Another late comment on an older post, semi-related … comes from Marisa in the Midwest:
I have been a licensed poker dealer in the midwest for 13 years, and I have been waiting many years for Texas to legalize poker rooms in Texas. I am originally from the midwest, but lived in the Dallas area from 1981 to 1989 and have wanted to move back to the area for quite some time, but I would like to stay in the poker industry. I am currently employed by the largest poker room in the midwest (34 tables), and it is located at a horse racing track. We are a card club/horse track only. It has been a wonderful combination. From the rake we take in the poker room, at least 25% of that is put toward the horse racing purses which has allowed our horse track to increase its payouts and draw more and better quality horses. We also have a casino games room in which we spread blackjack, carribian stud, pai gow poker, let it ride, 3 and 4 card poker. Although those games are normally considered house games ours are not. The only profit that the house makes from these games is by taking a fifty cent rake from these games put up by the player. Any monies lost by the player are put into a player’s pool. This money must be given back to the players by the end of the year. It is given back in the form of bonuses for each of the different games (example get 3 blackjacks in a row, win an extra $500. And for every blackjack in a row after the intial 3, the player is awarded $1,000 bonus for each consectutive blackjack).
We are not a tribal casino, we are a horse racing track owned by a holding company, I believe similar to your Lone Star Track. We are monitored by the State Lottery Commission.
If there is anyone down there who might present this to your legislature, perhaps they might amend the bill to something like what we have here. Along with satsifying the poker players of ours and neighboring states (so they don’t have to play in illegal home games) it has worked out well for our state, as we are the only gaming establishment in the state to pay a substantial amount of taxes to the state (all other casino’s in our state are tribal and they pay no state or federal taxes).
I believe that if your state legislators would look into something similar to what we have, and amend the bill (eliminating the $20 bet limit, the 4 table max., etc., that has proven not to work well in states such as Washington) I am sure that this would satisfy: the poker players of Texas the State of Texas (new taxes taken in) provide many new employment opportunities the horsebreeders assoc. (if your racetrack is allowed to have a poker room) by establishing larger purses for the horses who run there and the Dallas Police Dept., no more spending money and manpower raiding private games.
Good luck to Texas Poker Players, and thank you Texas Lawmakers for finally thinking about joining the other many states who already have legalized poker rooms.I hope to find out that a great NEW and IMPROVED poker gaming bill of 2007 is passed soon, so I can hopefully start planning my move back to Texas!
