So Texas gambling laws are indeed fixin’ to change. (Yippee!) The powers that be are having real discussions about how expanded gambling should or should not help fund our beleaguered public school system. (Where do we rank these days … like 47th?)

Here’s a recent story from KHOU in Houston about the prospects of legalizing slot machines in Texas — saying, hey, Texas is missing out on some much needed dollars that the public clearly is willing to pony up.

Click here to watch the video report.

So hey, Poker, you do see don’t you that now is the time to make this matter? It seems a shame that the Houston story didn’t give at least a few sentences to how much money legal poker rooms in Texas could generate. I mean not a biggie in the small term, but something that poker players should be aware of before this every-other-year opportunity passes. Will be interesting to see who steps up to the plate right now. As far as I know, the best political entities working on behalf of poker here are the Texas Poker PAC and Texas Card Players Association. But both are still in relatively nascent stages, and will be needing the help of legal- and political-minded players and playas. (Full disclosure: Pokerati is totally in bed with Texas Poker PAC.)

And will the Poker Player’s Alliance take an interest in Texas players? This question is not rhetorical.

(I can only hope we’ve all learned some lessons about how the legislative game really works from Bill Frist’s Last Stand.)

Meanwhile, here’s an old article (circa 2001, I think) about the folks who will likely be trying to put a stop to any expanded-gambling ideas. And they’ll be better funded this go-round by our good friends running poker rooms in Oklahoma and Louisiana.