Pair Of Bills Could Affect Legality Of Texas Poker RoomsRep. Ryan Guillen Introduced A Bill To Legalize The State's Poker Rooms, But Rep. Matt Shaheen's Bill Would Criminalize Them |
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A pair of poker-related bills have been filed in the Texas house.
However, they have completely opposite intentions. One would formally legalize the state’s legally tenuous card rooms and another that would shut the clubs down completely.
Whether either bill receives a vote in the legislature, which meets every two years, remains to be seen.
The clubs operate in murky grey area, and online poker in Texas is only available from sweepstakes-style rooms and offshore sites.
Law enforcement has treated the clubs differently in different parts of the state. In late February a north Texas club in Tarrant County was raided and shut down by the sheriff’s deputies.
Clubs in other parts of the state, including two owned by poker pro Doug Polk and poker vloggers Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme, have thrived.
Codifying Legal Poker Clubs Into Law
Rep. Ryan Guillen introduced HB2996, which would officially allow poker to be played in a private club as long as “the public does not have access without a valid membership, special invitation, or prior grant of permission.”
Some experts are doubtful that the bill will make it through the legislature.
“Yes, it would legalize the state’s social clubs,” said Bob Jarvis, professor of law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “But I doubt very much that the bill becomes law. So far, nothing has happened since it’s been filed and this is really just a new version of Guillen’s bill from 2023.”
Guillen’s 2023 bill passed the house, but died in the senate.
On the other hand, gaming legal expert and professor I. Nelson Rose has argued that the Texas clubs don’t actually fall within current state law.
According to his Gambling and the Law blog, he believes Guillen’s bill comes closer to legalizing the clubs, but that some language remains murky.
“It might do the job, but it is far from clear,” he told Card Player when asked if this bill would legalize poker clubs. “This bill would clarify that poker may be legally played for money in private clubs. But the language about ‘economic benefit’ is unclear and confusing. It does seem to prevent clubs from raking the pot or renting seats. But charging for memberships might still be problematic, if the only thing that membership buys is the right to play poker. There may be political reasons for hiding what they are doing with this bill. But it is a much better law for everyone if they come right out and say in detail what they want to accomplish.”
Banning The Clubs
A second bill, HB2154, has also been introduced by Rep. Matt Shaheen. In stark contrast to Guillen’s bill, Shaheen’s legislation would make poker clubs illegal. The bill that would change “the definition of private place for gambling criminal offense purposes.”
Poker would only be allowed in private places, which wouldn’t include streets, highways, restaurants, taverns, nightclubs, schools, hospitals, and common areas of apartment houses, hotels, motels, office buildings, transportation facilities, and shops. The bill also adds “commercial gaming enterprises” to this list and notes that this designation “includes a for-profit poker club, card club, or game room.”
Seeing the clubs banned could upend a burgeoning industry that has seen poker venues pop up across the state. Shaheen has concerns about how the clubs are operated and possible crime associated with them, such as money laundering.
“My boss kind of views it as expanding gambling in the state where he feels that the intent of the statute right now was never to have these professional kinds of poker clubs, what we’re dealing with and what we’re seeing now,” Shaheen’s chief of staff Josh Garrett told Card Player. “To us, that’s kind of clarifying that in statute, that this isn’t the intent of the original bill, that these professional poker clubs are no longer allowed, but also the carve out of if you’re at home with your family and you want to play a hand. If you do it for a charity reason, you can do that too.”
Only time will tell if these bills receive a vote, but they come at a time when the sports betting and casino bills face significant opposition in the senate.
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