Austin poker club raid

[ChipWrecked]

Anybody have inside info on the raid of the 'illegal' poker club in Austin TX? Maybe Sucka has heard something... personally I suspect an upset wife is the catalyst...

...and as was mentioned on rgp, how many crack houses were bypassed on the way to the poker club?

[Amanjyaku]

Here's a link to the local rag:

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/042503/0425bust.html

Rumor has it that they thought the club was raking (see article) and that it was open to the public.

[sucka]

I know a few people that play there and they DO NOT rake the pot. They charge a membership fee up front and then take a seat charge per hour that depends on the game your playing. For example, if you are playing $2/4 then you pay $4 per hour $3/6 then you pay $6 per hour, etc...

I think the bottom line is it's just illegal - private club or not. I talked to the guy when the place first opened up and he assured me he was on the up-and-up and that he knew all the right people and had lawyer friends and was taking advantage of loopholes. He even said at one point that Austin off-duty cops would be providing security.

I don't know what they were doing behind the scenes that could have gotten the cops wise to it. Austin is a pretty liberal town and having a gambling club located in a business park isn't exactly going to fly here. I figured it was doomed before it even got started.

At any rate, I doubt anyones wives tattled on the club. On the news tonight they said that they had a sting going on for 3 months now. The place has only been open since last November so they were hosed almost right from the start.

Anyway, as I get more info I'll post it (or you can see my post in the B&M section).