Dave in Grapevine (from the Yestbay1 poker blog) wrote in on Friday with a reminder that the Texas Legislature is about to be back in session (the state congress meets every other year there) and our second go-round with Make Poker Legal is starting strong out of the gate:

Hey Dan,

I heard a news story on the radio way home today which you or someone else on the Pokerati staff is probably all over already, but I thought I would e-mail you about it anyway.

It appears that Jose Menendez has (re-)introduced his bill to legalize poker in Texas. I found a couple of links to news blurbs about it, although nothing of much substance:

http://www.q1019.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=&article=4621581

http://lonestartexasnews.com/pages/3363793.php?contentType=4&contentId=3098073

http://radio.woai.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=119078&article=4621581

These short articles are all pretty much the same thing, with quotes from Menendez about his reasons for the bill.

I look forward to reading more about it on Pokerati.com as things develop.

Dave Westbay
Grapevine, TX

Thanks much, Dave, for the heads-up. These articles may not be big, but session isn’t even underway yet, so it’s a good sign that poker is already getting early ink and airtime from the non-poker press. Indeed, Pokerati can’t help but to be all over it as the legislation moves forward. We (Texas poker people) got further than expected in 2007 … and if we can successfully punch Menendez’s bill through this time (re-branded as the “Poker Gaming Act of 2009″) … well, hey, Vegas has been nice, but you can expect this not-so-humble little poker blogger to return home posthaste from self-imposed exile.

Pokerati file photo: The HB-3186 war room, led by Lavigne in Austin (standing, top left) with Texas poker politicos, player representatives, and out-of-state allies preparing for a capitol offensive.

In addition to those state-by-state member numbers, the PPA put out a press release this week announcing its new state directors. Good to see poker players getting more involved in grassroots activity as the politi-dudes looking out for us in Washington DC continue to develop into a real Beltway force. However, there’s one state where the director curiously isn’t named — and that’s Texas.

Um, Mike …? Has there been a change to your resume that you might wanna blog about that you might wanna blog about?

UPDATE: Lavigne in Austin en-route-to-Wichita-Falls confirms via Blackberry that he is indeed still a state director for the PPA, and showed off his political skills by dodging my follow-up question about “why the ‘TBA’ then?” by reassuring me that the poker political machinery in Texas, having been built and tested now, will be well-oiled for 2009 with real Texas Hold’em in Texas in 2010 so long as I don’t write anything to muck it up.

A temporarily anonymous reader writes in with an update on some cases against “alleged” poker dealers and room operators at the Audie Murphy VFW, which was raided (as opposed to just busted) in April:

I just thought you might want to know that all of the Gambling Promotion charges that were pending against 11 alleged dealers, and or operators have been deleted,or shall I say in the words of that wonderful attorney of mine “Dallas County has decided to throw in the towel”. Chalk up another one for the Poker Players and give my attorney a raise? NOT!!! he was expensive enough to begin with but well worth it.

Cool, awesome … good for you. I mean except for the legal fees part. But considering how much money Dallas attorneys tend to donk into a game, it’s probably a wash, right?

(Not sure “deleted” is an actual legal term, by the way. But I suspect it is still good for the defendants.)

More on the VFW and other poker busts in Dallas here.

These came, interestingly enough, just a couple weeks after the Dallas DA publicly declared his support for HB 3186, which set out to clarify the legality of raked poker games and set up standards to regulate such businesses.

More on Dallas’ poker-friendly courthouse here.

Just as the anti-poker side is encouraging their “pro family” members to write their representatives about the plagues that will fall if the UIGEA is undone, pro-poker ambassadors are also hard at work rallying the troops. Click below to see the letter Greg Raymer sent out seeking similar political activity from presumably lazy poker types.

Interestingly enough, I have a PokerStars account and am a paying member of the PPA … but didn’t get this email. (It was forwarded to me by Don the Las Vegas Real Estate Guy.) With the other side well-practiced in their methods of swinging votes, I gotta think the poker side may need some extra coordination to keep up with the competition. Perhaps the three federal bills in play would benefit from something similar to what we used in Texas to electronically connect the legislators and citizenry en masse. Seriously, this relatively small programming effort went a long way toward ensuring our beloved little HB 3186 was a good chunk of the hallway/bathroom buzz around the state capitol at a semi-critical time.

Again, Greg Raymer’s request below …

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AUSTIN–Sorry it took so long to get this Legislative Wrap-Up out, but I needed a little break.

The poker bill (HB 3186) indeed died this session. We most likely will not have legal poker in Texas before 2009. That’s the bad news.

There is much more good news though. Before this session, legal poker was little more than an intangible wish. It is a lot closer to a reality now. Our bill explicitly outlined a workable system for legal poker. Because of this, we gained a lot of legislative support as the session wore on and legislators could study our proposal. This gives us a huge leg up next session. Rather than explaining how the bill works, we will be able to be considered alongside a number of other revenue generating proposals.

We got a lot farther than most predicted. We did win a vote in committee and in the Calendars committee. We were even set on the house calendar. This is great considering the fact that the state didn’t need the extra revenue this year. Unfortunately the clock ran out on us despite having enough votes lined up in the State House to pass it. We even had a Senate sponsor ready to pick it up.

We had a great media day on the day of our committee hearing. The story was picked up by press all over the state and even CNN and some foreign outlets.

Because of all the work we did this session, we have something that the idea of legal poker never had in Texas: Credibility. With this new asset, we can continue the fight.

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A little too little a little too late, perhaps … but the Houston Chronicle has a great piece by columnist sports-blogger and ESPN/The Ticket radio talk-show host Jerome Solomon about why poker in Texas shoulda been legalized. Lavigne in Austin certainly has the message down … and others are starting to hear it. Encouraging, actually, to know that next time around what the poker people have to say might actually make sense to those who don’t play, and even those who might be generally against gambling.

Makes me think that maybe some of us have been using the wrong term — “legalized.” As this column points out … poker already is legal in Texas (like golf, and fishing, and bridge) and all we are looking to do is allow people (and the state) to profit off letting certain good folks offer a slightly souped-up version of the game … just updating the current laws that already allow the game to be played. Can you imagine if it were legal to golf, but illegal to run a pro shop? Maybe our use of the term “legalize” makes it sound like drugs.

The Texas legislative session is coming to a close, and save for the chance of hitting a miracle half-outer on the river, the Texas Poker Act is dead. Bummer. But better luck next time, right? And until then, I guess it’s off to Oklahoma we go!

Good article in the DMN about how Dallas essentially got its butt kicked on many issues that might matter to this city. What poker people might also find interesting is discussion of House Speaker Tom Craddick. He, of course, was essentially the guy who killed the poker bill. I mean he didn’t kill-kill it — officially he declared his neutrality — but he had the power to put it somewhere better on the calendar and chose to go the other way. Craddick, followers of Texas politics may know, has some hot water of his own to deal with right now — as a lot of people within the Republican Party want to replace him.

Mr. Craddick is in a pitched battle to retain his post as speaker. Three Republicans who have signaled their intent to replace him are from North Texas: Reps. Jim Pitts of Waxahachie, Fred Hill of Richardson and Brian McCall of Plano.

I don’t know much about Fred Hill. But Jim Pitts … in addition to advocating the execution of highly problematic pre-teens, was part of the minority declaring intent to vote against our beloved HB 3186. And lest you think nepotism abounds in Texas politics … this despite the fact that his brother and nephew, John and John Jr., were the chief lobbyists on legal poker’s behalf.

As for Brian McCall, despite his being one of the more liberal Republicans in the state … well … Pokeratizens know all too well that we’ve got some work to do in terms of endearing him to our cause.

ALT HED: Murmur?

A Pokerati friend whose name may or may not rhyme with Rudy Giuliani writes in with some good reminders about how the political process works:

Condolences on your temporary setback, but don’t give up. If the Texas legislature is anything like New York’s (where I spent years as a staffer) then the following things are true (and if they sound facetious, they’re not):

1) No major bill becomes a law in the first year that it is taken seriously. (unless it bears the name of a child who died a tragic death.) That could be due to a healthy prudence that insists on letting an idea ripen before turning it into a law; or it could be a cynical ploy to extract more campaign donations and/or raise the political stakes before delivering the goods. Most often, I think, it’s just the rhythm of the institution. It takes a couple of years to see if the public support for the bill is serious enough to make it worth the confrontations that will be needed to get it passed.

2) No bill ever becomes a law just because it’s obviously a good idea; somebody with the clout to push it through has to have a political motivation to do so.

3) When a bill has strong public support, and enough sponsors to ensure its passage, but somehow gets held up in the process and never makes it to a vote: that’s when it gets interesting. Nine times out of ten, somebody loses money if this bill becomes a law, and that person (or industry group) has a lock on some powerful member who is able to hold up the process. The point of resistance needs to be identified and the sponsor of the bill has to be pushed into a confrontation with the powerful member. (Getting a law enacted is like giving a deep massage: you have to find the hidden resistance point and work it real hard, and if it isn’t painful you’re not working the right spot.)

Just some thoughts from a scarred veteran of many political wars. If you want to post this on your site, please don’t post my name; I’m still active in state government and it might be awkward if this came up when my name is googled.

Anyway, keep at it; the second year is the most important one. As the crap dealers say when you buy in for the second time: Better luck, sir!

Sorry I didn’t post immediately after HB 3186 saw its untimely demise this week, but I went out and drank to bed Thursday night after it became evident that we weren’t gonna get there.

Lets bring the vitriol down a notch and look at the big picture here. I’ll do a proper post-mortem later, but for now lets remember a few things:

1) All good bills take time to pass. I was one of the primary organizers behind the legislation to give Texas teachers paid health insurance. That took us about 4 1/2 years in a time when the state was pretty flush with cash. Not because we did anything wrong, not because the system doesn’t work, but because that is just how long it takes to tell everyone what you want to do and why. We are WAY ahead of the curve on this one.

2) Nobody expected a bill this good to get filed…much less out of committee, through calendars and given a slot on the floor.

3) Our bill didn’t die because legislators don’t like/want poker. Our bill died because there were some major bad bills ahead of it that legislators didn’t want to get to. That is just the way it goes. Frankly, we are probably better off that some of those bills didn’t get voted on.

So, where does that leave us? That leaves us with about 2 1/2 weeks left of session. The possibility does still exist that we could amend our language onto another eligible bill that has already made it through one chamber. I’ll spare y’all the procedural civics lesson for now, but it is a possibility.

If that doesn’t work, we have 1 1/2 years to get ready to do this again. That isn’t very long. We will need to build up a better organization, raise money and stand together until then.

Stay tuned. The fatcats may be singing, but the fat lady isn’t even getting warmed up.

I’m sure this won’t piss anyone off … but check out the letter Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano) sent to a concerned poker citizen who requested his support on HB 3186:

click to enlarge

Wow. Way to encourage participation in the political process, sir. I think a lot of elected officials — perhaps the majority even — forget that regular people like Mr. Rogers are their bosses, not their bitches. I may be a little jealous because he has way better hair than me tilty based on the way he belittles a citizen who simply did what he was supposed to do to let his representative know where he stands on an issue. You’ll notice McCall doesn’t actually take a stance … he pretty much just calls Jason stupid for doing so.

Click below for more insight into what a simple-minded congressman Rep. McCall may or may not be …

ALT HED: Why We Lost, Exhibit A

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HB 3186 explains that he is one of the lucky ones and it’s not easy to become a law.

See his story here!

Lavigne in Austin just called me with something close to a concession speech. He won’t say it’s definitely not gonna get through, but he would be surprised. They’ve made it about halfway through the calendar in about eight hours. We have until midnight by house rule to get this done.

Lavigne says he has seen them disable the clock before so they could go past the deadline, but that seems unlikely … because what we have been seeing go on right now is something called “chubbing” — where people on the same side of an issue ask each other questions simply as a delay tactic. Apparently there is some very contentious bill on page 19 or 20 … and many of the members would rather not get to that. If they do, then it will have a long debate.

“We’re getting blinded out,” Lavigne says.

This reminds me of watching the UIGEA go down … with the clock ticking it looked like they might not get to that. But there, the man with the gavel (Sen. Bill Frist) had every reason to make sure they did. Not the case here with Speaker Craddick.

Meanwhile, in the Florida Legislature, they flew through the gambling and poker bills — correcting some betting limit problems passed in the last session — even though it upsets some of the conservative bedrocks of that state.

OK, I am losing faith … I am thinking a few people need to die before poker becomes a priority.

Right now the debate on the Texas House floor is about some consulting fee to improve county jail standards — and it’s turning into a bitter fight about who’s got a worse lock-up, Dallas or Harris County. (Dallas has had major inspection failures four years in a row — and the Dept. of Justice is not happy.)

It’s all reminding me of the last time I followed a specific legislative push in Texas — looking to address dire circumstances faced by prison guards in 2000. The correctional officers had been getting stabbed and beaten at an alarming rate, Hepatitis was running wild, and the gangs were growing stronger with the violence seeping into the free world … and they never got anything heard on the floor. Why? Because too many pols (who weren’t specifically opposed to improving things for prison guards) were afraid of looking soft on crime.

The best EV in the eyes of the Legislature came from just not getting to the matter.

ALT HED: RE: Not-so-Super/System

UPDATE: Here’s the totally non-poker article on Texas’ prison woes, for those who happen to be interested in the potential for bad decision-making by elected officials.

I’m watching the House floor right now … in the background. HB 3186 ain’t coming up anytime soon … and if they don’t get to it by midnight, it is dead dead dead for 2007. So I may be updating this post throughout the next few hours to point out other things that have made their way to the legislative fore:

• Hispanics want to shoot of fireworks for Cinco de Mayo. Interestingly, it’s a matter of police having resources to fight illegal fireworks shooting if it remains illegal. (It’s apparently also good for schools and charities.)
• They are voting now on the fireworks thing … the amendment failed 29-110, but the bill itself passed! (I think. Can’t be sure.) Only 170 more bills to go before they get to poker!
• OK, they just passed three bills in like three minutes five bills in four minutes — something about rural railroads, money for colleges in Central Texas, mentors for teens in foster care, and a pilot program to save Medicaid money.
• Apparently reaching HB 3186 is mathematically possible. Am thinking poker would benefit from a relationship with Red Bull. If anyone can get a few dozen cases to the floor shortly after the dinner break — perhaps with a note saying “From Texas poker players in support of HB 3186″ — that would be pretty cool. No idea if it would be legal, but hey …
• It’s nearing an hour talking about some county jail monitor. It is getting FEISTY! Legislative tilt clearly in play.
  Unknown Legislator: Do you know why democracy takes so long?
  Rep. Craddick: Wha…? Oh … democracy?
  UL: That’s a foreign term around here.
  Craddick: We’re interested in what you have to say.
• OK, maybe there is no dinner break … someone just brought in barbecue (from Tuffy’s?). Seriously, next time … Red Bull.

The Thursday calendar is out. Poker is on page 21 of 23.

Oy.

It seems the other side (who that really is, I’m not sure) made its straight on the turn and we’re lookin’ for a boat on the river. Or quads … Ten-outer.

ALT HED: Not-so-Super/System

Deep in the heart of Texas tonight HB 3186 will be waiting to hear the news of its existence and position. Lets take a moment to thank Dan and Lavigne of Pokerati for their great efforts in trying to legalize poker in Texas. Not only have they put a tremendous amount of work into getting the bill to the floor but they have done an excellent job informing the public.

No matter what happens tonight – Thank You for getting off the soapbox and taking real action.

Dale Hansen comes out of the closet to admit that yes, he has played and will continue to play illegal poker. You know, he is pretty good on the radio. He should so think about getting into podcasting.

Hour of Hansen
ESPN 103.3 FM - 5/8/07
[display_podcast]

Part 1: Dale Hansen speaks with Rep. Jose Menendez about HB 3186 and why legalizing poker in Texas is an uphill political battle / scared Republicans (and problems caused by redistricting) / luck vs. skill / Lottery hypocrites / the Governor will sign if it gets to him.

Part 2: Hansen speaks with Pokerati about underground poker in Dallas and the hypocrisy of the state not taking a rake on poker / what about fishing tournaments? / Oklahoma and Louisiana advertising on the highways / the impact of raids.

Part 3: Hansen takes calls / a sweet old lady busted in the VFW game / would Dale legalize drugs?

My only regret is that I forgot to push the charity angle … and talk more with Dale about how his attempt at a major benefit (Cards for Kids with DallasCAN!) was stymied, and would not have been under the purview of a new law.

Tune in to Hour of Hansen on ESPN radio (103.3 FM) here. He’s talking poker right now. Rep. Menendez is currently speaking with Dale Hansen from Austin on how far we’ve come and the obstacles we still face.

Yes, we women think from time to time — or at least the men allow us. Especially down here in Texas where all men are rednecks and women are stupid, no? Offended? See fine print below. Anyway, I was thinking about HB 3186 and the paradox of why we are unable to play raked poker in Texas. Here is just one example:

Considering the process of Natural Selection, poker tournaments are a great example of Darwinism. When the first poker hand is dealt, Herbert Spencer’s phrase “Survival of the fittest” becomes most poker player’s motto. We are forced to learn this scientific theory in our public schools while forbidding Creationism. Let’s get something clear right now…Creationism over Evolution is not the point of this post. Darwinism vs. Creation or Intelligent Design is not the point of this post, either.

My point is … why do we force children to learn the scientific theory of evolution over the 5,000-year-old historical book of Genesis only to tell postgraduates they’re unable to practice the forced theory and make decisions on their own in life. Isn’t it confusing the government will choose what you learn in school such as capitalism, free trade and freedom (which we pay for) only to forbid these things later in life? Is it me or does it seem the government takes religion away from children and then uses it against adults?

*Sew - Pun on women being stupid and knowing how to sew. Also read the comments on this post.
*Fine Print
The statement pertaining to Texas men being rednecks and Texas women being stupid is not true. State names have been changed to protect the ignorant innocent.

As we move along in the process to regulate poker in Texas, I’ve tried really hard not to overdo the poker metaphors, but this time it really is the best way to say it.

Our bill, HB 3186, is on the House General Calendar. The deadline for hearing this bill on the floor of the House is Thursday night. However, The House of Representatives is backed up pretty bad and the legislative carnage is evident already.

We feel good about our chances if we can get a vote, but at this point there is no guarantee that will happen.

The next few nights in the Texas House will be very late as they try to work through their calendar, but every time a contentious bill comes up for debate and one side begins to stall (or “chub” as it is referred to at the Capitol) bills at the end of the calendar become less likely to pass.

We are still in this thing, and frankly we’ve gotten farther than anyone thought we would.

In the meantime, continue to email your legislators. A good citizen recently posted this site and I encourage you to take advantage of it to contact your legislators: http://www.legalizepokerintexas.com/

Stay tuned, Thursday will be a very late night!

Tim in Dallas writes in with a late-night update on HB 3186, and a question that I think he was hoping was rhetorical:

From: Tim B
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 2:07 AM
To: dan michalski
Subject: woo WOO! HB 3186 made it through calendars!

Placed on General State Calendar 05/09/2007

they havent released the calendar for the 9th yet, so i dont know where in
the agenda it is, but this does mean its going to get a vote on the floor,
right??

Indeed, Tim, this is a really good thing … but it may not be enough! Being on the general calendar is no guarantee that the House will get to it … and if they don’t, then despite all hard work and good sense, it simply dies.

To be sure the bill gets heard on the floor, it needs to be on the Major State Calendar. Rep. Jose Menendez, Lavigne in Austin, and the lobbyists are actively trying to make that happen … but that’s why pressure still matters today and tomorrow. In fact, if you happen to be a big-time Republican donor … now would be a really good time to get in touch voice-to-voice with your highest-ranking peeps and encourage them to make poker a priority.

Fingers crossed, buttons clicking, stomachs turning … it feels like we’ve flopped a set only to be up against open-ended-straight and flush draws with two cards to come.

More…

Dumb
Found at CraigsList, here

Join The Fastest Growing Industry In The World…Become A Pro DEALER
——————————————————————————–
Reply to: job-314136637@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-04-18, 10:08AM CDT

OK, ITS ALL OVER THE NEWS!!! THERE IS A BILL IN AUSTIN RIGHT NOW TO LEGALIZE POKER IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS. THIS BILL IS CALLED “THE POKER GAMING BILL OF 2007″. THIS BILL IS EXPECTED TO PASS AND WHEN IT DOES EVERY BAR WILL BE OPENING A POKER ROOM AND WILL BE IN NEED OF PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED DEALERS LET “THE ALL AMERICAN CASINO DEALERS ACADEMY”, THE ONLY PROFESSIONAL DEALERS SCHOOL IN TEXAS GET YOU CERTIFIED NOW BEFORE THE RUSH. ALL INSTRUCTORS ARE CASINO CERTIFIED AND MOST ARE RETIRED PIT BOSSES OR DEALERS. DAY AND EVENING CLASSES AVAILABLE…CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION METRO (817) 857-3567. JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE!!!

If I have to tell you why this post is dumb, this blog is too intelligent for you. And that’s a very sad thing indeed.

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Not sure if this helps or hurts the poker cause … but the Texas Lottery has introduced a new $50 scratch-off game. Could spark an anti-gambling uproar, you gotta think, that might make the “no-no-no more gambling!” minority scare a few undecideds against the Texas Poker Act, which is still waiting to see if it can get on the “major state calendar” for a vote this week.

Or it could plausibly put the Lege into “fuck-it” mode … “hell, if we’ve got the biggest lottery game in the nation, then why not Texas Hold’em, gowl-dangit?” After all, even the Southern Baptist-lovin’ Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas) has publicly shilled for gambling in Texas — full-fledged casino variety, no less — on the grounds that it is the will of the public to see these dollars stay in state. Interestingly enough, it’s the Texas Lottery Commission that would be charged with the regulation and oversight of poker, as per HB 3186.

Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has an article with instructions for wagering on Texas-related politics online via Bodog. I wonder if the ST realizes how much money they could make if they linked to Bodog with an affiliate code.

Good story in today’s DMN about the VFW poker bust, the Texas Poker Act, and police frustration with the issue of illegal Texas Hold’em games in North Texas. No mention of the armed robberies that police don’t/can’t handle … and the person who accuses poker players of throwing bottles in her yard doesn’t give her name, which is too bad. I wasn’t aware of any poker players who have ever left poker rooms carrying beer bottles … in fact, I am so confident that these sorts of nuisance crimes from poker players are so infrequent that I would like to volunteer Pokerati’s services to clean up whatever mess poker players do leave in any particular residential neighborhood. I’m being serious. But we can’t help you or any accuser who isn’t willing to give their names/meet eye-to-eye.

That’s the thing with the anti-poker forces, whatever and wherever they may be … they don’t know what they are talking about.

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We’ve gotten some decent ink going into the weekend, with some more expected.

The biggest threat to our little bill is that the House of Representatives is just on this side of a total meltdown over totally unrelated issues. The Capitol Letters blog is a pretty good one if you want to learn more about that.

We have to have our bill heard on the floor of the House by Thursday if it is to continue on to the Senate. This is doable, but we need to keep applying pressure.

A Pokerati reader created a web page to make that even easier. GO THERE NOW!

HB 3186 was voted out of the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee. We will be seeing our first Texas House vote on Poker as early as Friday. More to come, but for now please contact your State Representative and ask them to support HB 3186, The Texas Poker Act.

It has been a little while since I last updated y’all on the progress of our Texas Poker Bill (HB 3186). When we last left our little bill it had had a great hearing in the Texas House Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures. At the end of that hearing it was left pending and the real work began behind the scenes.

Your team has been busy…and successful. We anticipate it being voted out of committee very soon, but we need every poker player in Texas to do something between now and Monday afternoon. Call the legislators on the committee and let them know you support the regulation of poker, specifically HB 3186.

When you call, please remember a few things:

1) Be nice
2) Tell them specifically you support HB 3186
3) Ask them to support HB 3186 too

It will only take about 30 seconds a call and there are 9 members of the committee.

We are very close to getting this bill to the floor of the House, where we believe we may have enough votes to pass this thing.

Hopefullly, I’ll be updating you with some very good news on Monday night!

Julian in Dallas writes in with some official information about this past weekend’s poker busts, and … perhaps like a player intentionally showing his hole cards? … informs Dallas pokerers about what the police plan to do next.

(Austin poker people may also want to take note.)

In a nutshell, I think what he’s saying is stop playing poker giving citizens reason to complain about illegal gambling … or their gonna getcha, and might possibly sick the Feds on yo ass! As things stand now, 79 players were ticketed this weekend, 18 of whom are soon to be arrested … with some TABC violations to boot.

Hey, I’m just passing on info — and perhaps contemplating hosting a charity tournament freeroll for the Assist the Officers Foundation — so don’t shoot the messenger:

Dan …

Just FYI, we did not take the persons charged with M/A Keeping a Gambling Place to jail on Saturday night. Those charges have now been filed and those persons will now be picked up and placed in jail. In the future, all persons charged with M/A Keeping a Gambling Place will be placed in jail. Persons charged with M/C gambling are also subject to arrest and could be placed in jail depending on the circumstances. All persons recently charged with Gambling M/C were issued citations and released.

For the purposes of your website, I think you all should know that the Vice Unit would much rather have voluntary compliance from the businesses and citizens of the City of Dallas. Gambling investigations are in fact time consuming operations and we have other priorities that we could be working on. Let me repeat, we would rather have voluntary compliance from a group of normally law abiding citizens. If we cannot get that compliance then we will have to conduct operations that will ultimately discourage those normally law abiding citizens from engaging in such behavior.

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Or not … our beloved little HB 3186 still has a ways to go. But we are “this much closer” to legal-better poker in Texas … at a minimum, people in the law business are becoming more and more familiar with our “issues” … and an increasing number of political bidders are looking at dollar signs (and calculating implied pot odds) on an unusual bill that has, let’s say, 75 percent public support …

Here is the testimony presented earlier this month for and against legalized Texas poker to the legislative committee charged with making the first rounds of decisions about this bill. You will find it either totally boring or C-Span fascinating … and if you’re in the latter camp, you’ll probably hear much that you find encouraging. Listen closer, however, and you may get a sense that some hardline politicking has only just begun:

House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Austin, TX - 4/3/07

[display_podcast]

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Dallas po-po says they know about “a majority” of local games. And even though we have yet to see a single conviction (by judge or jury) of more than 200 potential defendants, here’s a list of underground poker rooms put out of business recently: (Feel free to add if I missed any — but, hey, don’t go naming your friends just to be funny!)

Aces
Jackie’s
JB’s/Goodfellows
Ace High
R&R #2
VFW-Audie Murphy
Top Shelf
Island Club
DC’s Poker House

Previously and outside of Dallas proper
EV Enterprises (Richardson)
Sons of Italy (McKinney)
Poker Pound (Duncanville)
R’s Game (Addison)
R&R (Carrollton)

Hmm, wow … OK, it looks like they’ve gotten all of ‘em. Yep … all gone. No more cardsy fun for citizens to complain about. Now poker players can take up new hobbies en masse … like fishing/bowling/golf/panhandling/beekeeping/graffiti.

The Dallas Police Department continues its crackdown on illegal gambling … busting a poker game at the Audie Murphy VFW Post 1837 just several hours ago. There were reportedly seven full tables running when nearly 20 police officers entered the room. It was the vice squad this time, not the SWAT team … though some undercover player-officers were donning black hoods, face masks, and sunglasses to keep their identity sealed — one of whom responded to the name “Curtis.”

No official numbers yet on tickets, arrests, and money seized … but it’s looking to be about 70 players issued gambling citations, and a dozen employees handcuffed and taken to jail[UPDATE: It appears they, too, may have just been ticketed] for “keeping a gambling place.” According to Deputy Chief (Vice and Narcotics) J.A. Bernal, most of the alleged poker criminals “appeared to be hardworking, normal citizens; average everyday working joes. That’s what we found here today.”

Tonight’s VFW bust comes after an attempted armed robbery at one Dallas room Friday night as police were reportedly raiding other poker rooms (including the Island Club and new Top Shelf). DPD tells Pokerati they also hit a couple 8-liner joints Friday … and that more gambling raids are to come.

Meanwhile, legislators in Austin are considering a bill to legalize some semblance of poker games similar to the one taking place at the VFW. Several state and local politicians support this bill ([tag]HB 3186[/tag]) … presumably as an example of sensible government … including Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, whose office now has at least another 100 poker-related misdemeanors added to it’s caseload.

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The clock is ticking and if you haven’t called/emailed your state representative yet ( Thanks for the reminder Dan), then get your arse in gear. Don’t just stand on the rail, participate in what could be a historical event.

In other words, if you don’t call your rep, then NO DEBBIE DOWNER-ING Texas poker and no more negative comments about how they will never legalize it here (you know what I mean by legal, right?). After all, what have you done for Hold’em lately? And I don’t mean that in a Janet Jackson sort of way.

A thriving low-stakes poker room got a bit of a scare last night — when two unidentified visitors attempted to rob the joint at gunpoint. This comes as the state Legislature is considering a measure to legalize various forms of poker in Texas, in part to offer more protection for players. (For all you who were there and may or may not have shit in your pants … have you written your state representative yet?)

The (unconfirmed) story we’re hearing about the attempted armed robbery …

It was reportedly about 11 pm, with at least two full tables of 1/2 action going strong when the two aspiring criminals showed up at the typical suburban office park locale and rang the telltale wireless poker-room buzzer. The manager thought he recognized one of the young 20something black guys as a semi-regular player, so he buzzed them through the first door. But when he went to greet them at the second door, he recognized neither, and apparently sometime in the seconds that followed, the dudes pulled out their weapons. A mini-scuffle ensued, but the manager was able to wrestle the security door shut before any shots were fired.

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Another pretty good Texas-poker-bill story … You know, it’s almost encouraging when you see a reporter who clearly is not a poker player “get it” … troublesome kicker or not.

Click here to view the story.

Remember to contact your state representative(s) to voice your support for legal poker.

Click here if you need help with what to say. And in the interest of trying to come across as an unbiased champion of true democracy … Pokerati also halfheartedly encourages opponents of the bill to probably someday get around to eventually writing someone in the Legislature so they can sound impractical and stupid reserve the right to complain if/when things don’t go their way.

UPDATE: Yet another good story … this one in today’s Dallas Morning News. Remarkably unbiased and balanced (in Pokerati’s not-so-unbiased-and-balanced opinion).

The public support is clearly there … it’s just a matter of letting the politicos know that they will gain supporters, not lose them, by supporting this bill. Check out not so much this story out of Austin … but the comments:

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Gary Carson offers his $.02 on the pending poker legislation in Texas … and I couldn’t help but mouth off to my respectable colleague. (Thanks, Tim, for the link!)

As for the rest of you … don’t forget that now — as in like today, maybe next Tuesday at the latest — is the time to flood the legislative voicemails and in-boxes with your support for HB 3186.

It’s pretty simple where things currently stand … if a majority of the House decides to support this bill (that would be 76 representatives), it will be put to a vote and it will pass.

UPDATE: Here’s a better video of the November Dallas poker raids, better than the one I linked to in Gary’s comments. When it comes to dealing with poker, it’s pretty much either this or HB 3186 — our choice.

OK, these videos may not be as good as the stuff you see on Raw Vegas, but still … worth a look:

Michael Bolcerek thanking the 20,000 Texas members of the PPA:
(via the PPA Blog)

Clonie, Michele, and Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) laying it all on the line:

And this vid … I’m not so sure about. Are Nixon and G.W. Bush really the presidents you want to ally yourself with? Either way, this almost seems like something the “other side” might have put out:

Things have been busy here in A-town as we work to bring Hold’em to Texas. We had a successful day on Tuesday as we bombarded the state with our media outreach and made a strong case for Poker in the committee hearing. I’m sure Dan and Michele have/will post(ed) links to the Pokerpages video and some other resources if you want to follow what went down.

There are way too many people to thank for the success we had yesterday and its a little early to pat ourselves on the back just yet, but please know that the Texas Poker PAC, PPA and Texas Cardplayers Association are in collusion right now and working well as a team.

Our witnesses testified perfectly and were really patient as we were delayed about 6 hours. There are worse things in the world than being holed up in a hotel conference room with Clonie and Michele…not to mention two Poker Hall of Famers (Lyle Berman and Crandall Addington) and Erick Lindgren. I even learned that there is such a thing as “Perfect Chinese” poker, though none of it was on display there.

The bill was left pending in committee which is standard operating procedure for major bills and even most smaller ones.

Michele already recapped much of the action and i’m sure Dan will be doing so as well when he’s done gloating over his half victory in last night’s drinky rules debate…

We have a really good chance at passage of the poker bill this year. Admitedly, I didn’t even think our chances would be this good at this early stage in the fight.

WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW!

Call and email your State Representative and ask them to support the Texas Poker Act, HB 3186 by Menendez. Click Here to find out who your Representative is and to get their contact info.

We need you to do this right now! We will be polling members next week to see where we stand so please let them know you are out there today. If you get a machine leave a message and call back tomorrow or send an email or do both. We want to make it known that there are a lot of us, we vote and we want poker.

Stay tuned, we are just getting started here…

As always, you should feel free to contribute to the effort monetarily by joining the Texas Poker PAC.

PS. Does Dan play the same “questionable” hands in Dallas or does he just save that crap for when he plays us Austin donkeys?

Check it out … Fox4 in Dallas has a poll … and it’s running roughly 74-21 in favor of HB 3186.

While I love Austin, yesterday I wished Houston was still the Capitol of Texas so I wouldn’t have had to commute. Nonetheless, it was a swell time spending the day with Dan Michalski, Mike Lavigne, Lyle Berman, Crandell Addington, Clonie Gowen, and Erick Lindgren.

I arrived at noon to quickly learn that many local news stations were hot for information on the new bill. After our first interview, we lunched in a nearby hotel board room as we listened to Crandell’s old poker stories. If you love old Doyle Brunson stories then ask Crandall about the time Doyle mucked Aces Full (on the turn – formally known as the flop).

Lyle Berman spent most of the day entertaining us with his brainstorming — further proving that Crandell was indeed accurate on his analysis of Lyle’s intellect. “Do you know what Full Tilt should do?” asked Berman. “What?” asked Clonie. Lyle then declined to share the information because it was just too good of an idea.

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AUSTIN–It took me to get awhile to get some wi-fi here at the Doubletree across from the capitol … but eventually I hooked into the system by going to the front desk and asking for a password, which they were happy to provide at no cost.

5:17 pm — There is nothing to report. We are waiting. Crandell Addington says he won’t tell bad beat stories … but he will apparently tell “amazing fold” stories that take a long time to listen to. Lyle Berman is the smartest man he knows. Just ask him.

7:36 pm — Still waiting. The Fresh Princess looks pretty today. Clonie is missing a button in the middle of her blouse. Crandell is nodding off. We’ve busted out the Chinese poker. Erick Lindgren had to go home.

7:38 pm — We just got the call. Headed over to the capitol in five minutes.

Since Dan is on the road, I just wanted to let you know that us Texan’s stirrin’ the pot are creating quite a…stir. Articles are popping up on the net (including Cardplayer) showing support for tomorrow’s hearing in Austin. I will be on the road in the morning to join Batman and Robin for the exciting adventure. Stay tuned…we’ll be right back.

Headed to AUSTIN in a few hours … cards go in the air on Tuesday for a high-stakes political game that I sure-as-heck don’t wanna miss … $1 billion and the future of Texas Texas Hold’em is on the line. Like seriously. No April foolin’.

LYLE BERMAN, CRANDELL ADDINGTON, MICHAEL BOLCEREK, ERICK LINDGREN, Dallas DA CRAIG WATKINS, CLONIE GOWEN, Pokerati, et al. will be making the push for [tag]HB 3186[/tag] in front of the Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee.

Poker we know can make good TV, and you can find the live House video stream here. I get roughly THREE MINUTES to state my name for the record, tell bad beat stories, and scream “Go Batfaces!”

Hold’em Radio (which started in Austin) has moved into a NEW STUDIO in Las Vegas — at Binion’s, right by the poker room. Very cool! Live poker radio 24/7 and subsequent podcastable shenanigans just got more interesting.

Check this out … seen on I-20, en route to SHREVEPORT … a BAPTIST CHURCH dropping [tag]the hammer[/tag] in a cyber-evangelical effort to save degenerate gambling souls:

Two weeks ago, the GARDAI in NORTHERN IRELAND forced the cancellation of a similar not-so-underground event.

ONLINE GAMBLING is running into some problems in the CZECH REPUBLIC. But the companies behind the betting industry there are circumventing the legal nuisances by setting up shop in MALTA.

OK, circling back the globe … here’s the article (scroll down to the very bottom) … they are now running SATELLITES to the PPT (emphasis added):

Airport Casino Filipino Parañaque will host the first Metro Manila satellite/qualifying tournament for the 3rd Philippine Poker Tour (PPT) Million-Peso Hold’em Championship on March 31, 2007. Registration starts at 1 p.m., and tournament at 2 p.m.

[...]

Details of prize structure and tournament rules for the 3rd PPT Million-Peso Hold’em Championship are posted in the official PPT website, www.PhilippinePokerTour.com.

Meanwhile, POLAND is joining forces with ENGLAND, and I think ITALY … taking steps to officially legalize and regulate online gambling.

Speaking of ENGLAND, they’re getting on the charity poker kick there, too, raising tens of thousands of pounds for kids with learning disabilities via a PARTYPOKER televised event.

In CONNECTICUT, they’re using poker to send Pee Wee baseball players to COOPERSTOWN.

PHIL HELLMUTH is breaking new ground in non-pokery poker marketing … having just signed an ENDORSEMENT DEAL with an energy drink called “Pro Player.”

Could ENERGY DRINKS be the next poker? They’re exploding like online poker rooms in 2005, and there’s too much unregulated profit margin in these arguably addictive chemical products (that teens love!) for the Feds not to eventually take note/want their cut.

A big thank you to the PPA for sending out this email to their Texas membership today!
_____

Dear Texas Poker Player,

As you know, the Poker Players Alliance is fighting on your behalf in Washington, D.C. and at the state level to defend your right to play poker. The fight for legal, safe and fair poker is taking place here in Texas right now.

The Texas Poker PAC is an ally of the PPA and has worked hard to get great legislation introduced that will regulate and expand legal poker in Texas! House Bill HB 3186 was filed by Representative Jose Menendez of San Antonio. This will have a public hearing on Tuesday, April 3rd in the House Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures and poker in the great state of Texas needs your support.

This is a unique opportunity to have your voice heard in support of the game you love! Testifying in favor of the bill will be some high profile folks like Gavin Smith, Erick Lindgren, Lyle Berman, Dallas DA Craig Watkins and others.

Please join us in Austin on the afternoon of April 3rd to make your voice heard! The hearing will be held in the Capital Extension Building (North side of the Capitol) Room E2.030 (3rd Level Downstairs) at approximately 2 PM. I would love you to join me and other members of the PPA and stand up for Poker in Texas!

If you cannot make it to Austin then, please click here to send an email or call the committee members’ Austin offices. Here is a list of Committee members with their e-mails and phone numbers. We encourage you to call for poker in Texas.

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***It will remove the limit on the number of tables an establishment may have and significantly lower the asset requirement on bars to apply for a permit to a monthly gross receipt of $7,500.***

Mike, just playing devil’s advocate here … but $7,500 seems low. I mean I can see why ho-hum bars might want an electronic poker game in their establishments. But if any ole bar could open up a poker room … yeow, is that really a good thing?

Poker players aren’t big drinkers, we know. Yet every so often a drunk person shows up at a poker room to test their impaired skills. Good fun. But that person, even while drunk, is choosing to go to a poker room, and if he gets his ass handed to him, he understands why. But what’s going to happen when a drunk guy in a bar stumbles into a poker game … not because he is a player, but simply because he is drunk? If he ends up getting cleaned out on a really really bad beat levied by a slow-rolling asshole … well, that’s the kinda thing that could lead to someone getting shot! We are in Texas, after all.

Full disclosure: I say this as someone who would love to run a brand-spankin’ new poker room at The Lodge and/or elsewhere. Suspect this law would be financially beneficial to a guy like me.

There will be a committee substitute next week. It will remove the limit on the number of tables an establishment may have and significantly lower the asset requirement on bars to apply for a permit to a monthly gross receipt of $7,500. This would, for example, make eligible about 25 establishments in Arlington and 4 Abilene.

I think this is good news! The hearing is set for next Tuesday. They may not vote on it that day, but they will take all pertinent testimony at that time. i hope to have a new copy of the bill soon.

The PPA has agreed to help us publicize our progress and the hearing. They will be sending an email I’m writing to their members in Texas (between 10-20,000) this week.

Stay tuned….

I sent an email out a few days ago to all my poker friends. If you didn’t get it, here it is, and you can sign up to get on the Texas Poker PAC mailing list here.

Attention Texas Poker Players!

Legislation has been filed in the Texas House of Representatives that would allow real poker in Texas!
The bill is HB 3186 by Jose Menendez of San Antonio.

Highlights of the bill include:

• 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
• Licensing for distributors of commercial poker equipment
• Money raised will be dedicated to necessary state services
• Criminal penalties for dishonest operators
• Raises over a billion dollars for state services

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I just played in my weekly game and won a whole five bucks. Freakin’ awesome. But what is awesome is this story from Poker News, about efforts to make better poker legal in Texas. I have to give props to Haley Hintze for actually reading the poker bill (60+ pages) and reporting on it thoroughly and accurately. Maybe bloggers should be issued press passes after all.

HB 3186 was filed today in the Texas House. If you want to play poker in Texas legally, this is the best flag we have to fight under. I encourage you to read the bill or at least the press release pasted below.

This is going to be a tough, potentially long fight. I’ll begin posting more regularly as our bill moves through the Legislature. The first step will be to get a hearing in the House committee after it is referred. HB 3186 should be referred to committee early next week.

When the hearing date approaches we will need as many folks as possible to congregate at the capitol and attend the hearing. Details to come on that.

In the meantime, the press release is below. Feel free to send Representative Menendez an email thanking him for filing such a great bill.

My html skill is akin to that of a 5-year-old, so please pardon my lack of fancy formatting:

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