Texas House Committee Passes Poker Bill

Although there’s still a very long way to go before Texas licenses and regulates poker, poker players in the Lone Star State got some good news yesterday when Texas State Representative Jose Menendez’s bill to do just that was passed by a 6-3 vote in the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee.

A late addition to the bill would grant the decision to regulate poker to individual communities, as opposed to an all-encompassing state ruling. However, the Texas House of Representatives must still vote on and pass this bill, giving those communities that option.

Poker Players Alliance Texas State Director Mike Lavigne commended the committee’s vote, telling the Dallas Morning News, "The vast majority of communities in Texas will hold successful elections allowing Texas Hold’em at specific locations."

If the Texas House approves this bill, cities will be able to apply for licenses to run poker games through the Texas Lottery Commission.

“This is a smart way to allow local control over what will quickly become an economic development issue,” said Lavigne.

Home poker games are currently legal in Texas as long as they don’t take a rake or benefit the house or dealer in any way. However, a growing underground scene has forced legislators to address the situation.

This isn’t the first time Rep. Menendez, a San Antonio Democrat, has fought for the licensing and regulation of poker. He first proposed a bill in 2007, but that bill died before ever making it to a House vote.

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