Texas Poker Bill Debated

Copied from the Triangle Poker Journal

Texas Poker Bill Debated

By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Poker fans who want to play Texas hold 'em in the Lone Star State may not be looking at the best hand, but they're going all in.

A bill in the House would let the state regulate poker rooms so people could play for cash. Some of the money from the rooms would go to affordable housing programs.

"You can take a two and beat a hand with an ace in it if you know what you're doing," said Chris Jones, a Houston police officer for 28 years. "The best hand doesn't always win."

The officer's testimony in a House hearing last week was more about the game, which has reached icon status in its popularity, than about the movement to legalize public poker rooms in Texas.

But it's a perfect metaphor for the showdown that poker aficionados across the state and the nation are facing as they try to pass a bill in the state identified with the most popular poker game in the world.

Religious conservatives and gambling opponents are opposed to any change that would allow more betting.

"I think Texas hold 'em makes a nice title to a song, but I don't think it's something we need in Texas," said Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, a socially conservative group that opposes the measure. "I don't think we need to expand gambling."

Rep. Kino Flores, D-Plainview, chairman of the House Licensing and Administrative Committee, has played his cards close to the vest, telling some he was unwilling to pass the bill – presumably because he doesn't want competition for his own bill legalizing slot machines – but played nice with poker supporters.

"Before you all leave," he joked with the 60-plus poker supporters at his committee hearing last week, "there's a bunch of you here – would ya'll mind filling out another witness affirmation card in favor of the VLTs?" in reference to video lottery terminals.

A bill by Rep. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, would let the state regulate poker rooms so that people could play competitively and for cash. Some of the money would go to affordable housing programs, particularly for seniors and veterans. Games designed as fundraisers for charities would be assessed a smaller portion of their rake from tournaments.

No sexually oriented businesses would be allowed to have poker rooms, and Mr. Menendez said he would be willing to add an additional stipulation that no free alcohol be served to players.

The raucous House committee hearing last week included some of poker's heavyweights, including Poker Hall of Famers, the founder of the World Poker Tour and several of its stars.

It's estimated that about 2 million Texans play poker regularly in their homes or with friends – which is legal – or in illegal poker rooms, including the estimated 250 underground poker rooms in Dallas alone.

Clonie Gowen, a Dallas mother of two, plays professionally out of state with the high-profile Full Tilt poker team. She says the game honed her math skills at an early age. She brought home $500,000 last year and testified that she would rather not have to leave the state to support her family.

Erick Lindgren of Las Vegas, her teammate and one of the most recognized players of the World Poker Tour, touted the life skills that can be learned from the game, including social skills and patience. And money management, too – at age 30, the former basketball player pulls in $1 million a year playing professionally.

Texas poker fan Rock Howard said the game has probably even lengthened his life.

"You have to learn how to control your anger because poker will frustrate you," and angry players lose money, he said. "I lost my road rage and stopped being angry at hundreds of other situations in my life. So poker has probably extended my life several years for reducing stress."

Mr. Jones testified on his own and not on behalf of police organizations, but he indicated that opposition there was probably minimal, too.

"I would submit that there's a lot of policemen playing poker out there," he said.