Flush With Cash
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Right in clear view of Houston lawmen, and the IRS, casino gambling is spreading across town. While some waste time worrying about low-income folks playing 8-liner slot machines at the convenience store, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS are being funneled through gambling and they’re betting nobody will care.
Wait a minute. This isn’t the Las Vegas strip, this is Houston, Texas. In a state where the gambling statute is being wholly ignored.
“They don’t hide it. They’re just out in the open doing it right,” said Emil Pena.
Look at this video inside the New York Club, in Katy. It used to be the freerolls poker club under different owners.
Here you play against the house and when you lose, they win. Even though Texas law says it’s illegal for the house to get an economic benefit from the game. It’s what makes it a crime to gamble.
Watch as this dealer shows his cards to some of the players, then takes their chips worth hundreds of dollars. One hand. All this cash. Are you watching IRS?
Millions are flowing through these places, ripe for money laundering.
So how do these places operate a for profit casino and get away with it? They’ll say they are simply running a private club. You sign up for a membership, but you don’t have to pay a penny it.
Since you can guarantee this place isn’t being run for charity. It’s pretty clear they are making money.
We couldn’t find the New York club registered with either the Secretary of State or the Harris County Clerk, but we did find this. At the same Katy Freeway address online, but we can’t determine if they are related.
The Golden Dragon Card House was created in September of last year by a guy named Joseph Sullivan.
Baccarat was also the game played at the Lucky Aces Social Club here off Bellaire Boulevard.
Harrods Investments INC. and ITCS gaming LLC are the listed directors there.
On its website the club claims it ensures a fair and transparent gambling experience and adheres to all state regulations.
But what state regulations?
Emil Pena represents some of the 54 poker rooms operating in Texas who are now pushing for regulation to crack down on some of the suspect gambling joints operating pretty much right in the open. Where are the vice cops?
“The lack of regulation are driving more and more illegal activities. And that’s why we’re saying stop,” said Emil Pena.
Watch this dealer at Elite Social on Richmond take chips directly from the pot and put them in a slot in the table.
That’s money that will go to the house.
During another hand, he does it again.
Theres a name for that in the poker world, it’s called a rake and it’s been going on against the law in Houston for years.
Almost three years ago, they even admitted it they did it at the Empire Poker on Westheimer.
Legends Poker room on Richmond operates untouched by Houston vice cops, even though it was easy to see more illegal gambling caught on camera.
Again, dealers taking money from the pot and slipping it under the table to the house.
When another dealer takes over, more profit for the house.
Legends is run by a guy named David La who we first confronted back in 2021 when we caught his poker room taking an illegal rake. This latest video shows he’s still at it.
The registered agent for legends is Houston attorney Steve Grossman.
When we walked in with a hidden camera and they made us go through a metal detector but we didn’t have to sign up to join anything or pay a single penny to play.
How they make a profit here is no brain teaser.
La had his gaming license revoked in California as part of a money laundering investigation into the now shuttered Normandie Casino, where piles of cash were turned into chips without required money laundering reporting.
The casino’s owners were required to pay back 2.4 million dollars for violating the bank secrecy act.
“I’ll get my lawyer to talk to you. No I never get in trouble,” said David La.
Back then an expert told me how much these places are pulling in under the not so watchful eyes of the law.
Dallas has a small number of poker clubs, but that city has some regulation through permits and is looking to pass an ordinance for the few poker rooms in operation.
And the Las Vegas Sands purchased a controlled interest in the Dallas Mavericks, hoping one day to combine the basketball arena with a casino resort.
But Houston has become the big player in the state in what has now evolved into full blown casino games, with the D.A. and vice cops looking the other way.
“Investigators raided the Prime Social Poker Club and Post Oak Poker Club, removing servers, laptops, and other equipment, and freezing the club bank account,” said a reporter at KPRC.
The criminal charges were dropped after it turned out the guy running the Harris County D.A. white collar division was being paid by one club to help pass a poker ordinance. And the vice cops, they simply ignored evidence of illegal gambling.
The ownership of the clubs keep changing quickly. Lucky Aces website says it’s been sold and under new ownership.
And the Texas Card House now has online poker, hijack poker it’s called. Their website says there are 100 million in guarantees. When did that become legal in Texas?
The turner administration ignored recommendations to make millions to help reduce the deficit by putting fees on poker players, the state doesn’t even tax the profits. It’s a world of unreported cash
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