Gut Shot Yushima

If you want to see how Japan squares a huge poker population with a Penal Code that bans gambling, read a Japanese club's own price list. Gut Shot's is unusually clear about it.

What you are paying for

Nothing at a Japanese amusement club is a wager. You pay a fee and receive points, and the points buy you a seat and a game rather than a payout. Gut Shot publishes the rates plainly: 3,000 yen for 500 points, 5,000 for 1,000, 8,000 for 2,000. Points you leave on deposit can be drawn back out for play at 1,000 yen per 500, once you have entered a tournament or rented chips. There is no exchange into money, and the club says so in its own description of itself.

The games

Hold'em is the main game, dealt at 5/10 with no rake taken from the pot — the club's income is the chip fee, not a cut of the action. Blackjack runs from 20 to 1,500 with a pair side bet of 5 to 100. Chinese poker carries a table fee of 30 points per game in 10-point units and asks for 300 points to sit down.

For a first visit

The beginners' plan is 3,000 yen and includes 500 ring points. The lesson itself is played with separate teaching chips, so the 500 points are still there when you join a real game afterwards.