New Texas Poker Club Built by Women Aims to Make the Game More Welcoming

^{The Den Poker Lounge co-founders Jamie Kempf (left) and Marjorie Bradford (right) finally bring their shared vision to life. (Photo: courtesy of Jamie Kempf)}

A new private poker club, The Den Poker Lounge, opened its doors in Rowlett, Texas, with a soft opening on Nov. 5 and an official grand opening set for Thursday, Nov. 12. The club features up to 15 tables, no rake, and multiple no-limit tournaments ranging from $10 to $80.

The soft opening was a friends-and-family night. The grand opening starts at 3 p.m. Thursday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. The Den models itself around current Texas law, which allows gambling in private places with a minimum age of 18 and a BYOB policy.

Jamie Kempf and Marjorie Bradford are the co-founders of The Den, located in Rowlett, Texas, about 20 minutes east of downtown Dallas. They first bonded over a home poker game more than a decade ago. Neither could have known that a shared love of the game would eventually lead to a business partnership. This month they turned that connection into something bigger when they opened the doors.

Kempf and Bradford are among the few women to co-own and found a poker room in Texas. They’re mostly keeping it a family affair, with Bradford’s husband Rick and Kempf’s husband Quaint also serving as co-founders.

How Membership-Based Poker Clubs Work in Texas

The business model of poker rooms in Texas differs from that of casino poker rooms in several areas. It’s built around the membership-based business model: a player pays a fee to join the club, and may pay an hourly seat rental or time charge to play.

Players compete against each other, with winnings going only to the players, and the house not taking a rake (a percentage of the pot) as they do in Vegas.

“With poker rooms still being such a grey area in the state of Texas, we are going to ensure we do everything by the book,” Kempf told Casinos.com. “You have to become a member in order to sit down at any table. Once a member, we charge an hourly seat fee to play cash.”

The owners provide a private space to play and usually make their money from membership and seat fees. It’s legal in Texas under Section 47.04, which states that it’s permitted in private places, excluding restaurants, taverns, or nightclubs.

Membership prices at The Den range from $15 per week to $275 per year, which includes tournament and cash game access. Players must be 18 or older to play, which is also different from the 21-and-up age requirement at most casinos.

Operating a poker room in Texas still comes with legal uncertainty. State law prohibits operators from receiving any economic benefit from the game other than personal winnings, raising questions about rake percentages and membership fees.

The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, a suburb north of Austin, was raided in March by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on suspicion of money laundering, organized crime, and illegal gambling. It was initially forced to close, but later reopened May 26 after a grand jury decided not to indict the club.

Turning Poker Love Into a Community Business

Designed to evoke the feel of a good old-fashioned private lounge with a touch of luxury, The Den puts as much emphasis on sociability and community as it does on the game itself. The 15-table room has been two years in the making.

“We will be offering any games people want to play,” Kempf said. “Obviously No Limit Hold’em at multiple stakes and we’ve even had people contact us about games as big as 50/100. We also are planning to have 1-2 tables of PLO.”

Kempf started playing poker when her father-in-law introduced her to it. Her family started hosting $10 tournaments with unlimited rebuys, which made winning less about skill and more about who had the biggest bankroll. “We won a few times and kind of got hooked,” she added. “From there we got invited to Marjorie’s home game and just kept coming back.”

Bradford was around 20 when she started playing with her family. They had $10 cash game buy-ins and ultimately started playing a couple of times a month. “We were pretty cutthroat with each other,” she said.

She met a couple of people while playing a freeroll game in town and was encouraged to start a home game, which they hosted for ten years until COVID. “We love people, love poker and love hosting, so it was a no-brainer for us,” she said.

In addition to poker, the lounge will host watch parties, networking events, trivia nights, and singles mixers, offering plenty of opportunities to socialize. Guests won’t have to leave their seats to grab a bite if they don’t want to, since food can be ordered from a selection of four restaurants and delivered directly to the lounge.

The Den will serve only nonalcoholic beverages, but players may bring their own alcohol as long as they follow the club’s check-in policy. Alcohol cannot be sold, transferred, or distributed on the premises.

Balancing Family, Poker and Entrepreneurship

Family is front and center for both women. Bradford previously ran an in-home daycare for 18 years in order to raise her children. She has five children and fourteen grandchildren and had always wanted to be in real estate. She promised herself once her youngest graduated, she would pursue her dream.

“I never imagined I would be as successful as I am now,” Bradford said. “I sold 78 homes in my first six months. It’s been a whirlwind ever since!”

Kempf has three children, and counts herself lucky that her husband has always been her “biggest supporter” in all she does. She said that he’s helped build the entire room alongside her and Bradford’s father, from the front desk to the tournament director’s desk to the shelves in the bar, all done by hand. Kempf and her husband also own five other businesses aside from the new poker club.

“I’ve never been so busy in my entire life, but I know it’s going to be 100% worth it,” Kempf said. “My husband and I have a saying: “HWPO” (Hard Work Pays Off).”

Kempf is more of a tournament player, having placed second at the $500 NLHE Gargantuan WSOPC at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma. But Bradford prefers cash games more and sees them as a quicker way to have fun and make more money.

She generally doesn't have “a lot of extra spare time to play hours in a tournament,” but says her family means the most to her and “they'll always come first” among all her priorities.

“My family means more to me than anything else in this world, so they will always come first,” she added.

Making Room for More Women in Poker

Groups such as the Women's Poker Association and the Ladies International Poker Series are helping strengthen the poker community by creating spaces where women feel welcomed, supported, and encouraged to compete.

“It’s important to foster women in poker because like it or not, we’re here,” Kempf said. “More and more women are finding their passion for the game. Every time I go to a circuit event or big local tournament, I see more and more women participating. I want to show women that may be scared to take that first step that it’s okay to try.”

When asked why creating a more welcoming environment for women in poker matters, Bradford had a straightforward answer.

“I have sat at many tables where men don’t have any respect for the way they act or talk around women,” Bradford said. “I feel as though making this a women-based company gives women a better opportunity to earn respect.”

The Den will enter a competitive Texas poker market, with established operators such The Lodge Card Club (with locations in Round Rock and San Antonio), Texas Card House in Houston and Champions Club in Austin. However, the sizable population across the Dallas-Fort Worth area offers a substantial potential customer base.

“So many people dream of doing something like this, but never have the time, money, or drive to do it,” Kempf said. “I’m so incredibly lucky that I have Marjorie who shares the same dream as me, and is able to help us make this dream a reality.”