YES, IT'S LEGAL
Shuffle up and deal: New club brings legal poker to the Galleria area
Eric Sandler
Sep 5, 2017, 5:20 am
The poker fad that kicked into high gear when Chris Moneymaker won $2.5 million at the 2003 World Series of Poker may have cooled a bit in terms of media attention, but the game remains as popular as ever. This year’s World Series drew 7,221 players from 83 countries, good for the third largest field in the event’s history.
While players can always find games online, playing live against other people provides an undeniable thrill — and the certainty that everything is on the up-and-up. Finding a legal game can be tricky without access to either a regular home game or driving to Louisiana (or flying to Vegas).
However, a newly-opened business in the heart of the Galleria area aims to change all that. The Post Oak Poker Club offers players a safe, legal, casino-style environment to enjoy their hobby. Three owners, Daniel Kebort, Bill Heuer, and Sergio Cabrera, have turned the space that once housed Mo’s...A Place for Steaks and the previous incarnation of Tony’s into central Houston’s first poker club.
And yes, it’s legal, if controversial. The Post Oak Poker Club is following a model established by places like Texas Card House in Austin that follow laws that allow for private poker games. “The laws are written to protect country club games and private home games,” Kebort tells CultureMap. “Essentially, we created a country club setting specifically around poker games.”
What that means is that the Post Oak Poker Club is a members-only establishment where all of the money bet during the game stays with the players. The club does not earn any sort of rake from the pot. The policy is so enforced do strictly that players aren’t even allowed to use their chips to tip dealers or servers — members can use $1 coins for that purpose.
To play, would-be members pay a membership fee, either $15 daily or $150 monthly, and a chair rental fee of $7.50 per half hour, which is slightly more expensive than mintpoker, a similar concept in the Clear Lake area. Paying the fees entitles a player to a seat at one of the tables. Typical games include 1-3 and 2-5 No Limit Hold ‘Em, 4-8 Limit Hold ‘Em, and 1-3 Pot-Limit Omaha, but the club wants to cater to as wide a poker playing audience as possible.
“We’ll run any game with interest. We want to get guys in here playing Stud, Crazy Pineapple, any variation we’ll offer,” Kebort says. “Wednesday nights we’re doing ‘Omaholics.’ We’re going to try to give Omaha addicts a place they can come at least once a week.”
Most of the Mo’s decor remains intact, but dining tables have been replaced with poker tables. The bar area now serves as a lounge where people can dine between games or watch sports on TV. The restaurant’s private dining room has been converted into a high limit room where local professionals can host games. Of course, the patio still welcomes cigar smokers — so much so that the club plans to put a couple of poker tables outside once the weather cools off so that people can smoke and play.
Kebort, who also owns a catering company, has created a menu he describes as “casino quality cafe food” that’s built primarily around sandwiches like a hamburger, pulled pork, BLT, and a Philly cheesesteak. Those looking for more of a snack may opt for either green chile queso or food truck-style fries with different toppings. Based on a couple of dishes Kebort provided to sample, the cuisine won’t compete with the area’s top restaurants, but it’s good enough to provide sustenance during a tournament.
Although it’s currently BYOB, the club does plan to offer a full range of wine, beer, and spirits. Currently, members can purchase setups for liquor or non-alcoholic beverages, along with cigarettes and cigars. Ultimately, the partners want to create a venue that appeals to more people than just hardcore poker players.
“We’re really trying to create an entertainment destination built around poker. We’ve got the lounge experience, the humidor for guys to smoke cigars,” Kebort says. “Eventually we want to add a few more components to make this a destination.”
The Post Oak property, which also contains an Oriental rug dealer and an Al’s Formal Wear, will be redeveloped, but the Poker Club has a lease on the space through May 2018. That should be enough time to determine if Houstonians have embraced the concept enough to justify finding a permanent home.
“There’s a lot of history in this building that we want to tap into,” Kebort says. “It’s the old Tony’s. This specific location used to be the hotspot for the upper crust. We want to try to tap into that and see if we can get one last party.”
Post Oak Poker Room, 1801 Post Oak; Hours: Monday through Friday 5 pm to 2 am; Saturday 11 am to 2 am; Sunday 11 am to midnight
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Originally appeared on CultureMap.
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.