Such games, held in what the law sees as a “private place,” are sheltered from the state’s anti-gambling rules by what’s known as the social-gambling defense. Every Thursday night, Kebort and Von Kennel played hold ’em with friends in a barn south of Austin. Hold ’em is a variant of poker that travelled from its namesake state, in the early nineteen-hundreds, to become, by many accounts, the most popular version played in casinos around the country it differs from standard “stud” poker in that players share five cards (they hold just two in their hands) and have multiple opportunities to bet (and bluff) before a hand is finished.
On the Web site, the house had been advertised as the location of Poker Social Club-an underground venue that claimed to operate legally, despite the fact that gambling businesses have been outlawed in Texas since before it became a state.Įarlier that fall, Kebort and Von Kennel had bonded over their shared love of Texas hold ’em. In Austin’s northern suburbs, they drove up to a brick house the color of sand and pulled onto its lawn, which had been transformed into a makeshift parking lot. He and a friend, Sam Von Kennel, were on an expedition. Daniel Kebort first thought of opening his own poker club on a cool night in the fall of 2010.
