Full House Poker - Eugene Oregon

[BobJoeJim]

Hey, I don't know if any of you guys are from the Willamette Valley, but if you are and you've checked out this place, I'd love to hear your comments. I just found out about it myself and was wondering how the games stack up.

Oh, right, the background info [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Full House Poker is an 18+ pokerroom that opened about a month ago in downtown Eugene. I just heard about it yesterday, when I happened to drive by, and so far haven't gone in myself, but I was able to glean a little bit of info from newspaper articles. Since city ordinances prohibit a rake, or basically any form of profiting from gambling, they apparently operate on a "country club" concept, charging membership dues, and only allowing members to play in the live games. The games are unraked, but they take 5% of buy-ins as a fee, plus of course dealer tipping. The exact details of how they got around city ordinances almost led me to post this in the Legislation forum, instead, since I thought it was legally very interesting, but I also want to know if anyone on this forum has played there yet, so it ended up in B&M instead.

[DING-DONG YO]

WOW, only 5% of buy-in? That kicks azz!!

[BobJoeJim]

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WOW, only 5% of buy-in? That kicks azz!!

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So said the local paper
As I said, I'm yet to check it out. $25/month, $50/3 months, $75/6 months, or $100/year in membership dues, plus 5% of buy-ins doesn't seem to bad for an unraked game, but I have no idea what limits they spread, or how the games actually are... yet [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[ToeHold]

I wonder if this would be legal to do in Portland?

[BobJoeJim]

I don't know... I haven't read Portland's city ordinances. Eugene has provisions allowing "social gaming," but prohibiting games with a house rake, or where "house income is derived from social gaming."

The "country club" structure, in which "table fees" are charged instead of green fees, gets around the restrictions, but I also know that state law prohibits gambling, except that individual cities have the right to declare "social gaming" legal. Eugene did, and if Portland did as well then a similar setup may be feasible there as well, but you'd have to check your city charter [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

EDIT: I just skimmed the Portland city code, and the only reference to gambling I saw was a note that "It is unlawful for any person to play any game of chance or to carry on betting of any kind within the park boundaries."

Without specific city provisions allowing it, I believe social gaming is illegal in Oregon, so this probably wouldn't work in Portland. However the Portland metropolitan area includes many other cities, which I presume have their own city codes, and I'd be willing to bet that at least one of them allows social gaming...

[96roadster]

Just thought I would bump this and see if anybody has any more recent info about it? I stopped in there a couple months ago and they said they have 1/2NL cash games running pretty regularly, with an occasional 2/5NL and limit games going, i think they said limit was 4/8. Im really tempted to go give the 1/2NL game a try try, the fact that its open late and is close to the bars could make it great late at night. Overall a pretty clean place I was impressed. Just wondering if anybody has actually played there.

[Happydaz]

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Just thought I would bump this and see if anybody has any more recent info about it? I stopped in there a couple months ago and they said they have 1/2NL cash games running pretty regularly, with an occasional 2/5NL and limit games going, i think they said limit was 4/8. Im really tempted to go give the 1/2NL game a try try, the fact that its open late and is close to the bars could make it great late at night. Overall a pretty clean place I was impressed. Just wondering if anybody has actually played there.

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Roadster-

I'm not a great no limit player but my impression of the Full House game is that it's pretty straightforward. It plays very similarly to .01/.02 NL on Party (go figure.) You can underbet the pot on draws and get paid off for a lot with top pair and such. People really, really like to see the river in that game. This is partially because the 1/2 is a 40 min 200 max game, so most the players don't have a deep enough stack to be pushed out of pots, especially with a monster like KJ for second pair :-)

There's usually 1 to 3 tables most nights of the week there. Doors often open around 6. Peak time is around 9-10 p.m., it's usually open until the last game breaks at 2ish.

My advice is to buy in for the full $200 and pay the 5 % chip rake with another $10 so you go in with as large a stack as you can. The club's rules are really weird on stuff like straddles and kill pots (not applicable for the NL game but they usually spread one table of 4/8 limit on Tuesday nights if there's enough interest.)

PM me for more info if you need it.

[Hey_Porter]

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I wonder if this would be legal to do in Portland?

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http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3138/6556/

I question whether or not it really is legal, but this story ran a year ago, and the place is still running (although, from what I understand, a faction split off and started another place that is just as if not more successful).

[96roadster]

I have been into the place in portland as well (I think its called Black Barts) honestly i didnt get a good vibe while in there, and the whole thing seemed semi legal. Havn't heard about a split though

[Hey_Porter]

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I have been into the place in portland as well (I think its called Black Barts) honestly i didnt get a good vibe while in there, and the whole thing seemed semi legal. Havn't heard about a split though

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The guy who ran all the tournaments at black barts is the one who split, apparently bart raised the "donation" to $7, so the guy found another place to play just down the road. He still charges 5, though. I've heard there's a much better "vibe" in the new place, despite of its probable illegality.