No Poker for Texas

June 9, 2009

Those of you holding out hope of poker in Texas – you are going to have to keep holding out for that to change because it isn’t likely for this year. There have been attempts by the state legislature to get poker legalized at the racetracks in the state, but it is not going to happen at this time.

The state’s governor Rick Perry has made it very clear that he will veto any attempts by the state to get poker playing legalized at the tracks. He says that no matter how the bill is packaged, he does not want poker playing at the race tracks and is bound and determined to make sure that this doesn’t happen.

Those legislators that are usually for many things that the governor supports or does not support say that they are against him on this one – for they think that not only would poker playing be good for residents, but that it would be good for the state as well because it would mean a large influx of income for the state.

The racetracks say that they need the money that would come from poker playing simply to keep their doors open. They argue that they cannot keep competing with other states when they are allowing slot machines and poker playing and they sit on the sidelines just trying to survive. They have asked their legislators to get poker playing in because it is a game of skill as opposed to slot machines which are simply gambling, but thus far they have not been able to sway their governor’s mind.