That club fee and that hourly rate fee are the reasons that the poker room stays in business, not the reasons it will go out of business, unless the state eventually decides otherwise. Every "legal" poker room in Texas operates the same way in order to skirt the state gambling laws. The poker rooms have to treat themselves as social clubs. There are a few other states with the same type of arrangements in poker rooms. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not trying to justify it; that's just the way it is. In Texas, that membership fee can be $10/day, $30/month, or $300/year. The hourly rate can be anywhere from $10/hour to $13/hour.

I play in quite a few of the rooms, and the feeling of being stuck before I sit down is disconcerting. However, if I win a few hands an hour, I end up making more money paying the hourly rate than if I'm playing in a raked game. For example, in a raked game, the rake may be $5/hand (if I'm lucky). If I win three hands in an hour, I just paid $15; if I were playing in a "legal" poker room, those three hands cost me only $10 to $13. On the other hand, if I'm losing, the hourly rate just costs me more money. In a "legal" poker room, theoretically a table of nine could play all night without having to add money to the table; in a raked game, if no players add money, eventually, all the money ends up belonging to the house. Again, I'm not trying to justify it; it's just another way of trying to play within the state gambling laws.