Comments on: Houston Poker Room Gun Battle: 1 Robber Killed, 1 Player Injured

By: Glen

Glen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:18:47 +0000

I think guns at the poker table make poker more dangerous. That’s not rocket science in view of the fact that one of the good guys ended up in the hospital. I wonder if the hospital bill was less than the cost of paying off the bad guy? However, your main point was that driving poker undground also makes poker dangerous, and on that I could not agree more. The best way to make it safe is to make it legal.
Glen

By: DanM

DanM — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:55:51 +0000

hey Glen, what did I say? (Oh, wait, I can see now.) To be frank, I don’t fall in the same place as those commenters in the Houston Chronicle story. Yeah, it’s nice that they got one of the bad guys, but I think they are missing the point that multiple bullets are flying through the air — making a poker game WAY more dangerous than it had to be, or should be.

When we started covering robberies a couple years ago, I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened. (Seriously, I said as much.) But what these players don’t realize is that they got lucky this time. Next time it could be Joe Average Recreational player who ends up dead and doesn’t go home to his wife and kids.

My apologies for implying Texans “love” them. I am kinda an Andy Griffith on this matter — I don’t carry weapons, but I am OK with people who do. On the whole, I’ve found CHL carriers to be exactly the kinda people I want carrying guns … because for as nutty as some of them can be, they almost always respect the power of what they’re packing.

“Accept” probably woulda been a better word for me to use than “Love”.

By: Glen

Glen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:48:18 +0000

In the early part of the last century my grandfather was well known in West Texas as a crack shot with a pistol. However, this is not the early part of the last century, and I don’t live on the family farm. I live in Houston, and here’s what I don’t like. I don’t like people who think they need to walk around town with a piece strapped to their leg trying to characterize me as someone who “loves” them. Speak for yourself DanM.
Glen

By: Gabe

Gabe — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:14:11 +0000

Not that I’m a fan of guns in poker rooms, but I’d probably thank they guy who had the gun on him for helping save my life.

By: DanM

DanM — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:42:32 +0000

Johnny forget motels on the red river … the casinos there are opening their own big hotels now. and read the comments in the Houston Chronicle article for a glimpse of why Texans love people who carry guns (even Andy Griffith’s like me).

By: Johnny Hughes

Johnny Hughes — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:51:00 +0000

TV cameras on the parking lots and door. Sawed-off shotguns inside. However, it is rude to carry your pistol into another man’s poker game. Its the same as legal to carry a gun at all times in your car. The one place I do not have a gun ready is in a poker game, casino or underground.

Look at all the motels cropping up on the Red River. I sleep in Texas, and play poker in Oklahoma. You can have guns in your car, in your motel room, but not on Indian land. I doubt they mind guns in the car. Do they? It is a federal crime maybe.

We’ve had a few heisters killed up here in West Texas. They need killing. I support that!