Texas: City Council Revokes Dallas Poker Room License

Texas is one of the US states where gambling is illegal. There are no casinos, no mobile or retail sports betting and no slots. While poker, in general, refers to gambling activity, poker fans in Texas have found a way to practice it legally. This is possible thanks to the so-called “social clubs” that are also referred to as poker rooms or card rooms.

Dallas City Council Decides to Revoke Texas Card House License

Texas Card House (TCH) is one of the poker rooms that have been operating legally in northwest Dallas. The process of launching the poker room was difficult and pro-longed but in the end, TCH received operating approval from the city. But despite the approval to operate, all of a sudden, the Dallas City Council decided to revoke the room’s license last week, CBS DFW revealed.

“We spent about 2-and-a-half years trying to find a location that we could open that the city approved of.”

Ryan Crow, CEO at Texas Card House

TCH’s CEO, Ryan Crow, outlined that it has taken the poker room more than 2 years to try and find a suitable location. He outlined that the city approved it as well. Currently, there is no statement released by the Dallas City Council regarding the revocation.

However, owners of the poker room revealed that recently, they have received a letter pointing out that the reason for their permit revoking is due to “keeping a gambling place.”

The Poker Room Operated in Line with Current Laws

TCH owners fear that those actions may result in more than 200 people losing their jobs. With that in mind, they plan to appeal the City Council’s decision. And if employment doesn’t sound bad enough, if poker rooms close, poker fans won’t have a legal place to practice the activity. This in turn may also result in an increase in the share of the black market in the state.

Undoubtedly, the news about the permit revocation comes as a surprise for TCH. This is because the poker room operated in line with the current gambling regulations in Texas. This means that, unlike casinos and gambling venues, the poker room didn’t collect winnings from each hand. Instead, to comply with the laws, the poker room operated by charging the players $13 per hour to sit and play at their tables.

The card room also featured daily, monthly, and yearly membership fees. Regardless, none of those actions were breaching the laws on gambling in the state so the Council’s decision truly came as an unexpected unpleasant surprise.