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Drones sent in by police raided a Houston poker room with a checkered past and arrested multiple patrons on charges of illegal gambling.
Lucky J’s Social Club at 9371 Richmond Ave. is a gambling establishment that only advertises poker in a state with some of the strictest anti-gambling laws in the country. While the website advertises a membership-based model, and poker only, many players who’ve visited the business claim the room is actually a full-scale casino, and rake is collected from the poker cash games.
Crazy Scene Inside Texas Poker Room
In Texas, the legal poker rooms operate as membership-based clubs, charging membership and seat fees instead of rake to remain in compliance with Texas Penal Code 47.04.
Lucky J’s is in the same location as the old Johnny Chan’s 88 Social, owned by Poker Hall of Famer Johnny Chan. The financially struggling room then rebranded as 101 Richmond in December 2021 under new ownership. It would later become Elite Social Club before the current ownership.
The incident took place on Wednesday and police have yet to release full details outside of informing Houston’s Fox26 News that “several” arrests were made in connection to an illegal gambling operation, and that numerous authories were on the scene investigating the alleged crime. But Houston police, according to information obtained by a player involved, never entered the poker room, and instead conducted the raid via a drone.
PokerNews obtained a video taken by a poker player from inside the card room during the raid. The video showed dozens of players with their hands in the air at the direction of authorities. It’s unclear if any players have been arrested or if only the owners and staff were taken into custody.
KPRC 2 News reporter Corley Peel, on the scene at Lucky J’s following the raid, reported the card room had been under investigation for illegal gambling for several months after receiving complaints from neighbors.
The neighborhood surrounding the troubled card room has made the news for violent incidents taking place involving the poker rooms in the area, most notably multiple shooting incidents and robberies at the nearby Legends Poker Room, a club that is no longer in operation.
Last year, approximately 20 poker players were robbed after leaving Lucky J’s, leading to a group of armed robbers later being arrested.
This is a breaking news story. Further developments will be added to this article.
