Nine Arrested in Houston Poker Room Organised Crime Raids

4 years ago
Nine Arrested in Houston Poker Room Organised Crime Raids
07:44
07 May

Nine people connected to two Houston poker clubs have been arrested for allegedly engaging in organized crime and money laundering, one poker room owner being led out in handcuffs just minutes before a 5-day tournament was due to begin…

The Post Oak Poker Club and the Prime Social Poker Room were both targeted by Houston Police Department and the Harris County DA’s Office as part of a 2-year investigation.

District Attorney Kim Ogg announced the arrests and first-degree felony charges, explaining that players in the two clubs are not the target of the criminal probe.


The gambling laws in Texas have led to a murky existence for many poker rooms, state legislation only offering protection if gambling ‘takes place in a private place where no person receives an economic benefit beyond personal winnings’.

Houston PD Chief Art Acevedo explained the authorities approach this week, saying:

"We're not going to tolerate it. We got two of the bigger ones today and this is just the beginning. We need to shut them down. If you want to have these kind of establishments, the legislature needs to authorize it, otherwise we're going to do our job and shut them down."

Bank accounts have been frozen and investigators seized computers and hard drives in the raids, while the nine arrested were named by abc13 news as:

Post Oak Poker Club

  • Daniel Jeffery Kebort, owner
  • William Jack Heuer III, owner
  • Alan Harris Chodrow, owner
  • Sergio Diaz Cabrera, owner
  • Kevin Louis Chodrow, owner

Prime Social Poker Room

  • Dean Maddox, owner
  • Mary Switzer, comptroller
  • Brent J. Pollack, general manager
  • Steven Farshid, asst. general manager

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Andrew from Edinburgh, Scotland, is a professional journalist, international-titled chess master, and avid poker player.Read more

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