Prime Poker In Houston

admin 4/13/2022 13/04/22

Prime Poker Houston
Prime Poker In Houston Texas
Prime Poker Houston
Prime Poker Houston Raid
Prime Poker Club Houston Texas

A pair of Houston card rooms were raided by local law enforcement Wednesday afternoon and more crackdowns of these establishments might be on the way.

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 laundering and engaging in organized criminal activity.

Prime Social is a safe and comfortable place to play your favorite games such as tournament poker, live poker, backgammon, chess, cribbage, dominos, and pool. It's a great place for parties and celebrations. It's simply the best place to be in Houston. Prime Social has always treated their customers like crap. Its very simple. I went there one time and paid the $10 to get in but the wait list was a mile long. I left and asked the front desk girl to give me a refund. She had to call a manger and he freaking said NO! I also saw Prime turn away 2 players who had and 52 Social shirts on. Prime Social Poker Room in Houston contact details. Our website uses cookies to make your experience on our website better. If you continue to use this website then we will assume you are ok with that. A pair of Houston card rooms were raided by local law enforcement Wednesday afternoon and more crackdowns of these establishments might be on the way. Prime Social Club and Post Oak Poker Club.

“Poker rooms are illegal in Texas,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a 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.”

Officers seized computers and hard drives in the raid. At Prime Social Club, the raid took place just a few minutes before the start of a $580 no-limit hold’em tournament with a $150,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told local media that this is just the start of a larger crackdown on poker rooms in Houston.

“We’re not going to tolerate it,” Acevedo told the local ABC News affiliate. “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 jobs and shut them down.”

Law enforcement clearly believes these clubs are breaking the state’s gambling laws. The operators, on the other hand, believe that they are in full compliance with state law since they don’t collect a rake. The card rooms only charge membership fees and consider themselves a private club.

“We’re just facilitating the play between the players,” said Daniel Kebort, one of the five owners of the Post Oak Poker Club that were arrested yesterday.

Wayne Dolcefino, who worked for Prime Social Club both in researching the law before the club opened its doors and in promoting certain events, said that the idea that they are hiding a criminal operation is laughable.

“In my view, a business trying to cover their tracks wouldn’t be in a giant building on Westheimer,” said Dolcefino.

While no players were arrested, both clubs had their bank accounts and assets frozen. According to an October 2018 article from the San Antonio Express, there are “about 40” of these poker clubs operating throughout the state.

Bar Leagues & Underground Poker

National Pub Poker League (NPPL) was the company partnered with the bar hosting these weekly events. You didn’t have to buy-in but they suggested purchasing food or beverage from the venue and if you did, you were rewarded with extra chips for the nightly tournament. The last man or woman standing was awarded a card protector (I still have one that I won) or a branded t-shirt. It was here where I made my first friends in poker and really grew to love the game.

'If you had accidentally walked in, you would be immediately escorted out.'

Before long, I ventured into the underground poker scene. One room I remember well was the “Ring Room” in downtown Houston. This room was blocks away from the Toyota Center where the Rockets play basketball. What appeared to be a boxing gym with a small parking lot had a second door that opened to a basement room.

Cameras were on the parking lot and faced the door to view anyone approaching this unmarked door. Once the remote locked door was open to you, you found yourself inside a large cage. A room full of poker tables and big-screen TVs were able to be seen but you could not access them until someone from management came over and spoke with you. If you had accidentally walked in, you would be immediately escorted out.

Otherwise, you had to have someone on the inside speak up for you and bring you into the game. This was my first experience with a room like this and it was my favorite of the underground venues I’d come to visit occasionally. Boxing matches or MMA fights would frequently be on the televisions and the games were pretty serious.

Becoming a Legitimate Enterprise

Prime Poker Houston

Today, poker has a new life in Houston and it’s in the sunlight instead of being in the shadows. Prime Social is one of many poker clubs in the city that offer Houstonians the opportunity to play the game they love without having to stress out about the fears that once enveloped the game there just a few years ago.

Gambling isn’t illegal in a private establishment if there is no rake taken from each dealt hand of poker. With this information, these private poker clubs have produced a unique transaction. You are able to purchase a membership and rent a seat at the poker table in the game of your choice. Once there, you can play without having any money taken from the hands.

Prime Social is in a great situation with confident leadership in Brent Pollack, who has been in Houston for three years but built a strong reputation in the industry while living and working in Las Vegas for over a decade. Starting at the Gold Coast, Pollack’s career took him to Stations Casino poker rooms and Caesars Palace as well. Pollack and his team have worked hard to create a “Vegas Casino Experience” for their customers.

“My goal was to get the procedures correct. I wanted our room to be completely transparent and offer true professionalism to show our players what was available,” Pollack told PokerNews.

With Prime Social in a good position, they’ve decided to expand their offerings. Pollack and well-respected player Kim Stone have teamed up to create the inaugural Lone Star Poker Series, which offers over $300K in guarantees and 16 tournaments including NLH, Omaha, HORSE, and a “Triple Triple Draw” event featuring a mix of 2-7TD, A-5TD, and Badugi.

Catching Up with Kim Stone

Last year, as Houston poker was growing, Stone was surprised by how backwards things were in the tournament area. They were available but didn’t seem to focus on the right things. She wanted an established tour like Run It Up Reno or the Run Good Poker Series to come to town because they offered such a fun experience. However, because of the vague Texas laws, the tours wanted to wait.

Stone, having been in the business for 16+ years, decided not to wait but instead create the experience on her own. The Lone Star Poker Series will be geared towards bringing a professional tournament environment with great structures, and seasoned tournament staff like Tournament Director Justin Hammer.

“I just want to show that we can offer a series in a market that doesn’t have any kind of real professionally run poker events and I can bring it on a professional level while bringing in additional pieces that will make it fun,” said Stone.