So these are legal but just now popping up? Now that I think about it...I know this guy that was opening one up in Ft Worth or something less than a year ago. I used to live pretty close to the first one...but that second one is way out of bounds.
The first one opened in South Austin in early 2015.
<header class="entry-header">[h=1]Texas Card House Opens First Legal Poker Room in Austin[/h] <time class="entry-time" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2015-03-11T11:55:20+00:00">March 11, 2015</time> by
Edgar Barguiarena
</header>
Texas Card House on Manchaca in South Austin (Credit Taylor Wier)
It almost sounds too good to be true.
Legal gambling in Austin? Short of a four hour drive to Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass, it simply didn’t exist before now. Texas Card House has changed all that, offering the first legal poker room in Austin–and in the whole state of Texas outside reservations.
The trick is in the language. Texas Card House offers membership to a “card and social club” and provides a facility where members can gamble. There are no tips to the dealer and no rake (house share). Texas Holdem poker will be on the tables most nights, but other card games like Omaha Poker or Bridge/Gin/Hearts/Spades are available upon request.
[h=2]How to Legalize Gambling in Texas[/h] This gutsy move is the brainchild of Sam Von Kennel. Sam’s unique background gave him the perfect insight to set up the first legal poker room in the state of Texas. You see, Sam used to work for the Chairman of the Licensing and Administrative committee. “We got lobbied by all the major casinos including Harrah’s and MGM. They all wanted a piece of Texas,” Sam mentioned on the club’s grand opening night.
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Four tables in the main room – Texas Holdem will be the primary game played (Credit Taylor Wier)
None of the casinos were successful in lobbying for legalized gambling in Texas, but Sam’s experience gave him the idea for exploiting the loophole in state law. As an avid poker player who runs regular house games, Von Kennel came up with the membership idea to give folks a setting where they can play poker in a fun, safe environment.
[h=2]Country Club Setting[/h] “The hardest part about setting up this business was finding a landlord that would be willing to rent to us once they found out what we were doing,” Sam said.
Once they found the right location in South Austin it was just a matter of sprucing up the place with a few HDTV’s, four pro-level poker tables and a lounge area where players can wait for the next game. Sam intends to have all the major sports packages for watching live sports, and eventually intends to buy major fighting events on the weekends. “This will be a social club as much as a poker room. I want people to enjoy hanging out here,” Sam told me.
Tournament chips at Texas Card House, Austin’s first legal poker room (Credit Taylor Wier)
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Texas Card House doesn’t have an alcohol license yet, but they’ll be working on that in the coming months. As a workaround, certain membership levels will get you up to three drinks on the house. There were two polite servers running around getting drinks and water on opening night. And surprisingly, there was a ratio of about 65/35 guys to girls at the event.
[h=2]How Texas Card House Works[/h] The idea of legal gambling right here in the capital of Texas can be hard to grasp, so let me go over the rules again. Potential gamblers pay a daily or monthly membership for access to the card tables. Once there, they are provided with a dealer and table alongside up to 9 other players. There are currently $60 rebuy tournaments set up Wednesday-Sunday nights, as well as the option to walk into a cash game.
http://austinot.com/texas-card-house-legal-poker-room-in-austin
