"So you're off to work?" is not something I usually ask a rider, but since they were open to a conversation, I said, what the heck. He chattily replies, "You'll see when we get there."
Half amused but primarily curious, I look at my Uber Driver app and see that he is going to the Legends Poker Room on Richmond Avenue. With a glance, I told him I knew where he was going.
In the past so many years, anyone who drives for a living will tell you that poker rooms have opened all over the city, indicating that game's popularity. The rider said he had recently moved to town and bought himself a condo to get in on the "action."
Intrigued, I inquired about that "action." He tells me that Houston is a hotbed of activity for poker playing and that professionals from all over the world have come to town. He says that they rent Airbnb's and motel rooms. Some will grind it out at the poker rooms for 3-4 months, then return to their hometowns. Most of them, however, will be in town for a couple of days, like the guy from Dallas who brought his wife and daughter for vacation. After a family day, they retired to the hotel room while he made his way to the poker room.
Apart from cash games with my buddies and maybe playing at some bar on "poker night," I would describe my game as highly casual, so I find his conversation somewhat enthralling. I've seen Rounders, and I'll watch the World Series of Poker on TV occasionally, so the idea that the pros are in town intrigued me.
I recalled the number of times I had dropped off or picked up players from these rooms, which matched what the rider had said. For that reason, I chose to list the top 3 most popular poker rooms in the city based on the number of riders I have dropped off and picked up. Of course, I'm only one driver, but if one were to extrapolate from my experience, logic holds the same must be valid for other drivers. Then again, one can only assume that if they did a study, one of which I did not.
Nevertheless, here is my list of the most popular poker rooms in Houston, Texas.
Legends Poker Room, 9275 Richmond Ave Ste 101, Houston, TX 77063
101 Poker Room, 9371 Richmond Avenue, Houston, Texas 77063
Empire Poker Club, 9296 Westheimer Rd Ste 100, Houston, TX 77063
To all the other drivers, is this your experience, or at which poker clubs have you dropped off and picked up riders? Let us know in the comments below, or start a discussion in the forum.