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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wypDjCHcmSI
Go to 1:09:09 mark
What's with Doug almost crying at the end of his speech?
He ended up losing the vote 4-1, and he will not be opening up a poker room there.
Go to 1:14:13 mark to start hearing the responses to Doug, among local residents.
I was going to post this as the meeting was full of lols.
Polk said "I started with $10 and now I'm a millionaire..." Not sure this was the best pitch. Maybe, employment, economic development etc. would have been better than skinning donks.
One old lady said she's Christian and looked awful, and not in my town, blah blah and she said "I'm 63" and I was like, oh no, I'm 54. I hope that is not me in 9 years.
Poker rooms in Texas have a bad image. There was a shooting at the Houston room the night I was there a few years ago, and now cheating. Not sure they can project a clean business image, but that would have been better than Polk's take.
Where did that money come from, Doug? Fish you skinned.
I agree with you. Doug's speech wasn't good -- at least not for that setting. It might have gone over well if Doug was on a national news program and trying to talk up the poker community to the general public. However, his speech did nothing to allay the fears of suburban Texas folk. By the way, the name "Farmers Branch" might conjure images of a remote agricultural community, but it's not. Farmers Branch is in the greater Dallas area, has a population of about 35k, and is just 12.5 miles from DFW airport.Quote:
Originally Posted by tigerpiper
You're correct that the Houston rooms have a bad image. I'm not sure if people in Dallas are aware of these stories, but I keep hearing about lots of criminals targeting patrons of those rooms, as well as shady behavior at the rooms themselves (such as the recent dealer-mechanic stories).
Rather than brag about his own personal success from poker, Polk should have instead described the success of his existing room, The Lodge. That room has a good reputation and hasn't been a problem for the Round Rock community, so he should have focused upon that. Perhaps he was afraid to do this, because his room did have a follow-out mugging in 2022.
Regardless, he should have tried as hard as he could to portray why a room in Farmers Branch would be a net positive for the community. I think it's difficult because these are unlicensed rooms, and thus the city doesn't really get very much out of it. It's not like big revenue was going to roll into the city's coffers.
LOL @ the guy a few minutes after Polk who tried to describe these poker rooms as "social clubs" where people hang out and watch sports. Bullshit. The social club thing is a legal loophole. People are at these rooms to play poker, and nothing else. In fact, most of these "clubs" have the ambiance of an Amazon warehouse.
I think you guys are being too hard on Doug. While his speech wasn't great, it's not easy speaking in a setting like that. The odds were stacked against him before he walked in the door that night.
He shouldn't have bragged about his success, but I believe his emotions got the best of him. I am not a Polk fanboy, nor have I ever met him in my life. I am just saying that sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the moment.
Farmers Branch is a bit of an odd choice for the Dallas area, why not pick an area that has a room already?
Dated a girl in College that lived there, she peripherally knew Vanilla Ice who went to a rival high school.
Yeah that's the part I don't understand. Why Farmers Branch specifically?Quote:
Originally Posted by Texter
I'm guessing they don't want competition from an existing room right in the same place, but why there? Not sure. Clearly they have a lot of religious Christian residents who do not want that sort of thing there.
Farmers Branch didn’t even allow alcohol sales until somewhat recently…odd choice. TCH is in Carrollton which is the next suburb over…trying to siphon those players maybe?
Isn’t Sriusly Sirius originally from the Dallas area? If so, he should know better.
Yeah, I would have used freeway as my address also both sides had valid points sounds like a repressed place to live, Doug himself didn't bring his A game
His speech was pretty tone deaf. Really bad look overall.
The publicly available tracking sites show that Doug is up $1.4 million dollars playing poker at his other Texas club since they opened. This should be a point brought up by those who oppose the poker room. He presents himself of wanting to create a space for upstanding community members to come play a friendly game of cards, that # can be used to paint a very different story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ChgWHdNTEU
Go to 0:44:47 to hear a long segment on this, including me making fun of a lot of the speakers during the second half of the segment.
I have spent a ton of time in this area working on getting a club going. I purchased the contents of 1 Texas club further south, and some more tables from a previously raided room. I'm to the point of being almost turn key if I could find the right location that I think could work, and was willing to have us. I'm just starting to wonder if an area exists that's not already saturated. So much so that I decided to go to Amarillo. I found a building that was setup perfect, in a town that has a card room. Then I find out that while in the same town it's actually split up over 2 counties. The other room was in a county that was favorable of a room, this county not so much. Everyone says none of these guys are making any money, but I've tried to get several to sell and no ones interested in selling.
One near me is killing it.
Free everything and a $16.5k freeroll every month.
There is even a new one opening soon down the road…but one keeps turning over and can’t stay open.
Doug bought Rounders in San Antonio. It'll open next month as the second Lodge location with 30 tables. I posted in the Casino forum.
Not sure which room you're talking about, but if a Texas social poker club can offer a freeroll of that size, then it's taking a rake. These Texas rooms all started off following the law by staying in the gray zone (no rake and no chips come off the table), but now less than a handful do this. Most all allow chips to come off the table as dealer tips, and many now take a rake each hand with the money either going towards player promotions (high hands, freerolls, complimentary food/beverage, etc.) or most time going directly into the pockets of the owners.Quote:
Originally Posted by Texter
They rake the pot for sure, they say it’s a time charge when asked….looks like they yank $5 per hand at least.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1243Not sure which room you're talking about, but if a Texas social poker club can offer a freeroll of that size, then it's taking a rake. These Texas rooms all started off following the law by staying in the gray zone (no rake and no chips come off the table), but now less than a handful do this. Most all allow chips to come off the table as dealer tips, and many now take a rake each hand with the money either going towards player promotions (high hands, freerolls, complimentary food/beverage, etc.) or most time going directly into the pockets of the owners.Quote:
Originally Posted by Texter
Sounds like 101 Poker in Katy, TX.Quote:
Originally Posted by Texter
They also used these different chip designs.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1243