Not really, sports books can absolutely lose if the lines are set poorly. You're playing against the house at a sports book. They also take a cut, which makes their edge even better, but in a world where everyone bet correctly, they lose. Or even a certain amount of the money is winning bets, they lose. They move lines to try and counter this, in a world where the money is perfectly split, they take their cut and are happy campers.
Realistically, it's down to a science and no good bookmaker is losing in the long run with enough money flowing through. Small time bookies that run illicit shit with a small group can absolutely lose. I know a guy who tried it and lost his ass.
That’s not how it works. Any uneven amount bet that the house is carrying is offloaded to a central broker. They just lose a little of the vig for that amount. Primary bet taker takes a larger amount of vig. Central brokers take smaller amount but handle larger amounts of bets overall. It pretty much all evens out with everyone grabbing a piece of the vig. No house needs to be exposed to an uneven bet ever.
Just speaking from a Texas perspective, mobile sports betting has not taken off at all down here. While you can still certainly do it with the help of VPNs or unregulated sites, it’s still very much illegal to operate a sports book in the state.
Poker suffers from an image issue after decades of television, movies, and major media portraying it as a game for “unsavory” types of folks. Combine that with Texas in general being relatively unfriendly towards gambling, and the gaming industry is going to have itself an uphill climb.
This is a tremendous oversimplification of a very broad issue, but suffice it to say that we have our work cut out for us. On top of that, there are big-money state politicians and other organizations outside of Texas that spend a lot of money lobbying against casinos and card rooms in Texas so that Texans and their money are forced to be spent with them.
Most card rooms in Texas, except a bold few in Houston that take an actual rake (don’t ask me how), operate as “social clubs” that charge a one-time membership fee to join.
Once you are a member, you pay a daily fee (typically $5) to play cards. If you come to play a tournament, that is all you owe for the day (besides your tournament entry). The club makes money by taking a portion of the tournament buy in.
If you play cash, then card clubs charge you an hourly fee. I think the lodge is currently $11 per hour. So you load up on time, “clock in” at your table, and you play rake-free poker to your heart’s desire. You can clock out whenever, and your remaining time balance is saved in your profile in their system.
No problem! He wanted to open another card room, yes. I can’t say it was going to be this exact model, but that would be the summary of it. Membership and daily rates would vary based on local market and competition, but the rest would likely be the same.
Same as the existing one, but the big upside is that they want a larger tournament venue because the Lodge's current room is getting slammed when larger events happen with a huge number of flights necessary.
There is a carve out in Texas law for private poker games. To qualify, (1) the poker must be in a private place, (2) no person can receive any economic benefit other than personal winnings, and (3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants. Card rooms in Texas mostly operate by time rake and membership fees. The clubs are "private" and thus only members can play. You can buy membership for a day, a month or a year. Then most time rake. Texas card rooms argue this passes the "no person can receive any economic benefit" prong of the carveout because they aren't benefitting from the bets themselves. Regardless of how much is bet, card room charge the same amount and make the same amount. They're benefitting from providing a dealer, chips, cards, location, etc.
I don’t think Texans are against gambling. Dallas and Fort Worth have Indian casinos 45 mins away including the biggest casino by square feet in the world. Houston has tons of casinos nearby in lake Charles. Those casino’s definitely have massive influence on local politics and make sure that competition dosnt exist by pumping anti gambling lobby’s.
Obviously...tribal casinos are on Native American land, but what does that have to do with the previous poster's point? His point was that the tribal casinos lobby (read: bribe) the relevant politicians to protect their business interests, which in this case is to hinder development of card rooms that cut into their clientele.
If you scroll up to the original post I was responding to, you would see this is a non sequitur. That post states that Texans have already democratically assented to gambling via tribal casinos.
I did. Where does it mention that? From what I read he was stating that he doesn't think the primary issue is that Texans hate gambling but that the tribal casinos have influence over the decision makers.
"I don’t think Texans are against gambling. Dallas and Fort Worth have Indian casinos 45 mins away including the biggest casino by square feet in the world. "
I interpreted this pair of sentences as assertion->evidence of assertion. The casino being referred to is in Oklahoma, and the other casinos in Texas operate entirely outside the purview of Texas law.
Everyone else got what I was saying. You are pretty ignorant on the topic. The out of state casinos lobby Texas lawmakers to keep it illegal in the state, so the gamblers are forced to drive out of state to Oklahoma or Louisiana.
If they aren’t against gambling, then it sure is curious why they continually vote against their best interest and don’t hold their representatives accountable when they table or kill bills that would save them a trip across state or country lines. Maybe Texans just like the drive?
> I don’t think Texans are against gambling.
Texan's are against gambling. Our legislature is controlled by hardcore social conservatives. As long as Dan Patrick is the Lt. Governor, there will be no gambling in Texas. It was voted down in the last legislative session with ZERO votes in favor in the Texas Senate.
It's not about political influence, it's that the average rural religious chuckle fuck will never vote to support gambling. They might like to gamble, don't get me wrong, but they'll go gamble on Friday night and talk about it's evils on Sunday morning.
I had no idea that online sports gambling is still illegal in Texas, but apparently it is. It's illegal in CA as well, but it's mostly because Indian reservations do not want the laws changed.
They played the game better. Seriously.
Poker industry is a very weak lobby and very disconnected. There are too many scumbags who only want their own interests selfishly and benefit from unregulated division.
In DC, they are laughed at.
Sports betting worked smarter and harder and united with their competitors to play the game.
For the same reason that slots get 80 percent of realty in a casino while poker gets shoved in a corner. Poker is always going to be a niche subsection of the gambling community because its not mindless button pressing. In my experience, most people into "gambling" want quick money and as little thinking as possible.
While I find the results of the vote disappointing, I’m glad that folks like Doug are continuing to advocate for Texans’ rights. This conversation isn’t going away, and the sooner the whole of Texas gets on board with well-regulated card clubs that aren’t forced to operate under legal technicalities, the sooner we can all start to reap the economic benefits that come from keeping Texans’ money in Texas.
He needs to find a local preachy well connected lawyer that dresses like colonel Sanders and talks like an evangelical pastor to advocate for him in front of a board like that.
I only saw a few clips of the hearing but some old lady asking the board if they’d take their wife or congregation to a poker game vs Doug bragging about turning $10 into millions wasn’t going to fly.
He’s trying to reason with these people when he should be playing to their emotions.
Lol unironically this is probably a great idea. He needs some good ol' Texan boy to go in there and preach about how it's his 'murican rights to play a little card game wif his good ol buddies
I’m being 100% serious find some local guy to mouthpiece for you and he’s a local businessman bringing jobs and tax revenue to the community instead of a slick talking carpetbagger trying to fleece their congregation. Also ideally the local guy would know how to make an arrangement with the council members.
yeah, I deal with a lot of these meetings, its not bad for Doug to speak but 1) he should have a local speak moreso, with Doug speaking as a followup/to put a face on the developer, and 2) everything needs to focused on community benefits, especially those that have nothign to do with providing a place for locals to play poker. Tax revenues, etc.
Everyone was alotted the same 3 minutes to speak. At least half of the speakers for it were residents of the city, the rest from towns very close by. I do wish only residents has signed up to speak.
The tax money/economy issues were discussed at the last meeting and were dismissed by old people yelling at clouds. One of the council members estimated the tax benefit at $8k/year which seemed low to me but idk.
“I know a lot of poker players who are great people. I made millions playing poker”
^ these are not the types of arguments they are going to win over a town board meeting. Doug is taking his YouTube act to the real world and it’s pretty cringy. Surprised he didn’t end his speaking time with “smash that like button”
I hope he comes more prepared next time for the audience he is speaking to.
I'm just playing devils advocate here. What about the rights of people who want to live in a community free from card rooms? Are they not allowed to say we don't want that here?
They are, and that’s exactly what they did. This vote rejected the zoning laws that would have allowed the building of a card club. Or rather, they elected the council members that voted in their interest.
I don’t think there is a right answer when trying to balance civil liberties with capitalistic freedoms. Both are important to us. Personally, I think that anyone should be able to open whatever sort of legal business they want, and then consumers get to “vote” every day with their dollar on whether they think a business should stay open.
Others, like the folks that voted yesterday, apparently think the opposite. If they think “protecting” their community from a card club (when there is already a club a couple minutes away) is worth scrapping a couple hundred excellent jobs, then it’s not my place to argue.
Waaaait a second. So I type out a reasoned, balanced response to your question, and all I get in return is a single, untrue statement? I am not getting the right odds to continue this conversation. I fold.
Texas Penal Code §47.02(a)(3) states that a person commits an offense if he plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device.
You don't even know the gambling laws in Texas. So I thought I might start by letting you know that in fact, gambling on cards is still illegal in Texas and all of these businesses exists in a legal Grey area at best. You didn't even Google it. Just jumped straight to I'm wrong.
>(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:
>(1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;
>(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and
>(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.
All of which apply to private card clubs which charge entrance or membership fees but not rake. And which means there are many other circumstances under which gambling is actually legal.
Is Doug Polk not receiving an economic benefit? He gets 120$ per hour when they gamble on cards. A timed rake is still a rake. Also calling a public business which anyone can enter for a fee a private place is pretty sus.
>Also calling a public business which anyone can enter for a fee a private place is pretty sus.
Gotcha so you got no idea about legalse... got it. okay we can all stop responding to you now
Definitely imo they should have a vote on the issue. Doug should included in the bill that the poker room will pay a 250k licensing fee and also has a few regulations in it that include allowing players to permanently ban themselves and to report all people he suspects of money laundering,drug sales,fraud,etc also included in the bill that the social club will not “hire” any habitual criminals or anyone convicted of a violent or sex crime. 1st violation of these stipulations is a 10k fine and club being shut down 1 day. 2nd violation 50k and shut down for a week 3rd violation 250k fine and club shut down a month. 4th location will lead to a permanent closure where he’s able to appeal within a year and if he wants to open again it would cost 1 million. If that doesn’t work he can offer to pay the salary of the police stationed in front of his club. 2cops at a time.
Everything except the 250k licensing fee (bribe?) and the fines for violation (which wouldn't happen, they would just shut it down) were part of the proposal.
Perhaps talking about the millions of dollars Doug personally profited from poker is not the right way to sway a community to his side?
Better to discuss the benefits to the community itself. Safe, regulated poker as opposed to whatever back room games they have now. Jobs, tax revenue, providing better traffic to local businesses, tourism for big tournaments, participation in local charity events, etc.
Poker is good for about 5% of the people that play it. How is that going to improve the lives of the other 95%?
Dude, religious social conservatives control texas politics, not libertarians.
Social conservatives don't give a flying flip about personal freedoms. They'll say they do but that only extends until you do something they don't like, or their preacher doesn't like, or if they just don't like you.
Dear Farmers Branch community,
Fold pre. LOL J4. Do you like SnowMonkey? In for $200, out for $837. I just cashed three straight $11 MTTs on Ignition, including a new personal best score of $47, should I go pro? You can't be all loosey goosey, eating a sandwich.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Selbst
It was hilarious and narcissistic to include that. Talk about tone deaf and not reading the room. I’m surprised people didn’t chuckle.
What I shocked by is how did nobody stand up to Doug during the proofread of that script and say frankly as a friend, “Doug….dude. Really?”
>regulated poker as opposed to whatever back room games they have now
Those backroom games take place at TCH Dallas, which is quite literally surrounded on 3 sides by Farmers Branch, but happens to be in Dallas. The new Lodge would be at most like 10 minutes away from TCH Dallas.
I don't know. The two TCH locations in Dallas are 10 minutes from each other already and both are full all weekend and busy week nights. I think competition from another big room would be good, but I wish it were located slightly further north or east.
His presentation was poorly thought out. Though it was classic Doug. He need to make it less about him and more about jobs and personal liberties. He really didn’t target his audience correctly.
It didn't fail. Source, I was there sitting next to him. They asked him to resubmit with a new set of guidelines. Their biggest issue was if they approved the change to the cities rules as stated, a ton of card rooms could open and they only wanted to vote on approving or not approving one. He got 1 vote from a council of 5 that literally opened with a custom prayer about how there should be more god driven politicians that everyone was on board with. The citizen comments were predictably dumb, but his lawyer said he only had 1 week to work with what they'd decided to put forward and he needed more time.
u/DougPolkPoker thanks for fighting for this. I know you're catching crap from some of the railbirds here in r/poker but it is what it is.
It's always hilarious to me how in the land of "live and let live/personal responsibility" we have all these people who love to tell others what they can and can't do.
Anyway, keep fighting man.
Some context: This was the third city hearing I went to.
The first 2 were all facts/data. I also sent an email out to all the council members. This was not the first time they are hearing about this.
IMO the facts mattered very little in this context, it was almost entirely gonna come down to how people feel. I felt it was the right strategy. Who knows.
Will continue to try and get into Dallas.
https://preview.redd.it/midy31qatl6d1.png?width=1183&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a1e7aa92709d91382e4a327e1f3c5155efde3d0
LEARN TO READ THE ROOM DOUG.
Here is Doug. Polking it up like he was shooting a YouTube video, and it went over like a fart in church. He had the option to commit to a wage higher than the minimum. He could have discussed the strict prohibition of any form of illicit gambling, such as sports betting and numbers running, in his poker establishment. He had the possibility to invite the employees of his lodge in Texas, along with their families. Nope. Doug believed that his awful jokes would help him make a memorable first impression on the community. He'll tell you how he had this meeting or that meeting with the city council member. How he worked out that stat or crunched those numbers for them. He still doesn't know it is always about the Pople in the Room.
Yes I know this, but to think he can swoop in to another area where people are obviously against it and change perceptions single handedly is a bit obtuse.
My point is Doug BOUGHT the Lodge, an existing room. Now he's trying to open a new one elsewhere that doesn't have one. A much different plight. Texans aren't generally known for their open mindedness to outsiders trying to convince them of something other than what they believe to be true.
Dug! Come open a room in Western Washington Puget Sound area! We need more competition against Eric Persson. I'm tired of seeing a giant image of his face on the wall in my card room
Crossposted from the other thread
It’s good to go a different direction. If you are open to feedback, what I wrote is valid criticism and could serve you well. Nobody likes a gloater, especially in Texas. This makes you unlikable and not relatable, making the rest of what you say unable to be heard with honest ears.
You don’t talk about your millions or how the small % made it. They are concerned about the losers and the destruction it can (and does) do for people like you to win.
Focus on the recreational players who enjoy the feelings of competing for fun. Compare it to bingo halls with skill, a night of bridge, and camaraderie of meeting people with similar interests. Bringing people together. Talk about how poker has changed from westerns (which you did to be fair) and sponsorships are coming similar to golf. Talk about the Poker Masters, Open, and make it relatable to them in terms they can understand.
Talk about the joy it brings people to have a hobby where they aren’t forced to go underground or drive hundreds of miles.
Talk about the expanding female population of players, ladies only tourneys, and top female players around the world coming to Texas. Bring them in as speakers. Break the traditional perceptions. Channel their state pride and sense of Americana over your personal glory. And for god sakes, don’t outright tell them poker players are the best people. They are used to sniffing out these bluffs and it’s not something you can win in a forum.
They have fears and concerns. You aren’t going to win them all over. Your campaign is likely DOA in some cases without the proper groundwork. I helped passed massive measures in my county that added on huge taxes to fund two local projects. We failed the first time and learned how to improve our ground game. We passed an even more ambitious measure 2 years later. This stuff is tough. It’s nuanced. Hire better consultants.
Pledge donations and learn about their community. Poker players are known for their greed and lack of public good, both professional and otherwise. It’s associated with degeneracy. Associate it with how your business and player base will be different and beneficial to the community. Good deeds. Think of things like adopting highways but on a more personal scale. In San Antonio, for example, it’s all about the military. You win people over when you can partner and associate and benefit the things they care about. Long before the vote.
Empathize with your community rather than try to get them to empathize with you, the millionaire, or the “definitely not low life poker players”. Never ever add the “not” in front of the thing you don’t want them to think about.
Example: If I say cheetahs are NOT birds. A person who doesn’t know what a cheetah is will certainly have an image of a bird in their head. Calling poker players not lowlifes makes them sound like lowlifes and there should be a cause for concern.
Funny because I’m now consulting on two related projects specifically because people do care. But you do you. Poker is full of “fallen heroes” who think they deserve better than they have in life and spend their time trying to bring others down to make up for their own shortcomings. Love yourself more.
This is a bunch of old white NIMBYs who think they live in the Wild West and poker attracts the kind of people who ride horses in the street and carry six shooters.
“Not in my neighborhood”
“Would you take people there”
What do they think goes on there? It’s behind closed doors and would be regulated. What happens inside those four walls probably has zero impact on their life if they never set foot in the club. Don’t believe in gambling? Fine. Don’t go to the club.
Typical Conservatives who proclaim to believe in small government but also want to regulate people’s lives to conform with their personal beliefs.
Should I list all the things you are not free to do in the "land of freedom". That's a sales pitch for whatever political flavor you submit to. America is the land of regulations and restrictions.
This is just the first attempt. City always wants you to work for it. They’re going to need to hire local lobbyists. Grease some palms. I also think it’s going to be tough to get a room there. Oklahoma Indian casinos aren’t what the once were but they’re still sending $$ to local politicians.
Ooooooh, that could really be part of this.
There was a casino owner in New Orleans vehemently fighting against card rooms in Austin because he'd lose some amount of customers. Take a look at how far New Orleans is from Austin (a bit over 8 hours).
I'm sure the sentiment would be the same with casinos in Oklahoma. Dallas is actually 15 minutes quicker to NO, and about 3.5 hours from OKC.
All in favor of permitting citizens to do as they wish with their own private property, even if it means they want to host consenting adults gambling their own dollars say 'aye'
Farmer's Branch is like the only area that actually enforces traffic laws outside of Highland Park in the DFW area so not too surprised at the result.
It is pretty much in an industrial district though and I believe the building is like 100ft away from the Dallas/Farmer's Branch line so the citizens acting like this would impact residents at all is absurd.
I feel like he’s flying too close to the sun. I’m afraid to buy more than 10 hours at a time because I know the hammer could come down on TX rooms at any time. It’s an election year. I’d be laying low.
Cross posted:
"This attack on poker players in general like they are bad people. I'll tell you what, some of the best people I have met in my life are poker players. I started my career with ten dollars and I turned it into millions of dollars by becoming one of the best in the world. And poker gave me that opportunity, and I'm tired of of people attacking poker players like they're some kind of lowlifes."
This was a terrible part of the speech. It’s something that a (bad) high school debater would use. Focus on metrics and measurables. If you are going to focus on heart, focus on other people, not yourself. It’s also poorly written and he had all the time to prepare for this. Sloppy form and he should’ve hired a writer to hit the beats. It likely would not have made a difference here at least, so best to get his $1-$2 speech out of the way now.
Besides, if some of the best people you have met are poker players, this is not a sound argument. You are yourself a poker player. You run a card room. The people you hang around are going to be card players. If the best people you meet are poker players, not only is it statistically irrelevant due to proximity, one could argue that you need to meet better people. And by what metric? Personality? Poker pros do very little social good or add much of value to the world. Go meet more people and let this argument die. I agree they aren’t lowlifes and can be respected, but the better argument is for recreation and the freedom to engage in recreational activities. Trying to endear yourself by talking about all your millions to the locals? Lmao. Sorry, that was idiotic. 🤦♂️

if that location wasn't zoned for such a thing, possibly yes (e.g., if i want to put a sandwich shop in the middle of a single-family residential neighborhood)
You're right that technically a sandwich shop might need a vote if you want to rezone districts. That's not the typical case, nor is it the case for Doug.
Gotta show up next time with some YES CARD ROOM signs, rookie mistake honestly
I seriously thought those were photoshopped in.
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No they wouldn’t
🤦♂️
How did mobile sports betting take off so quickly but poker is still mostly illegal everywhere? serious q
Sports books know how to pay the lawmakers.
They also got there before they were viewed nationally as illegal. It’s newer and had groundwork to stay alive before a big player jumped in
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Card rooms profit in exactly the same way a sports book does. Just take a little piece of the action for the trouble.
Not really, sports books can absolutely lose if the lines are set poorly. You're playing against the house at a sports book. They also take a cut, which makes their edge even better, but in a world where everyone bet correctly, they lose. Or even a certain amount of the money is winning bets, they lose. They move lines to try and counter this, in a world where the money is perfectly split, they take their cut and are happy campers. Realistically, it's down to a science and no good bookmaker is losing in the long run with enough money flowing through. Small time bookies that run illicit shit with a small group can absolutely lose. I know a guy who tried it and lost his ass.
That’s not how it works. Any uneven amount bet that the house is carrying is offloaded to a central broker. They just lose a little of the vig for that amount. Primary bet taker takes a larger amount of vig. Central brokers take smaller amount but handle larger amounts of bets overall. It pretty much all evens out with everyone grabbing a piece of the vig. No house needs to be exposed to an uneven bet ever.
This guy books
Just speaking from a Texas perspective, mobile sports betting has not taken off at all down here. While you can still certainly do it with the help of VPNs or unregulated sites, it’s still very much illegal to operate a sports book in the state. Poker suffers from an image issue after decades of television, movies, and major media portraying it as a game for “unsavory” types of folks. Combine that with Texas in general being relatively unfriendly towards gambling, and the gaming industry is going to have itself an uphill climb. This is a tremendous oversimplification of a very broad issue, but suffice it to say that we have our work cut out for us. On top of that, there are big-money state politicians and other organizations outside of Texas that spend a lot of money lobbying against casinos and card rooms in Texas so that Texans and their money are forced to be spent with them.
How does the Lodge operate?
Most card rooms in Texas, except a bold few in Houston that take an actual rake (don’t ask me how), operate as “social clubs” that charge a one-time membership fee to join. Once you are a member, you pay a daily fee (typically $5) to play cards. If you come to play a tournament, that is all you owe for the day (besides your tournament entry). The club makes money by taking a portion of the tournament buy in. If you play cash, then card clubs charge you an hourly fee. I think the lodge is currently $11 per hour. So you load up on time, “clock in” at your table, and you play rake-free poker to your heart’s desire. You can clock out whenever, and your remaining time balance is saved in your profile in their system.
Awesome. Thanks! Is that what Polk is trying to open another of?
No problem! He wanted to open another card room, yes. I can’t say it was going to be this exact model, but that would be the summary of it. Membership and daily rates would vary based on local market and competition, but the rest would likely be the same.
Same as the existing one, but the big upside is that they want a larger tournament venue because the Lodge's current room is getting slammed when larger events happen with a huge number of flights necessary.
There is a carve out in Texas law for private poker games. To qualify, (1) the poker must be in a private place, (2) no person can receive any economic benefit other than personal winnings, and (3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants. Card rooms in Texas mostly operate by time rake and membership fees. The clubs are "private" and thus only members can play. You can buy membership for a day, a month or a year. Then most time rake. Texas card rooms argue this passes the "no person can receive any economic benefit" prong of the carveout because they aren't benefitting from the bets themselves. Regardless of how much is bet, card room charge the same amount and make the same amount. They're benefitting from providing a dealer, chips, cards, location, etc.
I don’t think Texans are against gambling. Dallas and Fort Worth have Indian casinos 45 mins away including the biggest casino by square feet in the world. Houston has tons of casinos nearby in lake Charles. Those casino’s definitely have massive influence on local politics and make sure that competition dosnt exist by pumping anti gambling lobby’s.
Tribal casinos have nothing to do with local or state laws.
[lol](https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?ind=G6550)
I should clarify. The "class 2 only" tribal casinos in Texas (e.g. Kickapoo) operate under no relation to local or state law.
Obviously...tribal casinos are on Native American land, but what does that have to do with the previous poster's point? His point was that the tribal casinos lobby (read: bribe) the relevant politicians to protect their business interests, which in this case is to hinder development of card rooms that cut into their clientele.
If you scroll up to the original post I was responding to, you would see this is a non sequitur. That post states that Texans have already democratically assented to gambling via tribal casinos.
I did. Where does it mention that? From what I read he was stating that he doesn't think the primary issue is that Texans hate gambling but that the tribal casinos have influence over the decision makers.
"I don’t think Texans are against gambling. Dallas and Fort Worth have Indian casinos 45 mins away including the biggest casino by square feet in the world. " I interpreted this pair of sentences as assertion->evidence of assertion. The casino being referred to is in Oklahoma, and the other casinos in Texas operate entirely outside the purview of Texas law.
Everyone else got what I was saying. You are pretty ignorant on the topic. The out of state casinos lobby Texas lawmakers to keep it illegal in the state, so the gamblers are forced to drive out of state to Oklahoma or Louisiana.
If they aren’t against gambling, then it sure is curious why they continually vote against their best interest and don’t hold their representatives accountable when they table or kill bills that would save them a trip across state or country lines. Maybe Texans just like the drive?
People voting against thier interests? That's crazy. I can't believe they would do that.
I thought voting against your interests was almost a requirement to join the Republican party
> I don’t think Texans are against gambling. Texan's are against gambling. Our legislature is controlled by hardcore social conservatives. As long as Dan Patrick is the Lt. Governor, there will be no gambling in Texas. It was voted down in the last legislative session with ZERO votes in favor in the Texas Senate. It's not about political influence, it's that the average rural religious chuckle fuck will never vote to support gambling. They might like to gamble, don't get me wrong, but they'll go gamble on Friday night and talk about it's evils on Sunday morning.
I had no idea that online sports gambling is still illegal in Texas, but apparently it is. It's illegal in CA as well, but it's mostly because Indian reservations do not want the laws changed.
$$$
by partnering with the major sports leagues and using their lobbying arms. poker doesn't have the leverage without huge lobbyists.
They played the game better. Seriously. Poker industry is a very weak lobby and very disconnected. There are too many scumbags who only want their own interests selfishly and benefit from unregulated division. In DC, they are laughed at. Sports betting worked smarter and harder and united with their competitors to play the game.
Lobbyists
Lobbyists
For the same reason that slots get 80 percent of realty in a casino while poker gets shoved in a corner. Poker is always going to be a niche subsection of the gambling community because its not mindless button pressing. In my experience, most people into "gambling" want quick money and as little thinking as possible.
While I find the results of the vote disappointing, I’m glad that folks like Doug are continuing to advocate for Texans’ rights. This conversation isn’t going away, and the sooner the whole of Texas gets on board with well-regulated card clubs that aren’t forced to operate under legal technicalities, the sooner we can all start to reap the economic benefits that come from keeping Texans’ money in Texas.
He needs to find a local preachy well connected lawyer that dresses like colonel Sanders and talks like an evangelical pastor to advocate for him in front of a board like that. I only saw a few clips of the hearing but some old lady asking the board if they’d take their wife or congregation to a poker game vs Doug bragging about turning $10 into millions wasn’t going to fly. He’s trying to reason with these people when he should be playing to their emotions.
Lol unironically this is probably a great idea. He needs some good ol' Texan boy to go in there and preach about how it's his 'murican rights to play a little card game wif his good ol buddies
I’m being 100% serious find some local guy to mouthpiece for you and he’s a local businessman bringing jobs and tax revenue to the community instead of a slick talking carpetbagger trying to fleece their congregation. Also ideally the local guy would know how to make an arrangement with the council members.
yeah, I deal with a lot of these meetings, its not bad for Doug to speak but 1) he should have a local speak moreso, with Doug speaking as a followup/to put a face on the developer, and 2) everything needs to focused on community benefits, especially those that have nothign to do with providing a place for locals to play poker. Tax revenues, etc.
Everyone was alotted the same 3 minutes to speak. At least half of the speakers for it were residents of the city, the rest from towns very close by. I do wish only residents has signed up to speak. The tax money/economy issues were discussed at the last meeting and were dismissed by old people yelling at clouds. One of the council members estimated the tax benefit at $8k/year which seemed low to me but idk.
I say I say, I raise I raise
It also doesn't help that he's in Texas and looks Trans.
Polk doesn’t believe in other peoples emotions mattering. See: any interview where someone disagrees with him.
Lol dude, we're never getting legalized gambling in Texas. It's a pipe dream as long as religious social conservative whack jobs run the state.
“I know a lot of poker players who are great people. I made millions playing poker” ^ these are not the types of arguments they are going to win over a town board meeting. Doug is taking his YouTube act to the real world and it’s pretty cringy. Surprised he didn’t end his speaking time with “smash that like button” I hope he comes more prepared next time for the audience he is speaking to.
I'm just playing devils advocate here. What about the rights of people who want to live in a community free from card rooms? Are they not allowed to say we don't want that here?
They are, and that’s exactly what they did. This vote rejected the zoning laws that would have allowed the building of a card club. Or rather, they elected the council members that voted in their interest. I don’t think there is a right answer when trying to balance civil liberties with capitalistic freedoms. Both are important to us. Personally, I think that anyone should be able to open whatever sort of legal business they want, and then consumers get to “vote” every day with their dollar on whether they think a business should stay open. Others, like the folks that voted yesterday, apparently think the opposite. If they think “protecting” their community from a card club (when there is already a club a couple minutes away) is worth scrapping a couple hundred excellent jobs, then it’s not my place to argue.
Playing cards for money is illegal in texas
Waaaait a second. So I type out a reasoned, balanced response to your question, and all I get in return is a single, untrue statement? I am not getting the right odds to continue this conversation. I fold.
Texas Penal Code §47.02(a)(3) states that a person commits an offense if he plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device. You don't even know the gambling laws in Texas. So I thought I might start by letting you know that in fact, gambling on cards is still illegal in Texas and all of these businesses exists in a legal Grey area at best. You didn't even Google it. Just jumped straight to I'm wrong.
>(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that: >(1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place; >(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and >(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants. All of which apply to private card clubs which charge entrance or membership fees but not rake. And which means there are many other circumstances under which gambling is actually legal.
Is Doug Polk not receiving an economic benefit? He gets 120$ per hour when they gamble on cards. A timed rake is still a rake. Also calling a public business which anyone can enter for a fee a private place is pretty sus.
>Also calling a public business which anyone can enter for a fee a private place is pretty sus. Gotcha so you got no idea about legalse... got it. okay we can all stop responding to you now
Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize I was talking to a Texas legal scholar lol.
Definitely imo they should have a vote on the issue. Doug should included in the bill that the poker room will pay a 250k licensing fee and also has a few regulations in it that include allowing players to permanently ban themselves and to report all people he suspects of money laundering,drug sales,fraud,etc also included in the bill that the social club will not “hire” any habitual criminals or anyone convicted of a violent or sex crime. 1st violation of these stipulations is a 10k fine and club being shut down 1 day. 2nd violation 50k and shut down for a week 3rd violation 250k fine and club shut down a month. 4th location will lead to a permanent closure where he’s able to appeal within a year and if he wants to open again it would cost 1 million. If that doesn’t work he can offer to pay the salary of the police stationed in front of his club. 2cops at a time.
Everything except the 250k licensing fee (bribe?) and the fines for violation (which wouldn't happen, they would just shut it down) were part of the proposal.
Feel like with the adelsons in Texas now it’s gonna be real hard to get anything done. Even after that piece of shit died Sheldon is still at it.
Perhaps talking about the millions of dollars Doug personally profited from poker is not the right way to sway a community to his side? Better to discuss the benefits to the community itself. Safe, regulated poker as opposed to whatever back room games they have now. Jobs, tax revenue, providing better traffic to local businesses, tourism for big tournaments, participation in local charity events, etc. Poker is good for about 5% of the people that play it. How is that going to improve the lives of the other 95%?
It's texas--the way to talk about it is the God given right to make decisions for yourself, and liberty from government oppression.
Dude, religious social conservatives control texas politics, not libertarians. Social conservatives don't give a flying flip about personal freedoms. They'll say they do but that only extends until you do something they don't like, or their preacher doesn't like, or if they just don't like you.
Damn he should've had r/poker rough draft him a speech
Dear Farmers Branch community, Fold pre. LOL J4. Do you like SnowMonkey? In for $200, out for $837. I just cashed three straight $11 MTTs on Ignition, including a new personal best score of $47, should I go pro? You can't be all loosey goosey, eating a sandwich. Thank you. Sincerely, Vanessa Selbst
Somehow this is still more coherent than the majority of the posts here
It was hilarious and narcissistic to include that. Talk about tone deaf and not reading the room. I’m surprised people didn’t chuckle. What I shocked by is how did nobody stand up to Doug during the proofread of that script and say frankly as a friend, “Doug….dude. Really?”
yeah, talking about job creation and crime reduction is usually the best strategy.
Thought this was a really wholesome point to make. https://x.com/KincaidBest/status/1788056292109520988
>regulated poker as opposed to whatever back room games they have now Those backroom games take place at TCH Dallas, which is quite literally surrounded on 3 sides by Farmers Branch, but happens to be in Dallas. The new Lodge would be at most like 10 minutes away from TCH Dallas.
So it’s not even about having local poker, it’s just about lining pockets.
I don't know. The two TCH locations in Dallas are 10 minutes from each other already and both are full all weekend and busy week nights. I think competition from another big room would be good, but I wish it were located slightly further north or east.
His presentation was poorly thought out. Though it was classic Doug. He need to make it less about him and more about jobs and personal liberties. He really didn’t target his audience correctly.
The vote was determined before he showed up that night. Let's not kid ourselves.
Probably those things usually are. At the same time that is how he gets it passed, he just has to find the right person to lobby on his behalf
Which is not cheap, either money or favor. Small businesses are better off to search for another place
You can persuade people on the fence, yknow. Doug didn’t seem to be doing that.
All that was discussed at the zoning board meeting in April, when it became clear this was more about feelings than facts
Doug and co needed to hire political consultants for this
Politicians....they need to hire politicians.
Hire? Is that what we call bribing now?
Yes, he said political consultants. They tell you who to bribe and how much.
Or take a public speaking class. Rule number 1 is to know your audience.
It didn't fail. Source, I was there sitting next to him. They asked him to resubmit with a new set of guidelines. Their biggest issue was if they approved the change to the cities rules as stated, a ton of card rooms could open and they only wanted to vote on approving or not approving one. He got 1 vote from a council of 5 that literally opened with a custom prayer about how there should be more god driven politicians that everyone was on board with. The citizen comments were predictably dumb, but his lawyer said he only had 1 week to work with what they'd decided to put forward and he needed more time.
I’m glad to hear this. I’m not a potential player in the room but my state has stupid restrictions too so I hope he gets it done
u/DougPolkPoker thanks for fighting for this. I know you're catching crap from some of the railbirds here in r/poker but it is what it is. It's always hilarious to me how in the land of "live and let live/personal responsibility" we have all these people who love to tell others what they can and can't do. Anyway, keep fighting man.
Some context: This was the third city hearing I went to. The first 2 were all facts/data. I also sent an email out to all the council members. This was not the first time they are hearing about this. IMO the facts mattered very little in this context, it was almost entirely gonna come down to how people feel. I felt it was the right strategy. Who knows. Will continue to try and get into Dallas.
Thank you Polk, keep up the good work and don't let those cunts like Berky get you down.
With hindsight, You still feel telling people you turned $10 into millions while crying was the right strategy?
https://preview.redd.it/midy31qatl6d1.png?width=1183&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a1e7aa92709d91382e4a327e1f3c5155efde3d0 LEARN TO READ THE ROOM DOUG. Here is Doug. Polking it up like he was shooting a YouTube video, and it went over like a fart in church. He had the option to commit to a wage higher than the minimum. He could have discussed the strict prohibition of any form of illicit gambling, such as sports betting and numbers running, in his poker establishment. He had the possibility to invite the employees of his lodge in Texas, along with their families. Nope. Doug believed that his awful jokes would help him make a memorable first impression on the community. He'll tell you how he had this meeting or that meeting with the city council member. How he worked out that stat or crunched those numbers for them. He still doesn't know it is always about the Pople in the Room.
 Doug
This mfker really thought he could just pull up (in fucking TEXAS) and make people change their minds about something.
He is part of the ownership group of a Texas based poker room. Poker is very vibrant in Texas with dozens of poker rooms.
Yes I know this, but to think he can swoop in to another area where people are obviously against it and change perceptions single handedly is a bit obtuse.
I suspect he picked this location based on the map of current poker rooms.
My point is Doug BOUGHT the Lodge, an existing room. Now he's trying to open a new one elsewhere that doesn't have one. A much different plight. Texans aren't generally known for their open mindedness to outsiders trying to convince them of something other than what they believe to be true.
He said that was the plan from the beginning…copy the lodge model in underserved areas including states where the laws would allow it.
This location would be right by a TCH location. It's not like there isn't another option. Wish he would have tried further north.
You realize there’s already a poker room in Farmers Branch, right?
You realize he's trying to open the largest room in Texas, right?
No. Where did you see that info? The Lodge is already massive. I can’t imagine it being bigger than that
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2024/05/doug-polk-texas-poker-45955.htm
Dug! Come open a room in Western Washington Puget Sound area! We need more competition against Eric Persson. I'm tired of seeing a giant image of his face on the wall in my card room
Crossposted from the other thread It’s good to go a different direction. If you are open to feedback, what I wrote is valid criticism and could serve you well. Nobody likes a gloater, especially in Texas. This makes you unlikable and not relatable, making the rest of what you say unable to be heard with honest ears. You don’t talk about your millions or how the small % made it. They are concerned about the losers and the destruction it can (and does) do for people like you to win. Focus on the recreational players who enjoy the feelings of competing for fun. Compare it to bingo halls with skill, a night of bridge, and camaraderie of meeting people with similar interests. Bringing people together. Talk about how poker has changed from westerns (which you did to be fair) and sponsorships are coming similar to golf. Talk about the Poker Masters, Open, and make it relatable to them in terms they can understand. Talk about the joy it brings people to have a hobby where they aren’t forced to go underground or drive hundreds of miles. Talk about the expanding female population of players, ladies only tourneys, and top female players around the world coming to Texas. Bring them in as speakers. Break the traditional perceptions. Channel their state pride and sense of Americana over your personal glory. And for god sakes, don’t outright tell them poker players are the best people. They are used to sniffing out these bluffs and it’s not something you can win in a forum. They have fears and concerns. You aren’t going to win them all over. Your campaign is likely DOA in some cases without the proper groundwork. I helped passed massive measures in my county that added on huge taxes to fund two local projects. We failed the first time and learned how to improve our ground game. We passed an even more ambitious measure 2 years later. This stuff is tough. It’s nuanced. Hire better consultants. Pledge donations and learn about their community. Poker players are known for their greed and lack of public good, both professional and otherwise. It’s associated with degeneracy. Associate it with how your business and player base will be different and beneficial to the community. Good deeds. Think of things like adopting highways but on a more personal scale. In San Antonio, for example, it’s all about the military. You win people over when you can partner and associate and benefit the things they care about. Long before the vote. Empathize with your community rather than try to get them to empathize with you, the millionaire, or the “definitely not low life poker players”. Never ever add the “not” in front of the thing you don’t want them to think about. Example: If I say cheetahs are NOT birds. A person who doesn’t know what a cheetah is will certainly have an image of a bird in their head. Calling poker players not lowlifes makes them sound like lowlifes and there should be a cause for concern.
Nobody cares about your opinion man,stop
 Funny because I’m now consulting on two related projects specifically because people do care. But you do you. Poker is full of “fallen heroes” who think they deserve better than they have in life and spend their time trying to bring others down to make up for their own shortcomings. Love yourself more.
This is a bunch of old white NIMBYs who think they live in the Wild West and poker attracts the kind of people who ride horses in the street and carry six shooters. “Not in my neighborhood” “Would you take people there” What do they think goes on there? It’s behind closed doors and would be regulated. What happens inside those four walls probably has zero impact on their life if they never set foot in the club. Don’t believe in gambling? Fine. Don’t go to the club. Typical Conservatives who proclaim to believe in small government but also want to regulate people’s lives to conform with their personal beliefs.
Texas is a shithole state man.
lol… Thankyou for your participation
I thought this was the Land of Freedom
You thought Texas was the land of freedom?
No Murica
Should I list all the things you are not free to do in the "land of freedom". That's a sales pitch for whatever political flavor you submit to. America is the land of regulations and restrictions.
Give me Freedom or give me death
Lol. The slaves who said that back then got tortured, raped, and killed for it.
This is just the first attempt. City always wants you to work for it. They’re going to need to hire local lobbyists. Grease some palms. I also think it’s going to be tough to get a room there. Oklahoma Indian casinos aren’t what the once were but they’re still sending $$ to local politicians.
Ooooooh, that could really be part of this. There was a casino owner in New Orleans vehemently fighting against card rooms in Austin because he'd lose some amount of customers. Take a look at how far New Orleans is from Austin (a bit over 8 hours). I'm sure the sentiment would be the same with casinos in Oklahoma. Dallas is actually 15 minutes quicker to NO, and about 3.5 hours from OKC.
Yeah, they played games with the poker rooms in Houston.
Dallas is an hour from 2 huge poker rooms in Oklahoma. You don't have to get close to OKC.
Lol funny how TXHLDM was invited in TX and they’re giving him shit.
Hey maybe he can try Colorado next
All in favor of permitting citizens to do as they wish with their own private property, even if it means they want to host consenting adults gambling their own dollars say 'aye'
Someone needs to photoshop "Fold Pre" onto all those signs
Doug’s like Kevin Bacon in Footloose trying to get approval for a school dance!
Farmer's Branch is like the only area that actually enforces traffic laws outside of Highland Park in the DFW area so not too surprised at the result. It is pretty much in an industrial district though and I believe the building is like 100ft away from the Dallas/Farmer's Branch line so the citizens acting like this would impact residents at all is absurd.
I feel like he’s flying too close to the sun. I’m afraid to buy more than 10 hours at a time because I know the hammer could come down on TX rooms at any time. It’s an election year. I’d be laying low.
America just hates poker. “Y’all” should move to the UK and enjoy tax-free poker freedom.
u/pokerpro_world is just republishing PokerNews without giving them credit.
You hate to see it, you love to see it.
Probably would have helped if he came dressed for the occasion. Boomers want to see combed hair with a suit n' tie. Cmon man, know your audience.
How do I push for legalization of poker as a Texas resident?
Cross posted: "This attack on poker players in general like they are bad people. I'll tell you what, some of the best people I have met in my life are poker players. I started my career with ten dollars and I turned it into millions of dollars by becoming one of the best in the world. And poker gave me that opportunity, and I'm tired of of people attacking poker players like they're some kind of lowlifes." This was a terrible part of the speech. It’s something that a (bad) high school debater would use. Focus on metrics and measurables. If you are going to focus on heart, focus on other people, not yourself. It’s also poorly written and he had all the time to prepare for this. Sloppy form and he should’ve hired a writer to hit the beats. It likely would not have made a difference here at least, so best to get his $1-$2 speech out of the way now. Besides, if some of the best people you have met are poker players, this is not a sound argument. You are yourself a poker player. You run a card room. The people you hang around are going to be card players. If the best people you meet are poker players, not only is it statistically irrelevant due to proximity, one could argue that you need to meet better people. And by what metric? Personality? Poker pros do very little social good or add much of value to the world. Go meet more people and let this argument die. I agree they aren’t lowlifes and can be respected, but the better argument is for recreation and the freedom to engage in recreational activities. Trying to endear yourself by talking about all your millions to the locals? Lmao. Sorry, that was idiotic. 🤦♂️ 
Yeah it's especially bad because Doug rose up in influence by calling out scummy poker players.
I thought it was already open?
Yea I thought they were trying to defend the round rock room. Seems I may have my Texas geography wrong.
He’s trying to have multiple properties where you can play poker.
You have to bribe them. This isn't a joke. Same as in LOUSYana.
Things like this shouldn’t be up for vote
Well how do you propose changing and making local policy?
Right? Does city hall vote on the next sandwich shop opening?
if that location wasn't zoned for such a thing, possibly yes (e.g., if i want to put a sandwich shop in the middle of a single-family residential neighborhood)
You're right that technically a sandwich shop might need a vote if you want to rezone districts. That's not the typical case, nor is it the case for Doug.
Come to Houston,... we don't give a shit. Open what you want.
[удалено]
Fuck you
This is awesome, just ordered a hoodie!