Dallas Gets its First Legal Poker Room

Texas Card House, announced that soon the first legal card room in Dallas will be open for busines. The news comes after the City Council finally gave them the permission to do so.

This represents the end to a long-lasting battle between the card club and Dallas-area politicians.

A little over one year ago, Texas Card House was on the brink of getting approval to operate in the third largest city in Texas. However, at the last minute, the City Council decided not to go through with it.

They’ve since changed their mind, though currently there haven’t revealed the reasons behind it.

Over the past few years, poker clubs have been appearing around the state of Texas in cities such as Houston and San Antonio. They are called poker clubs instead of traditional card rooms due to unclear regulations.

Technically, gambling, including poker, is illegal in Texas, however, businesses such as the Texas Card House have found a loophole in the law.

The card rooms function as clubs. Instead of rake collecting, players pay are paying hourly/daily membership fee for a seat at the table.

There are three criteria a card room must follow to comply with the law. These include the fact that games must be held in a private place. Moreover, all players must have the equal opportunity to win. But it gets tricky when it comes to the Texas Penal Code, Chapter 47. The code says that a person involved in a poker game can’t “receive any economic benefit other than personal winnings.”

So, the only thing we can say is that whether poker is illegal in Texas or not is left to interpretation.

Card rooms, such as Texas Card House, operate as a club instead of a casino which is in accordance with the first requirement. Also the games are fair, so that covers the second part. As for the third part, the important thing is to consult with the authorities, to make sure the law isn’t broken.

This is exactly what Texas Card House did. Dallas City Council granted them a permission to open two locations. One is nearly finished and the other, located in a different area of town, will be built within a few months.

So when the Texas Card House opens its doors, players will have a legal and safe place to play at.