Johnny Chan's Houston Cardroom Shut Down Amid Theft Allegations

Johnny Chan’s cardroom in Houston, Texas, was closed this week amid claims and counterclaims of financial impropriety. Players were unable to cash out their chips, leading to multiple rumors. Mike Matusow hinted at a possible buyout of Johnny Chan’s cardroom.

There were claims that a sports bettor who welched on his debts had pissed off Chan’s clientele, who promptly moved across the road to a rival cardroom. A rush on the bank for the recently-concluded WSOP was another claim, although that “rush” was in fact – according to Chan himself (or at least, as he allegedly told Mike “the Mouth” Matusow!) simply his business partner simply emptying the bank and safety deposit boxes while Chan was off on WSOP duty. There is also a lawsuit buried in the details surrounding Chan becoming a part-owner of the club in 2019, formerly the 52 Social.

The 88 Social doors have been shut all week, and that on the back of daily limits on cash withdrawals from as far back as October and a cancelled December Winter Classic series that had promised six-figure guarantees. Poker rooms and gambling halls in Texas operate as “social clubs”, where membership and daily or table fees replace the rake. A1 today: Attys for a #Houston poker club say a @kimoggforda consultant leveraged his ties to the DA to convince the club to pay $250k to lobby for a city gambling ordinance. But it was all a scam, and when the club asked ?s, they got raided in a DA probe. The employee allegedly scammed $250,000 from two Texan cardrooms on the promise of helping to push legislation for legalized poker.