101 Poker Club in Katy Shut Down After Houston Police Raid

• Houston police raided 101 Poker Club in Katy around 11:30 a.m. on October 22, and the room has been shut down.
• Players were let go right away, while dealers and staff were detained and at least one non-dealer employee was arrested.
• The reason hasn’t been revealed, though PokerNews sources say the club charged membership fees and was also taking chips out of pots.
• The raid follows recent action against Lucky J Social Club in Houston and the March 2026 raid on The Lodge Card Club.

PokerNews reported on Thursday that the Houston Police Department initiated the raid. Sources told the outlet that guns were drawn and players were removed from the games.

Video taken outside the club showed officers blocking the entrance. Players were let go right away. Dealers and staff stayed behind, and PokerNews reported that at least one staff member, someone other than a dealer, was arrested.

The identity of that person hasn’t been made public, and neither have any charges. PokerNews said it had contacted HPD, which hadn’t responded yet.

With the reason for the raid still unrevealed, attention has turned to how the room made its money. In Texas, that question decides whether a poker room is legal.

According to PokerNews, Chapter 47 of the Texas Penal Code leaves room for legal poker as long as the house doesn’t collect rake. Rooms that want to stay legal charge membership and seat fees instead, a model we break down in our guide to Texas poker laws.

Multiple sources who have played at 101 Poker Club told PokerNews the room doesn’t use the standard Texas setup of a time-based seat fee. Those sources say the club charges membership fees and has also been taking chips out of pots.

That description is a rake. Whether it’s what brought HPD through the door is still unclear.

Membership checks are another possible issue. One source told PokerNews that regulars often walk in unchecked, while unfamiliar players are usually asked for proof of membership. When the room gets busy, some players get in without any check at all.

Anyone who followed The Lodge Card Club saga will recognize that detail. PokerNews noted that lax membership checks were a contention of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) when it raided The Lodge in March 2026.

The raid hit a room with plenty of action. PokerNews reported that tables were often packed on weekends, and a random weekday could still run 8–10 games.

The game mix leaned toward low-to-mid stakes No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha.

The club also ran a full kitchen. PokerNews said the club is considered to have some of the best food among Texas poker rooms. For the regulars who filled those 8–10 games, the shutdown means finding a new place to play, live or online.

101 Poker Club is the latest Houston-area room to see police at the door. PokerNews reported that Houston appears to be starting a crackdown on illegal gambling, adding that many rooms in the city are illegally collecting rake.

Lucky J Social Club in Houston was raided recently and has already reopened. According to PokerNews, it now offers additional non-poker table games, which aren’t legal in Texas.

Other Texas rooms have come back from enforcement action. After the TABC raid on The Lodge in March 2026, an April 2026 grand jury ruling paved the way for the room to reopen.

Texas Card House went the courtroom route, winning at the Texas Supreme Court in September 2025 after Dallas tried to close it. We covered that fight in our story on the Texas Card House case.

Whether 101 Poker Club follows either path depends on details that haven’t been revealed.

This is a developing story, and the biggest questions remain open:

• Why HPD raided the room, since the reason hasn’t been revealed.
• Who was arrested and whether any charges have been filed.
• Whether the alleged rake or loose membership checks played a part.
• Whether 101 Poker Club will reopen, and when.

We’ll update this story when HPD or the club shares more.

Texas card rooms run on a narrow legal model. The house charges for the seat and the membership, and it never takes a cut of the pot.

With PokerNews reporting a possible Houston crackdown, the Katy raid could mean more scrutiny for rooms across the city. If you play in Texas, know how your room makes its money. Seat fees and memberships keep the house inside the law, while chips leaving the pot are a red flag.

Until the reason for Thursday’s raid is revealed, 101 Poker Club’s regulars are waiting on the river.