The first thing certain readers might notice upon stepping inside Merkow’s are the two flat-screen TV’s hanging over the bar. No, this isn’t a sports bar, and in fact the HDTV’s are only a minor part of the decor. But they sure do look familiar … ah, right … these used to hang in The Lounge (2005-2006). In fact, when the TVs were yanked out in the spring of this year, it was a sign of things to come in the underground poker scene.

Without going into too many details, Gregg Merkow — the most successful Dallas pro at the 2006 WSOP (save for maybe TJ Cloutier and expat David Williams) — at some point decided that he was gonna stick to trying to make his money on the table; and he was gonna hedge his bets by moving those TVs into a business with a less predictable but more reliable rake. And considering he already had found great success with the Hurricane Grill, why not just step that up a notch … next door, at the site of the old Greenville Bar & Grill?

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