Proposed Bill Could Clarify Texas Poker RulesMore Than 200 Counties In State Would Be Tasked With Regulation |
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A pre-filed piece of legislation for the upcoming 2023 Texas legislative session would seek to clarify rules surrounding for-profit Texas poker clubs.
The bill, HB 732, is sponsored by Rep. Gene Wu. The proposal comes alongside longshot efforts to bring casinos and sports betting to the state.
Wu’s bill intends to address: “An act relating to the prosecution of the criminal offenses of gambling, keeping a gambling place, and possession of a gambling device, equipment, or paraphernalia.” The legislation would include the definition of a “private” gambling space.
“Each and every single jurisdiction now has a different interpretation of what ‘private’ means,” Wu told sbcamericas.com. “So literally, you can be in one county, and it’s perfectly legal, you step across the line to another county, and you’re now a criminal. And in a county like Harris County, where we have like 28 different law enforcement jurisdictions, it can depend on who’s the Chief of police,” he said. “That’s bad public policy. People should know whether they’re committing criminal acts or not. We have an entire line of Supreme Court cases about ambiguity, about what is the intent of the law, and we shouldn’t enforce laws that are too ambiguous for people to follow. So that’s where we are.”
Under Wu’s plan, the 254 counties in the state could choose how they want to regulate social poker clubs. Under the current system, many cities in the state regulate poker.
“Whatever that regulation looks like, I don’t care," Wu said, according to the report. "Having 254 regulations is better than having thousands of regulations. And what’s worse is the current system where the legality of the action changes on the administration.”
The bill comes as some poker clubs have had to close under various rules in their respective areas. There are still dozens of card rooms in the bustling Texas poker market.
According to the bill: “Private residence means a dwelling to which the public does not have access and excludes, among other places, streets, highways, restaurants, taverns, nightclubs, schools, hospitals, and the common areas of apartment houses, hotels, motels, office buildings, transportation facilities, and shops.”
The law, still in its early form, wouldn’t shield past wrongdoing.
“The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act,” the bill states. “An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.”
If enacted, the law would take effect on September 1, 2023.
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