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Heads Up, Texas!

I’ll post a press release later, but I figured Pokerati readers should be the first to know that a real, true poker bill will likely be filed in the Texas House on Tuesday!

Here are the Highlights:
-4 live and/or electronic, raked tables allowed in each establishment that meets requirements
-Lottery Commission decides how many tables are allowed in each racetrack
-Charitable poker enabled
-Mandatory dealer training and licensing (inexpensive)
-Licensing for distributors of commercial poker equipment
-Money raised will be dedicated to necessary state services
-Criminal penalties for dishonest operators

The bill will be tweaked as we go along, so if you read it and have a concern don’t panic- please let me know via email. Your support is appreciated.
When it is filed and available online I’ll link to it.

More to come…

Posted by Lavigne in Austin on March 6, 2007 at 12:05 am

6 Comments to “Heads Up, Texas!”

DanM Says:
March 6th, 2007 at 2:44 am

Dude, Mike, this is great to hear. Well done helping pull this all together. Seems a step in the right direction.
DanM Says:
March 6th, 2007 at 4:49 am

OK, like you said, not to panic … but:

Sec. 2004.453. TABLE LIMITS. Table limits for each poker gaming table shall be established by the licensed operator. A single wager may not exceed $20 per player per betting incident in a poker game. The licensed operator may conduct tournaments at any time and charge a buy-in fee not to exceed $100 and a tournament registration fee not to exceed $30.

Is this the provision you were telling me about that already has some change in progress?
DanM Says:
March 6th, 2007 at 7:35 am

And sorry, I swear I won’t pepper you with line-item questions, but …

**-Lottery Commission decides how many tables are allowed in each racetrack**

The Lottery Commission and not the Racing Commission? Is that a typo or purposeful part of the plan?
Pokerati | Texas hold’em blog » Blog Archive » Legal Poker Coming to Texas? Says:
March 6th, 2007 at 7:45 am

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Lavigne in Austin Says:
March 6th, 2007 at 10:44 am

yes, the limits are slated to come out at this point. The Lottery Commission was intentional and not a typo. They have more experience overseeing this sort of thing.

also, due to logistical and non political reasons- the bill may have to wait for Wednesday.We. are. so. close!
Michael Z Says:
March 6th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

Sounds like they are taking a step in teh right direction. This is akin to what Florida has in the indian casinos, limits on wagers but the most money is generated via Tournaments.