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Heads Up, Texas!

by , Mar 6, 2007 | 12:05 am

Comments (6)

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…


6 Comments to “Heads Up, Texas!”


  1. DanM     says:
    March 6th, 2007 at 2:44am

    Dude, Mike, this is great to hear. Well done helping pull this all together. Seems a step in the right direction.


  2. DanM     says:
    March 6th, 2007 at 4:49am

    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?


  3. DanM     says:
    March 6th, 2007 at 7:35am

    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?


  4. Pokerati | Texas hold’em blog » Blog Archive » Legal Poker Coming to Texas?     says:
    March 6th, 2007 at 7:45am

    […] Fresh Comments Heads Up, Texas! (3 comments)Last comment by: DanM Today at 7:35 amFor Sale: Poker Blogger Ringtones (2 comments)Last comment by: Alisya Today at 2:17 amRe: Tilt Personified (1 comment)Last comment by: Wolf Yesterday at 12:51 pmSemi-back in Action, Baby (!) (22 comments)Last comment by: Fresh Princess on 2007-03-03 10:01:58Pokerati Invitational Pre-Round Up (4 comments)Last comment by: Gonz on 2007-03-02 15:01:11But I played really well… (1 comment)Last comment by: DanM on 2007-03-01 15:20:28 […]


  5. Lavigne in Austin     says:
    March 6th, 2007 at 10:44am

    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!


  6. Michael Z     says:
    March 6th, 2007 at 6:08pm

    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.