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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) - A lawsuit has been dropped against an upscale Houston poker club. Back in May, Houston police raided the Prime Social poker room just minutes before a five-day tournament. HOUSTON — Nine people were charged Wednesday with money laundering as police and prosecutors raided two poker clubs in west Houston. The Houston Police Department and Harris County District. Poker rooms in Texas teeter on a 'razor's edge' At Prime Social, undercover officers with HPD's Vice Division seized computers and hard drives. Owner Dean Maddox was led out in handcuffs.
After charges of money laundering weredropped against their owners, the Prime Social Poker Club in Houston, TX, willreopen within the next few weeks. Additionally, with the dropping of allcharges regarding the raids earlier this year, owners of the Post Oak PokerClub also saw charges dropped against them and have said they will reopen. But thatnews isn’t quite as good as it sounds as local authorities have passed alongthe case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for further work.
Big Mistake by Local Legal Experts
What was the reason that Houston District Attorney Kim Ogg dropped the charges and released the men? Apparently, owners of the Prime Social Poker Club had been in touch with Ogg’s Harris County District Attorney’s office regarding the legality of the club and its operations. They were supposedly given the OK from a person in the DA’s office that everything was in order and, as such, the owners of the Prime Social Poker Club went ahead with their opening.
Attorney Joe Magliolo, representing thePrime Social Poker Club, presented this evidence to Ogg and, after his reviewof the information, all charges were dropped against those operating the PrimeSocial Poker Club and the Post Oak Poker Club. There was a sizeable amount ofmoney seized in the raids on the two clubs (more than $200,000) and that willbe returned to the owners.
This doesn’t end the investigation intothe two clubs, however. Ogg forwarded the case to the FBI for investigationbecause his office was hamstrung by the conflict of interest. There is no wordfrom federal authorities about their investigations, except that they were complimentedby investigators about their processes for handling money and their anti-moneylaundering efforts.
Quick Shutdown of Case After Initial Raids
The case dates back to May of this yearwhen, in a stunning sweep, Houston police raided both the Prime Social Poker Cluband the Post Oak Poker Club. Players who were in the club at the time of theraid were allowed to leave without charges. After the raids were complete, thefollowing nine people were charged with felony money laundering:
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
At the time of the raid and arrests, Oggtook a strong stance against the poker rooms. “Poker rooms are illegal in theState of Texas,” he bluntly stated in the press release following the policeactions. The Chief of Police for Houston, Art Acevedo, echoed Ogg’s statements,saying, “We can’t allow illegal gambling to go on.” This was before, naturally,that it was learned that the DA’s office had been consulted and given the OK tothe poker clubs to operate.
Are the Poker Clubs Legal?
By a look at the laws of the State ofTexas, it appears that the poker clubs are operating within the legalguidelines of the state.
Texas law states that, while it is notillegal to play poker in the state, if there is money on the felt the operatorof the game cannot take a rake or a fee from the actual play. The poker clubshave been able to get around this by not taking anything from the games but charginga “membership fee” for players to come in the door. Additionally, there isnothing taken from the pots that are played, but the businesses make additionalmoney by selling food on the property (alcohol is banned in the clubs).
The clubs are also popular because of the distance that players would have to go to take part in a game. If it weren’t for the games in the major cities like Houston, San Antonio, Austin and others, poker players would either have to go to Oklahoma or Louisiana to play. Instead of this, many would take part in local, illegal “underground” games – which used to be the predominant way that poker players played in Texas – where the dangers of robbery and fewer player protections emerge.
Whether the dropping of charges is the end of the case in Houston is unknown. Federal action might await the poker clubs, but the local prosecution has been shut down. It is a situation that has to be watched carefully by the poker community.
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.
“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.”
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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.
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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.
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“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.