El Pasillo Poker Room Clears As Lawful Questions Stay in Texas

A brand new poker room in El Paso is available for gamers to come and revel in some cards. It’s the first commercial card room in El Paso.

House of Kings is employing the same model that card rooms across Texas follow, requiring a membership to enter rather than the house taking a rake from games. Whether or not Texas authorities will continue allowing these types of gambling sites remains to be seen.

Residence of Nobleman co-owner states house not necessarily taking rake makes enterprise legal

Poker rooms in Texas are technically illegal. Despite that, there are numerous dozen across the state. One final determination on their legality will come from impending court cases or by legislation working its way through the Texas Capitol.

House of Kings co-owner Julio Morales states that his business is legal because the house does not take a rake.

“The casino may rake,” Morales told KTSM-TV. ” … We do not receive a financial benefit from the game being played, which is how the game is regulated in Texas.”

Like most other card rooms in Texas, players pay fees to become club members. All the money won and lost in the poker games goes to the players, not the company. This model makes the business lawful in Texas, according to operators.

Some police and Texas lawmakers don’t see it that way. They contend that collecting a rake is just one way card rooms benefit economically. They also benefit by charging for concessions, seat fees, and membership fees.

El Gestion poker gamers happy to possess a place to enjoy

Regardless of the poker room’s legality, House of Kings has had an excellent opening. It hosted a Texas Hold ’em tournament that drew countless participants in late January, and the winner took home $49,700.

Several House of Kings patrons are happy to have a safe, clean place to enjoy their favorite games. One of those is Janet Lindstrom, who told KTSM-TV that she previously did not have access to public poker tournaments in her area. With House of Kings, she said she found exactly what she was looking for.

“It was the only place I knew of to come in El Paso where they had legal poker,” Lindstrom said. “A lot of people played at home games, but I didn’t know anyone at a home game, so when this opened up, I was able to come and play poker.”

Skilled poker players like Troy Bolata hope membership keeps growing at House of Kings.

“We have young guys, 19-20, so even the kids these days, you know, the young school geniuses, they like playing poker, so, you know, it is just growing and growing because that’s what we need: players,” Bolata told KTSM-TV. “We need people for prize pools, and ultimately players are what keeps the games going.”

Dallas trying to keep cards rooms working

Some Texas cities are looking for ways to retain poker rooms in operation. For example, the Dallas City Council recently voted to have city employees work with the city attorney to create a new land-use category for card rooms. There will be limitations on location and the types of games that must be included in the business, but it’s the beginning of the framework to keep the card room doors open.

According to Council Member Chad West, regulating card rooms will prevent them from proliferating underground in residential neighborhoods, where they can become havens for crime.

“This is Dallas. We are supposed to be a city that is pro-business,” West said. “This motion, if it is adopted by council, flips the script here. The intent is to direct staff to spend their time and energy in a positive way to generate revenue for public safety, parks, and all the things we love, and provide a safe, regulated place for this industry to thrive away from neighborhoods.”

Another reason West wants to keep the card rooms in operation is that they provide tax revenue.

“Just last year, Texas Card House (a card room in Dallas) provided over $1.1 million in property and sales tax revenue,” he said.