Texas Poker Laws
Texas law states poker is legal so long as it’s played in a private place, the house doesn’t take a cut out of the games and all players stand the same chances at winning and losing. Online Poker in Texas Online poker is currently illegal in Texas. Even though the gambling law does not specifically state that online poker is forbidden, it is excluded from the list of approved forms of. Texas State Poker. The poker laws are relatively lenient for the players, but not so much for the operators. There is also no casinos or licensed poker rooms in this state. Most of the poker players from Texas state will play poker in Nevada, play social games at home or play online poker. Texas Poker Room. Play at Bet Online. Texas is one of the strictest states when it comes to gambling and its laws can cover a wide variety of activities. Under Texas law, (Penal Code §47.02) gambling is considered a criminal offense if someone: makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest.
I remember in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s, I used to play poker at a lot of the underground poker rooms in Dallas. Many of them had been in business for years. At some point, though, they started getting raided by the cops.
This continued until all the places I knew about had been closed. I vaguely understood that there were underground casinos in Dallas, too, but I didn’t play at any of them. I know that many bars and gas stations had the equivalent of slot machines – in Texas, they’re called 8-liners.
At one time, most of the mid-sized cities had even opened up so-called “game rooms” featuring these 8-liners. Most of them are now closed, too. The only one I ever played in with any regularity was in Farmersville.
It was fun, but you couldn’t win real cash there. You could only cash in points for merchandise, most of which looked like it had been bought on sale at Dollar General. I remember gardening tools and a 6-pack of canned corn.
And it made me wonder why the Texas gambling scene doesn’t have real casinos.
In this post, I’m going to delve into that subject a little more.
Texas Has Strict Gambling Laws
The main reason Texas doesn’t have casinos is because casino gambling – all types of casino gambling – are illegal in the state of Texas. In fact, Texas has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country.
This all stems from Penal Code 47.01, which is the statute making gambling illegal throughout the state.
The only exceptions are bets on dog and horse racing.
Not only that, but the law specifically enumerates which gambling activities are illegal in the state.
Which Types of Gambling Are Illegal in Texas?
If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you already know that gambling has any number of subcategories. The state of Texas agrees. After all, they’ve enumerated and listed the specific types of gambling which are illegal throughout the state.
The first kind of gambling that’s illegal in Texas is the casino game. Any kind of game played in a casino is illegal in Texas, and this includes real money blackjack, craps, roulette, slots, and video poker. This also applies to online gambling, although I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for playing online casino games.
The only exception is if you’re on Native American land. I’ll have more to say about this later in the post. Stay tuned.
Sports betting is also illegal, with the exceptions of betting at the dog track or the horse track. Betting on sports is punishable by a $500 misdemeanor fine. It applies to online as well as in-person or over-the-phone betting.
This didn’t seem to slow down any of the bettors at my local bar who placed wagers with their local bookie.
Texas also has laws related to so-called social gambling. This is how Texas categorizes bingo games or charitable raffles.
These activities are legal when operated for the benefit of charities in the state. Otherwise, they’re illegal.
Strictly speaking, it’s even illegal to play in a friendly home poker game.
What About the Lucky Eagle Casino?
If you’ve heard of a Texas casino called the Lucky Eagle Casino, then you’ve found one of the rare exceptions to the statement that there are no casinos in Texas.
The Lucky Eagle Casino is open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., and they stay open until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday night.
They have over 1200 slot machine games, but they also offer table games including blackjack, craps, roulette, and even keno. They have over 55,000 square feet of casino space with both smoking and non-smoking sections.
I saw no mention of baccarat on their site, but I suspect baccarat isn’t a big draw in Texas.
Lucky Eagle also hosts bingo games in their event center except on Friday and Saturday night.
The keno lounge offers multiple keno games, including speed keno and 50 cent keno.
Why is the Lucky Eagle Casino allowed to operate in Texas?
They’re a Native American casino, owned by the Chehalis Tribe, which has a compact with the state government allowing them to operate.
What About Naskila Gaming?
Naskila Gaming is another notable exception to the “no casinos in Texas” generality. It’s another example of a Native American casino. They’re owned by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe.
Texas Poker Laws
They’re located on the Indian reservation near Livingston, Texas, and they’re open 24/7.
They only offer Class II slot machines, and they have about 800 games to choose from.
Naskila Gaming also has multiple restaurants onsite, including a Nathan’s Hot Dogs and a Mexican café. They even have a grill serving traditional American fare.
There’s some controversy related to whether they’ll be able to continue operating in Texas. If you visit their website, you’ll see notices asking their patrons to support HR 759 to keep them open.
HR 759 intends to clarify that Naskila Gaming IS acting legally because they’re on tribal land.
Texas has three Native American tribes that are legally recognize by the federal government. The Kickapoo Tribe is the only one currently allowed to offer Class II gaming.
HR 759 aims to correct that inequity. And, just to be clear, it doesn’t make it legal for Naskila Gaming to offer blackjack, craps, or roulette. They must stick with the electronic bingo gambling machines.
The legislation also authorizes the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe to offer gaming on their reservation.
What About Casino Cruises?
One way casino companies circumvent casino gambling laws is to offer casino gambling on cruise ships. These ships generally go out far enough in the water to get outside the jurisdiction of the state where they’re docked. Several casino cruises are available from Texas ports.
These include Carnival Valor Casino, Carnival Breeze Casino, Carnival Freedom Casino, and Jacks or Better Casino.
The last time I went on a casino cruise, I played Texas holdem the entire time.
It’s common knowledge among those in the know that the slot machine payback percentages on casino cruises are lousy.
Where Else Can You Gamble in Texas?
You’re legally allowed to bet on dog racing and horse racing in Texas. You must do so from the site itself, though. You have the following tracks to choose from:
- Gulf Greyhound Park
- Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie
- Sam Houston Race Park
- Valley Race Park
Of these, the only one I’ve visited was Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie. They have no casino facilities, but there’s enough horse betting action here to keep even the most avid action junkie entertained for hours (or days).
Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie
Admission to Lone Star Park is only $5, and the gates open at 5 p.m. The first race is run at 6:05 p.m.
They offer stakes races where they’ll either add money to the prize pool or they’ll have a minimum guaranteed prize pool.
Like a casino, Lone Star Park has a rewards program. It’s comparable to a slot machine players’ club at a casino.
You earn a point for every dollar you wager, but you also get additional points by placing wagers with the self-serve facilities. You also get two bonus points per dollar by betting on Lone Star Park and Remington Park races.
When you spend money at the concessions stand or in the gift shop, you get a point for every dollar you spend. You can redeem these points later.
They have a variety of rewards available, but you can get an idea of what the points are worth by looking at the vouchers and food and beverage credits.
You can cash in 10,000 points to get a $10 food and beverage credit.
You can also cash in 20,000 points to get a $20 mutuel voucher. The ratio is the same for $50 and $100 vouchers, which would require 50,000 points and 100,000 points each.
I should point out that only a handful of gambling activities — including blackjack, poker, and sports betting — offer the opportunity to get a mathematical edge. Betting on horses – if you’re good at it – also offers that opportunity.
Conclusion
I’m not sure who said there are no casinos in Texas. There are at least two, and more depending on whether you count the racetracks and cruises.
You also have any number of businesses offering the equivalent of slot machine games called 8-liners.
I think the state government should go ahead and legalize and regulate gambling throughout the state. Right now, they’re just leaving all that revenue on the table.
Texas has been a hotbed for poker for many years, and after all, the world’s most popular form of poker is called Texas Hold’em. The game is said to have originated in the town of Robstown, Texas, in the early 1900’s, and eventually spread throughout the state (1). Although this story doesn’t really have much historical documentation to back it up, what is widely acknowledged is that Hold’em was first widely played by Texas road grinders in the early ’60s and perhaps late ’50s.
It wasn’t until the game was brought to Las Vegas in 1967 that the game become known as Texas Hold’em, as prior to that it was just called Hold’em. Although played primarily in Texas, it had also spread to surrounding states.
The stories of the Texas road gamblers, such as Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Johnny Moss, are the stuff of legend as they traveled from town to town making their living playing poker. Many of the best poker players and the early winners of the WSOP were from Texas.
There are also plenty of stories of these games being broken up by law enforcement. This would not be the case today under existing laws, at least not in the private games anyway, but in spite of Texas’ fame as the birthplace of one of poker’s great games and many of its famous players, it has always been a pretty conservative state as far as gambling goes.
Poker Laws in Texas Today
It is generally believed that all forms of gambling in Texas other than those specifically authorized, such as participating in the state lottery or betting at an approved racetrack, are contrary to state law.
Things aren’t always as clear as they may appear as far as the law is concerned though. It is certainly true that the Texas Penal Code makes gambling illegal in general. Betting for money on card games is specifically mentioned as constituting an offense (3). Anyone found guilty of gambling has committed a Class C misdemeanor, which incurs a fine of up to $500. There’s no possibility of jail time for individual bettors or players. For some of the more severe infractions related to running a gambling enterprise, there are higher fines and jail sentences prescribed.
The interesting thing is that it is a defense to a charge of gambling if the following conditions, listed in the Texas Penal Code, Title 10, Section 47.02(b), are satisfied:
“(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:
(1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;
(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and
(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.”
We see that (1) permits betting that occurs in a private place, meaning that things like home poker games would be excluded from running afoul of this law.
To be exempt from this law, there is also the requirement listed in (2) above that no persons receive any economic benefit from the gambling other than their personal winnings. It could be argued that the intent of this is to allow people to gamble in a friendly way with their friends while still preventing persons under the jurisdiction of Texas law from benefiting by running a gambling business.
Finally, a game must give each participant the same chances of winning and losing apart from “the advantage of skill or luck” as explained in (3) above. This is likely an attempt to make cheating illegal even if the other two conditions for defending against a gambling charge are met.
Live Poker in Texas
There is only one venue offering indisputably legal live poker in Texas, and it also happens to be the state’s only casino. In spite of Indian tribes being pretty active in operating casinos in other states, they have met with more difficulty in Texas.
At one time there were three different Indian casinos operating in the state, but state authorities were successful in shutting two of them down, and only one remains today, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel in Eagle Pass (2). Its poker room features $3/$6 limit and $1/$2 no limit Texas Hold’em every day with higher stakes spread on weekends and upon request. There are also low-buyin tournaments a few times a week.
Poker Clubs In Texas
Membership Poker Rooms
After examining the three stipulations laid out for gambling to not be illegal, a few Texas entrepreneurs had a clever idea. Beginning in 2015, they started to open up membership-based card rooms that they claim are in full compliance with the law.
These poker rooms don’t charge any rake. Instead, they charge daily, weekly, monthly or yearly membership fees from anyone who wants to play. This membership model serves a dual purpose. Because these businesses are not open to the public at large but rather restricted to members, management can claim that the gambling is taking place in private rather than public. Also, because the membership fees aren’t derived specifically from the money on the gaming tables, there’s an argument that these facilities aren’t deriving any economic benefit from gambling. (4)
Some of these poker rooms supplement their revenues by selling food, requiring players to pay a rental fee on their seats at the tables and through various other mechanisms. Many of them offer additional amenities, like lounges, televisions and pool tables, to support their argument that they are social clubs with gambling as just an additional attraction.
Of course, there are those who feel differently. They contend that gambling is the main appeal of these card rooms, and it is the reason why anyone pays for membership in the first place. Thus, the owners are clearly gaining an economic benefit from real money gaming.
Although the attorney general’s office has been asked to render an opinion on this matter, there has been no answer as yet. Confusing matters further are the questions of whether food and beverages can be sold, whether daily membership available to anyone who walks in the door really counts as “private” gambling, whether hourly seat rental charges are OK and other similar concerns. Each of these rooms generates its income in slightly different ways, so there are plenty of elements that can be attacked as being potentially illegal.
The ability of these card clubs to operate depends heavily on how local law enforcement feels about them because, even if it would be hard to achieve a conviction in court, raids and shutdowns by the police can really interfere with the continuing operations of a location. This has actually occurred in Dallas where local officials closed down two of these card clubs in 2017.
Today, Texan membership poker clubs dot the state in such cities as San Antonio and Austin. Houston has even begun licensing them at the municipal level, spurring the creation of such businesses as the Post Oak Poker Club and the Prime Social Poker Club within the city. We still await a final resolution as to the legal status of membership card rooms, but for now, live Texas poker appears to be booming.
Online Poker and The Law in Texas
As is often is the case, existing law does not really contemplate internet poker, and the thrust of the law here is directed generally at people profiting from running gambling operations in the state of Texas, which isn’t really the case with playing online.
The view though is that since people aren’t being prosecuted for playing online poker, online poker players in Texas aren’t worried about this at all, nor are offshore poker rooms that serve Americans, since none of them have a problem with allowing Texas residents to play on their site, unlike players in some states.
It’s extremely likely that people enjoying poker games played across the internet have an ipso facto defense from being subject to illegal gambling prosecution under Texas law unless they’re doing something really unusual. The three factors of taking place in private, not profiting other than as a player and not cheating appear to apply fully to online poker in Texas. The only conceivable ways that someone could get into trouble for internet poker in Texas would be if they’re playing in public, attempting to run their own poker site or cheating in some way.
In any event, the state of Texas has taken a hands-off approach here, and it is very likely that if this changes, it will require laws more specific to online poker for this to be prosecuted, which doesn’t look like it will happen any time soon. So online poker players in Texas can continue to be pretty comfortable here.
Recommended Online Poker Rooms For Texans
Ignition Poker: This is the newest and most popular player in the online poker industry. They have come in hot in 2016 after acquiring the Bovada Poker software and re-branding into both a poker site and an online casino. The site offers a 100% bonus up to $1,000 should you decide to play for real money.
This site has some of the best cash games in the world, huge MTT guarantees, great SnG selections and of course have amazing promotions to keep players interest piqued. Check out our review for Ignition and find out why it’s one of the fastest-rising rooms in the iGaming field today.
Americas Cardroom: This fairly popular poker room has a Texas connection of sorts. When Doyle Brunson’s online poker room closed down due to pressure from the authorities, their players were all moved to Americas Cardroom.
They continue to welcome Texans and all Americans with open arms, and have up to $1000 in bonus money sitting there for you to welcome you as well. So if you haven’t experienced this poker room before, just click here and you will be on your way to doing just that. Visit our ACR Review today for more info.
References:
(1) Texas Hold’em
(2) Lucky Eagle Casino
(3) Texas Penal Code Section 10, Chapter 47, Gambling
(4) Texas Online Gambling Laws
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