Gambling Laws in Texas: When and Where Texans Can Gamble
Illegal gambling is any type of gambling that is specifically prohibited by state law. Gambling Involves a Bet While most instances of gambling occur when someone bets money, courts have ruled that gambling can occur whenever a bet is made using anything of value. Dallas, TX » 87° Dallas, TX ». An alleged illegal gambling house. He was arrested Thursday, accused of gambling promotion, bribery and misusing official records. Smith has been released on. Dallas police officer accused of bribery, illegal gambling. Undercover investigation exposes illegal gambling in Central Texas - Duration: 4:57. Kxan 7,704 views.
- June 14, 2017
- The Law Office of Greg Tsioros
- Comments Off on Gambling Laws in Texas: When and Where Texans Can Gamble
- The illegal activity was allegedly conducted on four gambling machines that violate the Texas Penal Code, the warrant states. It alleges that the undercover officer saw Moore both witnessing.
- Historically, its gaming and gambling were outlawed in the 70's, meaning the state has a longstanding opposition to most gambling and, at the time of writing this, sports betting is illegal in the state of Texas. Interestingly there is no specific law about the legality of online gambling, but online casinos are effectively prohibited.
U.S. Gambling Overview
Americans have embraced gambling by for centuries. Before our country fought the Revolutionary War, settlers enjoyed European card games and participated in simple lotteries. As the country grew, gambling halls and saloons were gathering places. In the 20th century, local, state, and the federal government got involved. Some states sought to restrict gambling activities while others legalized gambling. Today, many states have brick and mortar casinos, sports betting outlets, lotteries, and race tracks.
Nevada (Las Vegas) was the first to legalize many types of gambling in 1931. New Jersey (Atlantic City) followed decades later in 1977. With the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, reservations throughout the U.S. were permitted to offer gambling and gaming to generate revenues. To complicate things a bit, the Federal Wire Act of 1961 limited sports wagering between the states.
Online gambling has caused the states to review their positions on online casino games, including video poker, baccarat, roulette, keno, blackjack, faro, slots, craps, etc. If you're accused of a gaming or gambling crime, or another party has offered illegal gambling in Texas, contact an experienced criminal attorney now.
When and Where is Gambling Legal in Texas and Throughout the U.S.
Gambling is legal for those who are 21 years of age or older at Eagle Pass in Texas (Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino). People in Texas can also legally participate in the Texas Lottery or make pari-mutuel wagers on greyhound and horse racing. Raffles, charitable bingo, and pull-tab bets are also considered legal in Texas.
In comparison, some states allow 18-year-olds to gamble. Today, Alaska, Arkansas**, California (some locations), Connecticut***, Delaware (horse racing only), Florida**/***, Idaho, Indiana**, Louisiana**, Maine**, Maryland**, Minnesota**, New Mexico, New York (by casino), Ohio**, Oklahoma (by casino), Oregon***, Pennsylvania**, South Dakota ***, Washington** (some casinos), Wisconsin***, and Wyoming allow some gambling to 18-year-olds.
**Pari-mutuel wagers only (short duration events, such as horse racing, jai alai, or greyhound racing, or any event with ranked order participation)
***Bingo only
All other states require gamblers to be at least 21 years of age. It's impossible to get around the age requirement at brick and mortar casinos. If you attempt to gamble before you're 21 years old, you may be arrested, incur fines, or have your money confiscated by law enforcement.
The point of confusion for many would-be gamblers concerns online gambling. For instance, there may be a difference in the age required by the site and the age required by Texas to gamble. If the site says you can gamble at age 18 but Texas state law requires you to be at least 21 years old, you must comply with Texas state law. Don't risk jail time and fines for gambling or gaming arrests.
Texas Gambling Laws
Texas gambling laws are some of the strictest in the nation. For instance, Texas Hold ‘Em card game bets are illegal in Texas. Gamblers must be 21 years old. They may be on greyhound or horse racing, social gambling (like office pools), charitable raffles, and bingo. The law says that gambling on other games of chances is against the law in Texas.
Under Code Section PEN 47.01 et seq. and Civ. St. 179e, gambling, or agreeing to win or lose money or something of value based on chance, or keeping a casino (other than one casino on Indian lands) is prohibited. Promoting any form of gambling (other than pari-mutuel wagers), maintaining a place of gambling, communicating information about gambling, or owning gambling devices are illegal in Texas. For that reason:
• Card games, sports bets, and scratch tickets (other than those legally offered by the Texas Lottery) are illegal.
• Casinos, other than Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, are illegal in Texas. As a casino on native lands, the Lucky Eagle location is permitted.
• Social gambling, like bingo games, private card games, or charity auctions are allowed unless the organizer takes a portion of the proceeds. The law in Texas says that gambling may occur in a private place as long as the chance of losing and winning are evenly distributed.
• Slot machines with cash payouts are illegal in Texas. If the prizes are inexpensive and not cash items, such as a coffee pot, the law says it's okay to play.
Slot Machines with Cash Payouts Are Illegal in Texas
According to a New York Times article, illegal slot machines are cropping up around Texas, especially in some Rio Grande Valley border towns. The problem has captured the attention of enforcement professionals of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It's estimated that illegal slots machines generate approximately $1.9 billion per year (up to 150,000 illegal units).
Recognize that gambling at slot machines with cash payouts can mean arrest and legal consequences in Texas. If you or someone you know has been arrested for illegal gambling or gaming in Texas, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney at your side. If you or a loved one has been exploited because of gambling addiction in Houston, Harris County, or throughout Texas, you need a professional attorney to assist in the recovery of your money now. Don't go it alone. Call Greg Tsioros to discuss your matter now at 832-752-5972 now. We're standing by 24/7 to take your call.
By Reid Jowers
Reporting Texas
Texas Card House General Manager James Combs is seen on March 2, 2019. Texas Card House is a private club and requires a daily, monthly or yearly membership. Brittany Mendez/Reporting Texas
On a Monday afternoon in March, Will, a 24-year-old software engineer in Austin, was relaxing during a break from a poker game at the Texas Card House in North Austin, where brightly lit rooms and affable service are a contrast to the image some people might have of a gambling establishment.
Will (his last name has been omitted to protect his privacy) started playing poker five years ago when friends introduced him to the game. He loved it.
'I like that it's a beatable game. You focus and practice to get good. It's a matter of skill rather than luck like blackjack or other games,' Will said.
The Texas Constitution prohibits most forms of gambling. The few exceptions include private gambling at home, betting on sanctioned horse and dog races, the state lottery and gambling at one of the three Indian casinos in the state. During the last several years, some gamblers have started using a loophole in state law to play cards for money at so-called card clubs, such as Texas Card House.
In 2015, Austin-born Texas hold'em poker player Sam von Kennel noticed a legal technicality that would allow him to open a gambling establishment. According to state law, gambling houses can operate as long as they don't take a percentage of the pot. Von Kennel had an idea. Instead of taking a cut of the pot, he would charge membership dues and hourly or half-hourly fees for players to participate in a game. Based on his idea, von Kennel opened Post Oak in Houston, the first private social card club in Texas. Since then, about 30 other membership-only card clubs have sprung up around the state, he says.
On a typical weekend, Texas Card House hosts as many as 100 members at a time — a mostly male crowd that is diverse in ethnicity and age. Some poker games, the ones popular among regulars, have a buy-in of $300 and a potential payout of a few thousand dollars. Lower-stakes games have buy-ins as small as $40.
States that allow gambling still make a killing off casinos compared to the card houses in Texas. For example, Louisiana and Oklahoma annually average $2.4 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively, according to state revenue reports.
A tournament takes place at Texas Card House in Austin on March 2, 2019. Brittany Mendez/Reporting Texas
Although Texas poker rooms operate in a legal gray area, there is precedent for them elsewhere. California card houses that operate the same way are legally recognized by the state. Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Montana and Washington also have card houses, but no other states do, according to the American Gaming Association's 2018 State of the States report.
Illegal Gambling Dallas Texas Real Estate
Not everyone agrees that membership-based gambling house are legal.
One of the naysayers is Rob Kohler, a consultant and lobbyist for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.
Illegal Gambling Dallas Tx
'It would require a constitutional amendment to make commercial gambling legal in Texas,' Kohler said. 'Private home gambling is legal, but these poker rooms are not that. They are merely hiding as a private establishment, but in reality they are commercial.'
Rodger Weems, chairman of Texans Against Gambling, argued in a 2018 Baptist Standard article that card houses run afoul of the law. According to Texans Against Gambling's website, its mission is to 'Improve the lives of people by freeing them from the lower standard of living, exploitation, and fraud that commercial gambling spreads.'
Justin Northcutt, co-owner of the Texas Card House, says Kohler and Weems are playing a bad hand.
'We work very closely with state and local officials and law enforcement to make sure they know how we do business,' Northcutt said. The business pays sales taxes, payroll taxes and its share of property taxes, he said. Northcutt declined to say how much it pays.
'It's not a dark, hidden, dangerous underground place,' he said.
The appeal of membership-based card houses isn't gambling, but the skill and challenge of poker, he added.
Poker dealer Delia Atwood collects poker chips at her table during a tournament for the Social Card Clubs of Texas, a non-profit formed in 2018 for social clubs and card playing enthusiasts, at the Texas Card House in Austin on March 2, 2019. Brittany Mendez/Reporting Texas
Mike Robinson, a Wesleyan University psychology professor, has been studying gambling addiction for a decade and a half through experiments on rodents.
'We haven't gotten the rodents to play poker, but the idea is the same,' Robinson said. Success in gambling — winning or almost winning a hand in a poker game, for example — activates the brain's reward system, and addicts keep gambling in an attempt to reactivate those pathways.
Texas Card House revokes or bans members that show gambling addiction or bad behavior, Northcutt said, and the business is a part of the Social Card Clubs of Texas, a non-profit formed in 2018 that seeks to promote responsible card playing and create better communities.
Under Code Section PEN 47.01 et seq. and Civ. St. 179e, gambling, or agreeing to win or lose money or something of value based on chance, or keeping a casino (other than one casino on Indian lands) is prohibited. Promoting any form of gambling (other than pari-mutuel wagers), maintaining a place of gambling, communicating information about gambling, or owning gambling devices are illegal in Texas. For that reason:
• Card games, sports bets, and scratch tickets (other than those legally offered by the Texas Lottery) are illegal.
• Casinos, other than Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, are illegal in Texas. As a casino on native lands, the Lucky Eagle location is permitted.
• Social gambling, like bingo games, private card games, or charity auctions are allowed unless the organizer takes a portion of the proceeds. The law in Texas says that gambling may occur in a private place as long as the chance of losing and winning are evenly distributed.
• Slot machines with cash payouts are illegal in Texas. If the prizes are inexpensive and not cash items, such as a coffee pot, the law says it's okay to play.
Slot Machines with Cash Payouts Are Illegal in Texas
According to a New York Times article, illegal slot machines are cropping up around Texas, especially in some Rio Grande Valley border towns. The problem has captured the attention of enforcement professionals of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It's estimated that illegal slots machines generate approximately $1.9 billion per year (up to 150,000 illegal units).
Recognize that gambling at slot machines with cash payouts can mean arrest and legal consequences in Texas. If you or someone you know has been arrested for illegal gambling or gaming in Texas, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney at your side. If you or a loved one has been exploited because of gambling addiction in Houston, Harris County, or throughout Texas, you need a professional attorney to assist in the recovery of your money now. Don't go it alone. Call Greg Tsioros to discuss your matter now at 832-752-5972 now. We're standing by 24/7 to take your call.
By Reid Jowers
Reporting Texas
Texas Card House General Manager James Combs is seen on March 2, 2019. Texas Card House is a private club and requires a daily, monthly or yearly membership. Brittany Mendez/Reporting Texas
On a Monday afternoon in March, Will, a 24-year-old software engineer in Austin, was relaxing during a break from a poker game at the Texas Card House in North Austin, where brightly lit rooms and affable service are a contrast to the image some people might have of a gambling establishment.
Will (his last name has been omitted to protect his privacy) started playing poker five years ago when friends introduced him to the game. He loved it.
'I like that it's a beatable game. You focus and practice to get good. It's a matter of skill rather than luck like blackjack or other games,' Will said.
The Texas Constitution prohibits most forms of gambling. The few exceptions include private gambling at home, betting on sanctioned horse and dog races, the state lottery and gambling at one of the three Indian casinos in the state. During the last several years, some gamblers have started using a loophole in state law to play cards for money at so-called card clubs, such as Texas Card House.
In 2015, Austin-born Texas hold'em poker player Sam von Kennel noticed a legal technicality that would allow him to open a gambling establishment. According to state law, gambling houses can operate as long as they don't take a percentage of the pot. Von Kennel had an idea. Instead of taking a cut of the pot, he would charge membership dues and hourly or half-hourly fees for players to participate in a game. Based on his idea, von Kennel opened Post Oak in Houston, the first private social card club in Texas. Since then, about 30 other membership-only card clubs have sprung up around the state, he says.
On a typical weekend, Texas Card House hosts as many as 100 members at a time — a mostly male crowd that is diverse in ethnicity and age. Some poker games, the ones popular among regulars, have a buy-in of $300 and a potential payout of a few thousand dollars. Lower-stakes games have buy-ins as small as $40.
States that allow gambling still make a killing off casinos compared to the card houses in Texas. For example, Louisiana and Oklahoma annually average $2.4 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively, according to state revenue reports.
A tournament takes place at Texas Card House in Austin on March 2, 2019. Brittany Mendez/Reporting Texas
Although Texas poker rooms operate in a legal gray area, there is precedent for them elsewhere. California card houses that operate the same way are legally recognized by the state. Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Montana and Washington also have card houses, but no other states do, according to the American Gaming Association's 2018 State of the States report.
Illegal Gambling Dallas Texas Real Estate
Not everyone agrees that membership-based gambling house are legal.
One of the naysayers is Rob Kohler, a consultant and lobbyist for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.
Illegal Gambling Dallas Tx
'It would require a constitutional amendment to make commercial gambling legal in Texas,' Kohler said. 'Private home gambling is legal, but these poker rooms are not that. They are merely hiding as a private establishment, but in reality they are commercial.'
Rodger Weems, chairman of Texans Against Gambling, argued in a 2018 Baptist Standard article that card houses run afoul of the law. According to Texans Against Gambling's website, its mission is to 'Improve the lives of people by freeing them from the lower standard of living, exploitation, and fraud that commercial gambling spreads.'
Justin Northcutt, co-owner of the Texas Card House, says Kohler and Weems are playing a bad hand.
'We work very closely with state and local officials and law enforcement to make sure they know how we do business,' Northcutt said. The business pays sales taxes, payroll taxes and its share of property taxes, he said. Northcutt declined to say how much it pays.
'It's not a dark, hidden, dangerous underground place,' he said.
The appeal of membership-based card houses isn't gambling, but the skill and challenge of poker, he added.
Poker dealer Delia Atwood collects poker chips at her table during a tournament for the Social Card Clubs of Texas, a non-profit formed in 2018 for social clubs and card playing enthusiasts, at the Texas Card House in Austin on March 2, 2019. Brittany Mendez/Reporting Texas
Mike Robinson, a Wesleyan University psychology professor, has been studying gambling addiction for a decade and a half through experiments on rodents.
'We haven't gotten the rodents to play poker, but the idea is the same,' Robinson said. Success in gambling — winning or almost winning a hand in a poker game, for example — activates the brain's reward system, and addicts keep gambling in an attempt to reactivate those pathways.
Texas Card House revokes or bans members that show gambling addiction or bad behavior, Northcutt said, and the business is a part of the Social Card Clubs of Texas, a non-profit formed in 2018 that seeks to promote responsible card playing and create better communities.
Kohler, of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, doubts the validity of these claims. He and the Christian Life Commission want to explicitly outlaw card houses, but since the Attorney General's Office has refused to offer an opinion on the matter, the fate of these establishments is in the hands of local law enforcement.
Law enforcement across the state has been mostly tolerant, but in 2017, CJ's Card Room in Dallas was raided by police and effectively shut down. Anti-gambling proponents such as Texas Against Gambling have called for law enforcement to continue raids.
Will said the risk of a police raid doesn't bother him. 'I don't think most people will either,' he said. 'It won't matter because people will still find a way to play.'
