local lawenforcement. As a result of the raids, other card clubs in the area shut downout of an abundance of concern and the future of Texas card clubs has beencalled into question.
AfternoonRaids Lead to Charges
On Wednesday afternoon, Prime Social Poker Club was raided by law enforcement officials of the city of Houston. The club had been advertising a poker tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $150,000 which, according to the Facebook page Free to Compete – Texas, was supposed to have started that same day and could have been the reason for the raid. Soon after this news came down, further information was passed along by Free to Compete that one of the other top rooms in the Houston area, the Post Oak Poker Club, had also been the subject of a raid by authorities.
Free to Compete kept a running commentaryon Facebook throughout the afternoon on their page, with updates that were inreal time and were sometimes mistaken. Early in the situation, Free to Competestated that players who were in Prime Social Poker Club were allowed to leavewith their chips and they were photographed but not arrested. A later update,however, indicated that the prior report of players being able to keep theirchips might have been mistaken, that the players were being considered aswitnesses (hence the photos) and that the general manager of the club was in handcuffs.
The raids on Prime Social Poker Club andPost Oak Poker Club sent several other rooms into protection mode. Mint Pokerwas rumored to have been raided, but that was shot down by late in theafternoon on Wednesday although the club closed for the day 'out of anabundance of caution.' Late Wednesday evening, however, Mint Poker issued astatement that was pulled from Facebook that they would 'temporarily suspendingmember services while (the Mint Poker legal team) investigates the closing oftwo clubs in Houston.'
Prime Poker Club Houston
OfficialStatements from Law Enforcement
Wednesday afternoon, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg issued a statement regarding the raiding of Prime Social Poker Club and Post Oak Poker Club. 'Poker rooms are illegal in the State of Texas,' Ogg announced in the statement. 'We are changing the paradigm regarding illegal gambling by moving up the criminal chain and pursuing felony money laundering and engaging in organized crime charges against owners and operators. Players are not being targeted.'
Houston Police Chief ArtAcevedo added his two cents in the press release. 'We can't allow illegalgambling to go on,' Acevedo said. 'It drives organized crime and fuels othercriminal activity. According to reports, nine people involved in the ownershipof the clubs were arrested on money laundering charges and their respectivebank accounts were seized. They are:
Post Oak Poker Club
Daniel Kebort
William Heuer III
Alan Chodrow
Sergio Cabrera
Kevin Chodrow
Prime Social Poker Room
Dean Maddox
Mary Switzer
Brent Pollack
Steven Farshid
The five men charged from PostOak were all charged as owners of the club. Maddox was charged as the owner ofPrime Social, with Switzer named as the comptroller, Pollack as the generalmanager and Farshid as the assistant general manager.
What IS the Law in Texas?
Some have said that it isn'tagainst the law to play poker in Texas and that's true – it's not ILLEGALanywhere to 'play' poker. Once money is used in the game, however, laws ongambling enter the picture. One of the key laws is that an establishment can'ttake a rake or fee from the game, which therefore makes it against the law.
In Texas, many industriousentrepreneurs thought they had found a way to circumvent this law. According tothe interpretations of many attorneys, these clubs were legal because of thefollowing reasons:
1.The clubs were 'members only' and private.
2. The clubs didn't take a rake from any hands played on the grounds.
3. The members of the club are playing against each other and not against the house, with each player having the same chance at winning and losing.
So how do the businesses make any money,plenty of people have asked. In addition to their membership fees, these clubswould also sell food on the premises (alcohol is reportedly banned from suchclubs) to make some additional cash. The clubs were looked at as a saferalternative than the legendary underground games in Texas, although anoted online poker player was shot and robbed at a poker club in Austinjust last year.
And Whatis the Future?
Currently the nine people charged in the Houston cases are going to be tried for the money laundering charges, not for any actions they took as to running a poker room. But there is plenty of attention being drawn to the subject. In the Texas Legislature, a bill has been filed by Democrat Ryan Guillen (Rio Grande City) that would license and regulate the 'social gaming establishments.' Right now, that bill is stalled in committee in the Texas House of Representatives and its future is unknown.
Whether the raids were truly what they were stated – a raid against money laundering – or something more sinister, other poker rooms must be on alert. Free to Compete has announced a petition drive to bring a grassroots effort together to combat the threats. As of yet, other organizations such as the Poker Alliance (which used to be their forte – the protection of poker players and their rights to play) haven't yet spoken up on the issue, so it may be a fight that Texans will have to wage on their own.
On Wednesday, the law came down hard on a pair of Texas poker rooms.
Around 11 a.m., Houston's Post Oak Poker Club and Prime Social Poker Club were raided by authorities and nine people arrested. Prime Social owner Dean Maddox and General Manager Brent Pollack were both led out in handcuffs just before a five-day, $150K GTD tournament was about to take place at their establishment. Also arrested were assistant GM Steven Farshid and comptroller Mary Switzer.
Over at the Post Oak Poker club, co-owners Daniel Kebort, Alan Chodrow, Kevin Chodrow, Sergio Cabrera, and William Heuer were all arrested.
Charges levied against them include money laundering, gambling promotion, and engaging in organized criminal activity.
'We got two of the bigger ones today and this is just the beginning. We need to shut them down.'
'Poker rooms are illegal in Texas,' District Attorney Kim Oggsaid in a written statement. 'We are changing the paradigm regarding illegal gambling by moving up the criminal chain and pursuing felony money laundering and engaging in organized crime charges against owners and operators.'
According to reports, the raids were the results of a two-year investigation that included undercover police officers posing as players. The Houston Chronicle reports that documents state undercover officers 'were asked to pay a membership fee, a door fee and a fee to play at a poker table.'
Texas poker rooms have operated in a gray area where they function in a similar fashion to a country club on a membership model. Players simply play a fee and play. The club doesn't take a rake, instead driving revenue throughout memberships and hourly fees.
According to Texas law, poker is only allowed if it meets the following requirements:
- No person received economic benefits other than personal winnings.
- Gambling must be in a private place.
- Except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.
That said, the rapid rise of the rooms, and the problems that came along with it including a lawsuit between Austin and San Antonio clubs, as well as a high-profile shooting, were sure to catch the attention of authorities.
- No person received economic benefits other than personal winnings.
- Gambling must be in a private place.
- Except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.
That said, the rapid rise of the rooms, and the problems that came along with it including a lawsuit between Austin and San Antonio clubs, as well as a high-profile shooting, were sure to catch the attention of authorities.
'We cannot allow illegal gambling to go on,' Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a written statement. 'It drives organized crime and fuels other criminal activity.'
First casino in tunica ms. He continued: 'We're not going to tolerate it. We got two of the bigger ones today and this is just the beginning. We need to shut them down. If you want to have these kind of establishments, the legislature needs to authorize it, otherwise we're going to do our job and shut them down.'
Since 2017, authorities claim $10 million in bank deposits have been made by the clubs. Those funds are now frozen and face seizure.
Prime Social Poker Club Houston
Poker Players Left Hanging
The raids came at an inopportune time for Prime Social players, many of whom had registered for that day's tournament. Their buy-ins, as well as all chips in play, became worthless when authorities entered and froze all assets.
'Nobody seems to know anything right now, so that's kind of why I came over here to try to find out,' said poker player Sean Maggio. 'I feel shocked like they took something away from me.'
One thing authorities did make clear was that players were not being targeted, rather they were after the owner and operators.
Prime Poker Club Houston
Wayne Dolcefino, a consultant for Prime Social, believes the raid was unnecessary given the club operates above the board and has done charity work for the community.
'They don't take a penny out of that money,' he said according to Click2Houston. 'I just don't believe the guys that I know have done anything wrong. And I believe they've been very, very meticulous about the way they keep records.'
Several other clubs operate around the state, and while it's business as usual for them as of now, the recent crackdown at Post Oak and Prime Social are sure to have consequences for the entire Texas poker-playing community.
Lead image: Post Oak Poker Club Facebook.
