A bill filed in the Texas House spells trouble for operators of poker rooms in the state.
The bill filed by Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat, would eliminate a defense against prosecution that many poker rooms in the state have used to avoid charges of illegal gambling. Texas law has previously provided such a defense as long as three criteria were met: the gambling was happening in a private place, everyone had a fair chance of winning and the house didn’t take a cut of the bets.
Private residence is defined in the bill as “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.”
Without this gray area, 200 employees at Texas Card House alone stand to lose their jobs. The $2 million in construction and other costs the business spent to get up and running? That will essentially be lost. Then, all the business and money the poker rooms brought into the state will go elsewhere, he said, likely to Oklahoma or Las Vegas, or to the illegal underground games that operate throughout Texas.
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