Find Underground Poker Games

• Underground Poker Club
• Find Poker Game
• Find Poker Home Games
• Inside Underground Poker
• How To Find Underground Poker Games

Built around unsuspecting and seedy locations, Prominence is a gambling utopia ruled by crooked goons that are determined to keep you from cashing out. Only here can you find the thrill of high stakes poker while risking everything to take over this underground empire from “The Mayor” – the mysterious town founder. A single poker hand can make all the differenceif you’re good enough. If you Cnbc Underground Poker are a new player, we recommend from Casino Slam Cnbc Underground Poker first Cnbc Underground Poker version try several games until you find your favorite game.Demo mode is when you can try the game for free with play money, you can play casino games. In the USA, come out to free bar poker games, charity games, and go to the casino. You will meet people and they will tell you. But keep in mind three things: - Underground games tend to have ridiculously high rake.

I used to play in a lot of underground poker games in Dallas, Texas, but I haven’t done that in years. It’s not really necessary anymore, because Choctaw and Winstar are both a short drive from the DFW Metroplex.

It did occur to me that a post about underground poker games and what they’re like throughout the world might make for an interesting blog post, though.

It’s just poker played somewhere where it’s against the law.

Laws vary dramatically from one jurisdiction to another, and enforcement also varies from place to place. At one time, most of the underground cardrooms in Dallas operated with impunity. Later, SWAT teams were breaking down the doors of such places on a weekly basis.

How the Underground Poker Scene Works (Generally)

If you’re playing in someone’s home, it’s usually legal to participate in a poker game – as long as no one’s profiting from the game besides the players. In other words, in most jurisdictions, most home poker games are legal.

But if the homeowner is charging an entry fee or taking a percentage of each pot, the laws start getting trickier. In some jurisdictions, poker businesses are just plain illegal. In others, they’re legal, but you need a license to operate such a business.

Depending on the jurisdiction, it might be legal to PLAY in an underground poker game, even if it’s illegal to host the game and profit from it. At one time, it was a misdemeanor in my area to play in such a game, but it was a felony to host the game.

Most underground cardroom hosts worry more about armed robbers than they do law enforcement, but that varies based on how aggressive the local police force is.

How Cardrooms Make Money

Underground cardrooms make money the same way casino poker rooms make money.

Most of the time, they charge a rake – a percentage of each pot that goes into a lockbox at the table before the pot is awarded. The standard size rake is 5% of each pot.

It’s not hard to calculate how much money a cardroom stands to make, either.

For Example:

Suppose you have a cardroom with 4 tables that operates 12 hours a night, and you have an average of 8 players at each table. Let’s assume that the average pot per hand is about $50.

If there are 30 hands being played at each table per hour, you’re looking at $1500 in pots per table, so $6000 in pots per hour.

5% of that is $300 per hour – over a 12 hour shift, you’re making $3600.

You can adjust those numbers up or down based on the stakes, number of tables, hours open, etc.

At the underground cardrooms I played at, beer was always free, and you were encourage to bring your own liquor. Most of them also offered free meals.

A business generating $3600 a day can afford to offer players such perks.

That’s not the only way to generate revenue from a cardroom, though. The host of such an establishment will also sometimes sell food and drink, especially if the games being played are low stakes.

And some cardrooms just charge a flat fee per hour per player or a cover charge to walk in the door and play.

Other cardrooms offer other casino games like blackjack, craps, or roulette. Such cardrooms might have more in common with an underground casino, though, which is a related but different business.

Underground Poker in the United States

The United States doesn’t have a blanket federal law related to poker. The laws vary by state.

In most states, though, running a cardroom for profit at least requires a license. In many states, it’s just flat-out illegal.

I’ve mentioned some of my experiences playing at the underground poker rooms in Dallas, but one city in the United States is more famous than most when it comes to underground poker:

Underground Poker in New York

In New York, you can play poker without breaking the law, even though hosting the game is illegal.

This has led to a vibrant underground poker scene in New York where some of the clubs have become famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view).

The Diamond Club and the Mayfair Club are the 2 most famous of these, but they’ve both been shut down for over 20 years.

This doesn’t mean that all poker clubs in New York are closed, though. Some of them are still open, while others closed, although at a later date than the 2 most famous ones I just mentioned.

Famous poker players spotted in underground poker clubs in New York City include Alex Rodriguez.

Most poker clubs in New York now are small so as to avoid retaliation from the lawdogs.

Underground Poker in England

Poker is only supposed to be played in casinos, but private games are allowed if they’re low stakes. They even allow poker in neighborhood pubs, although the laws maintain a complicated set of restrictions related to these games.

It’s more or less common knowledge that underground poker games happen regularly in London, but they aren’t as infamous as United States poker rooms like the ones in New York.

Underground Poker in Canada

As in the United States, it’s illegal to run an unlicensed gambling business in Canada – and that includes poker games. In fact, it’s a serious crime where you can face prison time.

Poker rooms are legal in Canada, but as in most of the United States, it seems to be legal in Canada to play in and host a home poker game – as long as you’re not taking a rake.

One difference between Canada and the United States is the difference in the penalties for underground poker. In the United States, such penalties are pretty consistent – at least when you’re talking about the penalties within a specific state. (Such penalties almost certainly vary from one state to another, though.)

In Canada, on the other hand, the judge over each case has a wide amount of latitude in levying penalties and handing down sentences related to underground poker.

Is Online Poker Automatically Considered “Underground” Poker?

The answer to this varies from one location to another. For example, the United States has made it clear that – at least in most states – internet poker for real money is illegal. There are 3 states that offer legalized, regulated poker games.

By definition, any poker site accepting players from one of those states that ISN’T licensed by the state authorities – like an overseas cardroom, for example – is operating an underground poker operation.

And in most states, online poker sites accepting United States players are usually run by overseas sportsbooks.

The wisdom of playing in such games for real money is questionable.

Anyone who remembers poker’s Black Friday on April 15, 2011 knows how frustrating it can be to have your money tied up in an offshore poker room and being unable to access it.

This is a possibility you face when playing online poker at a cardroom that isn’t licensed and regulated in your jurisdiction.

Molly’s Game

One of the most famous underground poker games of all time was hosted by Molly Bloom in an apartment in the Plaza Hotel in New York City. It was a private, high-stakes game that multiple celebrities participated in. Some of the names associated with her game include the Olsen twins, Ben Affleck, and Alex Rodriguez.

She was arrested in 2010 for failing to pay her taxes. She was arrested again in 2013 for money laundering and for running an illegal sports betting business. She was one of 33 people involved in this arrest.

Bloom served a year of probation and did 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

She wrote a memoir about her experiences, titled Molly’s Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World.

Said book was adapted as a movie by Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the screenplay and directed. Jessica Chastain plays Molly Bloom, and Sorkin was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Conclusion

A certain type of personality is attracted to underground poker games. In fact, it’s not unusual – after all, gamblers are risk-takers by definition.

I’m not convinced that playing underground poker games is the best way to go about things, though. Living near the DFW Metroplex, I just drive to the Winstar – it’s worth the 30 minute trip for me to play in relative safety and luxury.

Your mileage may vary. Just don’t mistake the information I offer as a recommendation to break the law. I’d never suggest that you do that.

Underground Poker Club

If you decide to break the law anyway, at least be careful when you’re doing so.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Sure, many of us love casino poker. It’s convenient and for a fee known as the “rake” or “drop,” the house takes care of all the details of running the game, recruiting players, providing chips, a nice table, cards, a dealer, a cashier, and often convenient food and beverage service. Similarly, there are a lot of advantages to playing online.

But for me, my favorite form of poker is the old fashioned kind, the type played in living rooms, kitchens, basements, and dens at home — “home games.” And I am an expert at them.

Let’s be clear. I’m not talking here about “house games,” that is, games that are really much like the casino game, only played out of an apartment, hotel room, or even someone’s home. Those games often run very much like a casino game, with house dealers, casino-style cards, chips, and tables, and a casino-like rake (or even a higher one).

There’s surely a place under the vast poker sun to talk about “house games” as well, but I’m focusing on the amateur affair — the type of games our parents and grandparents played back in the day. As such, I will be looking at a type of poker that is still immensely popular but rarely addressed in the many books and articles published today on the subject of poker.

These home games are often “dealer’s choice” games, where each player deals and calls the game. These games include varieties of poker that we see in casinos, like hold’em and Omaha, but also many non-standard variations that you rarely if ever see in a public poker room. These “home game” variations could include such games as Double-board Omaha, Hold’em High-Low, 7-card stud high-low declare, Boston Stud, Miami, and 3-card Hold’em, as well as games with replacements, extra cards, twists, and all sorts of extra flops, turns, and rivers. They sometimes even include wild card games like Baseball, Low Hole Card Wild, and 5-card draw, deuces wild.

The purpose of this column will be to present articles that address that game — home game poker (though I will tend to set aside, at least at first, the crazier games and the wild card games). This column is interested in helping you get an edge in those popular but rarely written about games, showing how to adjust your strategy to win in the different setting of a home game. In so doing we’ll look at strategy considerations for games with unusual variations, and also general considerations for playing in a home game environment.

But before we start discussing home game strategy, we need to address one other matter first. How do you find a good home game?

Finding a Home Game

Finding a home game is not always easy. In fact, it has been made more difficult by the expansion of public poker rooms around the country, at the expense of home games.

In the old days, the only public poker that was readily available were games in California, Nevada, and some parts of Washington state. If you lived anywhere else, before 1992 or so, you played poker in a home game. There were more games available then — and they were easier to find. But with the enormous expansion of legal, public poker venues came the demise of private games. Why spend the time and energy organizing a game at home when a good poker game is conveniently located near you?

Today, finding a good home game can be tough. So let me give you a primer on how to find one.

Find Poker Game

Online sites can be a first step to try. There are a few sites on the web devoted to home poker games that list games by geographic region — search around, they aren’t hard to find. There’s also Craig’s List and other similar sites. Check them out. You might find something that is nearby and that has been posted relatively recently.

However, my experience lately has been that the chances of finding a game this way are slim, which is understandable as folks are concerned about letting strangers into their games. So if that doesn’t work, let me suggest the following tips:

1. Ask friends, coworkers, acquaintances, neighbors, and family

Explain to them that you love to play poker and that you’d like to find a nice friendly game nearby. Keep track of what they say. Don’t turn away any suggestions they make — even if they say that the stakes are very small or very big. One game leads to another, and one person leads to another.

2. Visit nearby organizations

I’m referring to fraternal, ethnic, neighborhood, business, professional, military, and religious organizations. These can be especially good resources if someone from your initial list of contacts is connected in some way.

Examples of these places are the Elks, Moose, Lions, Rotary, Knights of Columbus, Eagles, AmVets, VFW, Kiwanis, Polish American, Hibernian, Greek American, Jewish Community Center, Sons of Italy, country clubs, labor hiring halls, firefighters’ unions, police groups, churches, synagogues, and any other group or association you can think of.

I found my best game by visiting a downtown businessman’s club — the Union Club of Boston — and just asking if they had regular card games for members. They told me that they had a poker game and then gave me the contact information. You should do the same.

3. Go to the local library

Find Poker Home Games

There are often clubs that meet at libraries for card games like bridge, cribbage, pitch, or euchre. Find out about who organizes them. Check out other non-card games like chess, backgammon, scrabble, or checkers. Organizers of those games may well know of some poker game. I’ve even seen a poker game advertised at the library — it was a discussion group more than a game, but still, it was a starting place.

4. Visit other local gathering places

If none of the above pans out, or if you want to track every possible source, you can visit the bars, hotels, motels, restaurants, pool halls, nightclubs, bingo halls, racetracks, or other places that might have some connections for you.

I once found a poker game in Atlanta by talking with my desk clerk at the motel at which I was staying. Another time I found a poker game in Nashville by speaking with the woman who seated me at the hotel restaurant. And in Hawaii once I found a poker game by asking the concierge of my resort.

5. Try your personal networks

If you are visiting a city and want to find a game before you arrive, I’ve found that it is helpful to start with your own personal networks. I’m Jewish, so when I wanted a game in Lynchburg, Virginia — a place with no public poker rooms — I called the synagogue. I asked for a service and I asked for a poker game. Believe it or not, they didn’t have a daily service but they put me in touch with a local merchant who knew of a game, and it turned out to be both fun and profitable.

6. Accept an invitation to ANY game, no matter how big or small

I once got an invitation to the perfect $5/$10 pot -imit game from a guy I met in a game played with a nickel ante. The nickel ante game was a social affair for this guy who played much larger when he wanted serious poker. I met him in the small game, and he brought me to the larger game.

7. Keep track of what you learn in some organized way

It’s easy to forget contacts, phone numbers, emails, and the like. So write them down or enter them on the computer and get back to them occasionally to see if they have turned up any useful information.

8. Don’t get discouraged

Inside Underground Poker

It took me a couple of years of asking around before I found a game I really liked in the Boston area where I’m from. But once I found a game I learned of dozens more. I now know of many dozens of games, played just about every night of the week, for stakes that range from $1 limit to $5,000 buy-in games.

^{Photo: “Ma Première Partie de Poker,” Olivier Duperray. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.}

Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold’em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.

Want to stay atop all the latest in the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Find Underground Poker Games

• Tags

  cash game strategyhome gamesmixed gamesno-limit hold’emetiquetterules