I get a lot of questions about the legality of poker games in the state of Texas where I live. I intend for this to be a fairly complete review of what constitutes legal poker in the state of Texas.

If you're looking for info on legality of poker in other states, my first suggestion is to read the law for your own state. Most states have laws very similar to Texas law, but there are often differences from state to state. Also, homepoker.com has a decent summary of laws in several states here: Link

Now, for Texas. The complete Texas penal code on gambling is here: Link. I advise anyone who's interested in Texas gambling law to read it, it's actually not very long and pretty easy to understand.

Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you don't. Many people do care if what they do is legal, which is why I put this page together. I just want people to be informed and want to have a single place I can put this info instead of having to regurgitate it every couple of weeks.

You should decide whether it matters to you whether the game you play in is legal or not. I hope I provide enough information here that anyone can make that determination.

In Texas law, a bet is defined as "an agreement to win or lose something of value solely or partially by chance" with a few exceptions. Specifically the law makes it clear that betting on the outcomes of sports events or any other game or contest, betting on on the results of elections, and "betting on any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device" is gambling and covered by the law.

So poker is definitely considered gambling in Texas law; the only exception is that poker tournaments or games with no entry fee or any other way to lose money by entering are not considered gambling, and are therefore legal, since you have no way to lose something of value. There are a few bars and restaurants in Austin, for example, that have zero-entry poker tournaments as promotional events. These are legal.

In Texas, as with most states, bingo, lotteries, racetrack betting, and charitable raffles all have their own separate laws and are not covered by the more general gambling law.

Texas law is designed to allow "social gambling". From the law, it is legal to gamble if:

(1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;

(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and

(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.

(1) means the gambling must be on private property; you can't gamble in public, or in an open bar or restaurant, at all. Most bar or restaurant owners don't want you playing poker in their bar even if it's not for money.

(3) makes "house edge" games like blackjack, craps, pai gow, etc. generally illegal. It would probably be legal to have a blackjack game if everybody bet the same amount and the person acting as the house rotated every hand. Certainly almost every type of poker offers all players equal chance of losing and winning so poker is OK here.

It's almost always (2) that makes a poker game illegal in Texas. It's also important to realize that the purpose of (2) is to prevent people from becoming professional gambling promoters -- the law's intent is to allow people to gamble for fun, but does not want anybody to be making a living from running poker games, or being a bookie, etc.

The definition of what constitutes "economic benefit" in (2) is somewhat hazy. Here's what is clear. If there is money raked from pots, or a seat time charge, or a door fee, or a mandatory food charge, or a mandatory "donation", the game is illegal under Texas law since that money is going to somebody, and they are getting an "economic benefit" from the gambling.

It is a little more hazy if you're playing in a game where there's no rake or game charge, but there is a dealer or waitress who is getting tipped. That's probably still illegal. Genuinely voluntary donations, or asking people to chip in for beer or pizza, or selling someone something like cigarettes during the game, probably would still make the game technically illegal but it seems extremly unlikely that anything like that alone would cause a game to get busted.

There has been at least one case where the illegality of a poker game was established. In Gaudio v. Texas 1994, Gaudio was convicted of keeping a gambling place which in this case was an apartment rented to play poker games. The judge ruled that what made the game illegal was that the pots were raked to pay the rent of the apartment and that since not having to pay the full rent of the place was an economic benefit, the game was illegal. The judge also said, though, that even if the pot wasn't raked, the fact that the dealer and waitress received tips probably made the game illegal.

In Texas the answer is yes, but rarely. The only cases in the last several years I've heard of have been two high-profile operations, the Austin Poker Club which was shut down in April 2003 (see here) and the Redmen's club, shut down in February 2004 (see here). Neither has gone to trial yet.

Little one- or two- table home games, illegal or legal, rarely attract the attention of the law anywhere in the US. Larger illegal cardrooms or poker clubs more frequently do because they are a higher profile and easier to prosecute.

The Austin Poker Club was a very high-profile club. They were trying to operate as a legitimate business, including having a public website, a labeled location, membership dues and apparently even paying taxes. The owners believed, and still do, that their club was legal. Only the outcome of the trial will determine that for sure.

Probably not too much. You'd almost certainly be questioned for several hours about the game, probably at a police office. You'd probably lose your buyin and the chips you had in front of you.

In the event you did get any charges, you'd just get charged with Gambling, which is a Class C Misdemeanor (basically a parking ticket, with a fine up to $500).

There's a firsthand account of the Austin Poker Club bust here.

Whether the game is legal or illegal, you'd be in for a lot more hassle. You'd be charged with Keeping a Gambling Place, which is a Class A Misdemeanor (fine up to $4,000, jail for up to a year, or both). You'd have to go to trial and defend yourself. In the case of the Austin Poker Club, it's been a year and they still haven't made it to trial so those things can drag on.

The most common motivation for raking a home poker game, and therefore making the game illegal, is that the person running the game simply wants to make money from the game. A less common cause is that the person running the game is genuinely not aware that what they are doing (taking a rake, charging for food, paying a dealer etc.) is making the game illegal.

If you like playing in a home game with a professional (paid) dealer, the only way to get that is to play in an illegal game (since having a paid dealer by definition makes the game illegal).

Additionally, because the organizers of illegal games are making money, illegal games tend to be well-organized, well-promoted and well-attended every single week. Many illegal games have perks like "free" food, drinks and nice tables and cards that you may not get in a typical home game. They are also typically run well by people who know how to manage a poker game -- rules are more strictly followed and enforced, the game moves faster, etc.

If you're OK with doing something that's technically illegal, and you're OK with the (probably very small) risk that the game will get busted and you'll lose your buyin and possibly get a small fine, the only other downside to playing in an illegal game is that since it's raked it's generally harder to make money there. Illegal game rakes tend to be equal to or higher than the rakes in Vegas and other places where games are legal, and in some cases the rakes are much higher. That can make the game very hard to beat, even for a very solid player. On the other hand, if the game has a lot of poor players it could very well be a much easier game to beat than a typical home game.

You should make your own mind up and decide whether you want to play in an illegal game or not. I have created this page so you can be informed and make up your own mind.

The games that I've held in the past have always been, and always will be, unraked, player-dealt, and 100% legal. I work hard to make sure people have fun at my games and the games are honest and well-run. I'm not trying to make a living from poker, which is why I don't feel like I need to take money from the pots of my games to keep the games that way.

I'd love to see a day when all poker is 100% legal in Texas and professional cardrooms are allowed to operate in the light of day. Until that time, keep yourself informed and make your own decisions as to when and where you want to play poker.

By Texas law, probably not, since you'd be engaging in betting activity in which someone (the online cardroom) is receiving economic benefit. Therefore playing online poker in the state of Texas in a raked online cardroom is probably illegal.

On the plus side, I've never heard of a case in Texas of anyone getting busted for playing poker online. There have been a few cases in other states of online sports bettors and poker players getting prosecuted.

It's unlikely that federal law covers internet poker; CardPlayer writers Allyn Jaffrey and I. Nelson Rose have written many articles covering the topic; the most up-to-date is Rose's article "Is it a Crime to Play Poker Online?"

That's about all the information I have. I hope this is informative to people who want to learn more about the Texas laws with respect to poker. If you have any comments or additions, please email me. See the left sidebar for a link to my email.