Poker Players Show Support at Hearing for Legal Texas Poker

April 3, 2007, AUSTIN, TX - A historic event took place on Tuesday at the State Capitol in Austin, TX, as a group of professional poker players, poker lobbyists, and even mere poker enthusiasts gathered before the Texas Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures to show their support for HB-3186, proposed legislation that, if passed, would both legalize and regulate the game of poker within the state of Texas.

Currently, the game of poker can be legally played, even for money, but it must be done in a private residence and no one can profit off of the game but the players. This means there can be no money taken out of any pots for any reason by anyone other than the players, and makes running a public card room illegal. This bill seeks to change all of that.

Clonie Gowen, professional poker player, was perhaps the most widely-recognized player on-hand to witness before the committee. Erick Lindgren, a professional poker player with almost $5,000,000 in poker tournament wins, was also scheduled to appear but had to cancel at the last minute due to outstanding circumstances.

"As a professional poker player I made over $500,000 last year playing poker," said Clonie Gowen to a committee that seemed surprised to hear such a large number. "We want just really want [poker] controlled and regulated, so that everyone, like myself - I'm a mother of two children - could have a safe environment to be able to play poker."

Lyle Berman, professional player and Chairman of the Board for the wildly-successful World Poker Tour, was also on hand to show his support for the bill, and seemed to indicate that Texas could be a potential host for WPT tournaments if the bill were passed.

"If poker were legal in Texas," said Berman. "It would be a great stop for the World Poker Tour events, which create a large amount of associated economic activity."

The bill, which would require 76 votes to become law if it reaches the Senate floor, makes mention of where the money allocated from the regulated games would go. A minimum of 50% would go to programs designed to aid the homeless, with other moneys being set aside for seniors and veterans.

More than sixty people showed up to witness in support of the bill, while only two signed papers in opposition. Only one of those two spoke before the committee, Rob Kohler of the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Kohler argued that poker is a game of chance, not skill, and therefore the proposed bill would require an amendment to the Texas Constitution.

"We will make available to the committee a recent Attorney General's opinion, where they actually tackled this question... They came down [with the following statement]: 'Poker is a game of chance, if chance predominates over skill. At least some element of chance is present in the game of poker.'"

"What I'd like to bring to the attention of the committee is that there may be an element of skill, certainly. Whether you are dealt an ace or a two is determined solely on chance. And, as such, we feel any type of bill to introduce this type of game to the state would require a constitutional amendment."

Also on-hand to voice encouragement for the bill was Chris Jones, a 28-year old police officer who was quick to rebut the testimony of Kohler in regards to poker being a game of chance.

"There's a lot of policemen playing poker out there," Chris noted. "It is not a game of chance. The best hand does not always win."

The bill, backed by the Texas Poker Political Action Committee, and nationally-known Poker Players Alliance, is already getting a lot of media attention. While bills of a similar nature have been proposed in the past, none have really been put forth with such strong and animated support.

Even if bill HB-3186 is approved by the committee, it still has a long way to go. This is but the first in a long series of steps before the bill ever reaches the senate floor.

When asked what the chances are that the bill would pass, Michael Bolecerek, President of the Poker Players Alliance, simply smiled and said: "I'm not sure. But it's a great start."