Following Threats of Criminal Action from Local Authorities, Chris Moneymaker has been forced to shut down His Kentucky Poker Room, Moneymaker Social Club.
The poker room, which opened in September and was in Paducah, had initially received approval from Sam Clymer, the McCracken County Attorney at the time. However, Cade Foster, Clymer’s replacement, has reversed his decision to permit Moneymaker Social Club to continue distributing poker games.
Why Moneymaker Social Club Had to Close Moneymaker talked about what happened and what he plans to do with the business he invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to open less than a year ago in an exclusive interview that will be available on this week’s upcoming episode of the Podcast. Moneymaker could have faced misdemeanor and felony charges related to illegal gambling because gambling is illegal in Kentucky.
Moneymaker declared, “We’ve decided to pull out the poker tables and shut down the poker part of the business.” In fact, that is the majority of the business at the moment.”
“We had grumblings last week that the (district attorney) was going to press charges, and it could have potentially gotten me and some of my staff in trouble,” the district attorney stated.
In the same way that Texas card rooms operate, Moneymaker Social Club dealers do not scoop rake out of the pots. All things being equal, they charge enrollment and seat expenses to players. The company will continue to function as a social club for the time being, offering food, pool tables, and other merely without the poker, and the 2003 poker champion will be able to retain his staff in this manner. At least for the time being.
Moneymaker elaborated, “We had grumblings last week that the (district attorney) was going to press charges, and it could have potentially gotten myself and some of my staff in trouble.” Therefore, we made the prudent decision to shut it down.”
Something clearly changed between Septembers, when his business license was approved, and now. Moneymaker discussed the reasons why his club is being targeted right now.
“We went and talked to the county attorney, Sam Clymer, before we opened, and he wrote a big, nice, long document of 10 to 12 pages saying that everything we’re going to be doing in the room is completely, 100% legal.”
The former poker champion, who was largely responsible for the growth of the poker boom in the 2000s, claimed that McCracken County and the City of Paducah, a small, blue-collar town of about 27,000 people, gave him their blessing before he opened Moneymaker Social Club.
“So we used this letter to open in September, and its fine; nobody has spoken to us. There was not a single negative comment made about the room.
Cash cow then, at that point, said that a couple of months prior he’d applied for an alcohol permit through the Kentucky Branch of Alcoholic Control (ABC). His new business took a bad turn at that point.
Moneymaker stated, “Initially, it appeared as though (the ABC) was going to approve us, but we ended up getting declined.” The Alcoholic Beverage Commission of Kentucky (ABC) probably wrote a letter and sent it to Cade Foster, the new county attorney, roughly two months later, roughly this week.
The letter for the liquor license was recently delivered to Foster, who was elected county attorney in November after Clymer declined to run for reelection. Moneymaker explained that the ABC was aware that gambling is against the law in Kentucky, which is why the liquor license was turned down.
Thus, as indicated by the Poker Lobby of Famer, Encourage probably then started “investigating what we are doing,” yet concedes he isn’t sure precisely exact thing made the province lawyer adjust his perspective on the lawfulness of Gold mine Social Club.
Moneymaker claimed in the Podcast interview that Foster was aware of his business model prior to taking on his current position and that he had informed the poker player that he supported the social poker club model.
What’s Next for Chris Moneymaker as a Business Owner
While Moneymaker was in England last week for the iGB Affiliate Awards, his attorney contacted Foster’s office to make a deal that Moneymaker would get away with not being charged with a crime if the poker part of his business was shut down. Additionally, he requested permission to finish the $50,000 guaranteed tournament that his club was hosting first. Both of them were approved.
The owner of the business wanted to make sure that his employees didn’t lose their jobs and avoid criminal charges. As he made sense of in the meeting, he is presently considering choices, for example, maybe, transforming the foundation into a pool lobby and bar, or perhaps something different. But he still wants to be able to bring poker back to Moneymaker Social Club in a legal way one day.
Moneymaker stated, “As of right now, we are going to continue to be open.” I’ll pay the workers and provide them with a place to work. The county attorney’s change of heart was not their fault.
However, he also stated that he has no idea how long the doors will remain open. Without poker, the fundamental income stream, he can’t foresee what will occur with the business monetarily.
Moneymaker stated regarding his capacity to continue operating his business, “It depends on if we can find a sustainable business model that will generate enough revenue to pay for our employees.”
He acknowledged that it will be challenging in the future without alcohol or poker. But he’s hopeful that he can find a way to keep Moneymaker Social Club open, keep his employees employed, and possibly bring legal poker back one day. On Thursday’s Podcast, you can listen to the entire 30-minute conversation with Chris Moneymaker.