He’s ready. Chris Moneymaker is ready to put himself out there, to become the owner of a new social club in Kentucky.
On September 1, he plans to open the doors of Moneymaker’s Social Club to the public. Anyone of legal age can pay a membership fee at said doors and enter. They will find everything from billiards to poker – social games, if you will – with Moneymaker himself often at the tables.
It’s a risky move, he admits. But life is full of risks. What is life if you don’t try to take some of them?
Plans Coming Together
In two and a half weeks from this writing, Chris Moneymaker will step into fairly uncharted territory, opening a club that will offer poker in a state with only one other such entity in operation thus far.
It will be located in Paducah, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Illinois and halfway between St. Louis (Missouri) and Nashville (Tennessee). Paducah is also the home of the National Quilt Museum, if anyone is interested in such things.
The one and only investor in the club is Chris Moneymaker, making it easy to call it Moneymaker’s Social Club.
Moneymaker tells us the club will operate on the membership model, charging patrons to enter the premises. Paying customers can then participate in any of the games, which will include standard cash games – probably Hold’em and Omaha to start – but accommodate players as demand grows for more options. There will also be billiards and darts, football and golf games, and other games like gin and backgammon. And the facility will provide free coffee, soda, and snacks.
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Life Consists of Risks
Moneymaker’s Social Club will open on September 1. Despite that date being only two and a half weeks from the time of this writing, the club’s owner appears as cool as a cucumber.
To be fair, it is rather difficult to rattle Moneymaker. He takes most adversity in stride, especially in an industry in which he has worked for nearly two decades.
Moneymaker is no stranger to the spotlight, which started the moment he won the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event. It wasn’t as easy to navigate the waters then, thrust into a new world as a world champion and PokerStars-sponsored player. He experienced his share of love and hate in the industry through the years, often credited with sparking the poker boom – the Moneymaker Effect – while also being doubted for his poker abilities. He learned how to deal with all of it on the fly. And more than 19 years after that life-changing WSOP victory, he is ready to jump into new waters.
The Royal Social Club opened in July 2021 with eight poker tables in London, Kentucky. It quickly expanded to 11 tables and widened its offerings to include Limit O8 cash games and Hold’em tournaments. Within one year, demand has grown to generate four tournaments each week, some now with guarantees.
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One year later, that sole poker club in Kentucky will find itself facing competition, though the two clubs will be located across the state – more than a five-hour drive – from each other.
Texas has long fought the battle over membership-based poker clubs. Poker rooms in Texas have faced raids and court battles but have continued to operate in a state that forbids casinos and raked games like poker. The membership or subscription-based model has taken advantage of a rather large loophole in the state’s antiquated gambling laws, and poker rooms are not only operating in full view but thriving.
Moneymaker wants Kentucky to have the same opportunities. He calls Kentucky an “underserviced market” and wants to give players some good ol’ fashioned poker. It will also be conveniently located at the border of Kentucky and Illinois and very close to Missouri and not far from Arkansas, the room can try to meet the poker needs of people from a variety of underserved places.
When asked if he is concerned about the risks, he responded simply, “Everything in life is a risk. I like taking chances and offering a service to people that don’t generally have access.”
The best thing about risk is the possible reward. And the award awaits many poker players if the club is a success.
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