Independent guide · Aledo, Texas
The Fort Card Room, read before you buy in
A plain guide to the members-only poker club on the I-20 frontage road in Aledo: what membership and seat time cost, which games run, the tournament week, the house rules and how Texas card rooms stay open. Written from the club's own pages and rule book on November 5, 2026. We are not the club.
Seven tournaments a week
19:00
- Buy-in
- $0 – $100
- Guarantee
- up to $2,500
- Starts
- 7 pm weeknights
From the club's weekly list on its Game Info page, read November 5, 2026. Times are Central. Events change, so check the live feed before you drive.
Level 01 · at a glance
The room in eight numbers
Where
Aledo, TX
8420 I-20 Frontage Rd, west of Fort Worth
Opens
10:00
closes 4 a.m. or “when the game is done”
Tables
16
cash games and tournaments
Membership
$10
a day; $30 a month, $300 a year
Seat time
$8 / $12
an hour: $1/2 NLH / every other game
Rake
$0
the club FAQ says it takes nothing from pots
Age
21+
membership page and agreement (footer says 19)
Drinks
BYOB
no alcohol sold; staff store and serve yours
Source: the club home page, Membership, FAQ and Contact pages, and the membership agreement.
Level 02 · tournament week
Seven tournaments, one a day
Today is lit. Weeknights start at 7 pm, Saturday at 2 pm, Sunday at 1 pm. Structures and monthly events
Mon
7:00 pm
$100 Monday B.E.A.S.T Mix
Buy-in $100
No guarantee listed
Tue
7:00 pm
Free Bullet Tuesday
Buy-in $0
GTD $2,000
Wed
7:00 pm
Wednesday Free Bullet Mystery Bounty
Buy-in not listed
No guarantee listed
Thu
7:00 pm
Thursday Bounty NLH
Buy-in $100
No guarantee listed
Fri
7:00 pm
Free Bullet Friday
Buy-in $0
GTD $2,500
Sat
2:00 pm
Saturday $2K GTD
Buy-in $100
GTD $2,000
Sun
1:00 pm
Free Bullet Sunday
Buy-in $0
GTD $2,000
Level 03 · the bill
What a night costs before the first hand
Membership plus seat time; the club takes no rake. Work out your own night
4 hours of $1/2 NLH
- Daily membership$10
- Seat time 4 h × $8$32
Total$42
The cheapest table in the room.
6 hours of $1/3 NLH
- Daily membership$10
- 5-hour time deal$55
- 1 more hour × $12$12
Total$77
Paying by the hour would be $82.
Free Bullet Friday
- Daily membership$10
- Tournament buy-in$0
Total$10
Membership is required even for a $0 tournament.
Level 04 · first visit
Four things to sort out before you drive
Check what is running
Look at the club's Live Game Feed: it shows each cash game with the number of tables open and players waiting, plus the next tournaments. If the game you want shows no tables, call (817) 441-1045; Game Info says staff will start a list for a game that isn't running.
Bring ID that shows your age
The membership page and the agreement both say 21 and over, and the agreement lets the club run background checks. We found no written ID rule on the site, but age can't be checked without one. The footer on every club page still says 19; go by 21.
Sign up at the counter
Membership is required before you can play any cash game or tournament, free ones included. The daily tier is $10. You sign the club's membership agreement (what it says) and pay by cash or card.
Get on the list
Seats are given from a waiting list. When a second table of the same game opens, the newer one may be a must-move game: you play there until a seat opens in the main game.
Level 05 · house rules
Six rules that surprise first-timers
From the club rule book dated January 31, 2025. All the rules worth knowing
R25
Phones are allowed if they don't slow the game. Text only when your cards are in the muck, never to a player at your table, and keep the phone off the felt.
R27
Only English may be spoken at the table while cards are in play. That includes someone watching who talks to a player.
R38
No photos or recording of other members, staff, the room or its operations. Photos of your own hands and boards need management approval (rule 31).
R30
“Card Room regulations allow the use of Shills and Proposition Members. Shills and Proposition Members shall be identified by management upon request.” In card room terms these are players the room places in games to start or keep them going. If you want to know who they are at your table, ask management, as the rule says you may.
R63
Come back to the same game within an hour of cashing out and you must buy in for at least what you took off.
R20
Members can ask the dealer for a bomb pot on the hour and the half hour. You may opt out, and the button does not move for the next hand.
Level 06 · Texas law
How a Texas card room stays open
Texas licenses no poker rooms. Clubs rely on a defense in Penal Code §47.02(b): a private place, no economic benefit for anyone beyond winnings, and equal odds. That is why The Fort is members-only, takes nothing from pots and charges for membership and seat time instead.
Whether those fees are themselves an “economic benefit” has never been settled statewide. In March 2026 state agents raided The Lodge in Round Rock; a grand jury declined to indict in April. We found no case against The Fort.
Who writes this
Loot Brook is independent. We are not part of The Fort Card Room, it does not pay us, and we sell nothing. Everything here comes from the club's public pages and PDFs, read on November 5, 2026, and from the public record on Texas law. Where the club's own pages disagree, for example on the minimum age, we show both. How we check