ShareWSOP legend Chris Moneymaker has had to pull poker from his new social club offerings under threat of prosecution by a newly-elected local politician.
ACR pro and ambassador Moneymaker, who famously took down the 2003 WSOP Main Event and is widely credited with sparking the poker boom of the noughties, launched his social poker room in Paducah, Kentucky last September.
This week, however, his eponymously-named Moneymaker Social had to stop offering poker after the office of newly-elected McCracken County Attorney, Cade Foster, threatened him with potential legal charges.
According to Poker.org’s Haley Hintze, “Moneymaker shared ... that the McCracken County office even contemplated two counts against Moneymaker as the owner of the club – a misdemeanour charge for gambling and a felony charge for gambling advertising.”
“We had grumblings last week that the (district attorney) was going to press charges and it could have gotten myself and some of my staff in trouble potentially,” Moneymaker explained on a PokerNews podcast, adding: “So, on the err of caution, we decided to shut it down.”
A post on the Moneymaker Social Facebook page stated: “Unfortunately we have shut down the poker part of our business until further notice. We will remain open and pivot to other activities.”
Moneymaker described the situation as “unfortunate” on his Twitter account and is reportedly working with his club’s legal counsel, Michael Byers, to find a way past the unexpected roadblock.
The problems may be associated with the club’s recent application for a liquor licence, Kentucky’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control apparently rejecting it on the grounds that Moneymaker Social “offered gambling.”
This somehow became an issue with McCracken County Attorney, Foster, despite Foster having been part of the team providing initial approval for the social poker club.
Foster has yet to publicly comment on the issue, which saw his office mothball the potential legal charges for now and allow Moneymaker to continue a $50k guaranteed tournament over the weekend, in exchange for Moneymaker’s promise to close the poker side of operations this week.
Moneymaker has stated he will keep the club open for the time being, but with poker the main revenue stream it may not be an option long-term.
He explained: “As of right now, we are going to continue to be open. I'm going to pay the employees, give them a place to work. It's not their fault that the county attorney had a change of heart.”
Of the future he added: “It depends on if we can find a sustainable business model that will generate enough revenue to pay for our employees.”
Similar stories have been playing out in Texas for the past few years, the social poker club model seen as a grey area in states where gambling is illegal, both Texas and Kentucky among them.
This has led to numerous raids, club closures, and criminal charges being brought, with the Watauga Poker Club just outside of Dallas being the most high-profile in recent months.
The raid saw police and authorities strip the club of its tables, chairs, chips cards and much more, while players received on the spot fines and the $132k prizepool of a tournament in progress also seized.
