A. J.

I have long held the belief that the Indian tribes to the north (Oklahoma) and those running big casinos to the east (Louisiana) are the things keeping casinos from Texas. There's money flowing somewhere preventing legitimate gambling in Texas.

Regardless, the poker rooms we play in and see live streaming on YouTube (The Lodge, Texas Card House, etc.) seem to be playing a dangerous game. They are not profiting from the game, itself; they are profiting only from other people playing the game. It's a fine line. And I'm guessing that the rooms are frequented by many Law and Order members. Heck, I run into Law and Order members at underground games.

The Texas Card House Dallas issue is coming from the city of Dallas, not the state, as the city decided to pull their occupancy permit after well over a year of operation. That's after the owners spent most of a year talking to the city council convincing them to give approval, which was granted. I have to think money changed hands somewhere to get such a reversal. See https://savedallaspoker.com. TCH is still operating for now; I played there a few days ago. Their final appeal in Dallas is March 22.

If TCH loses this battle, I suspect that things may start getting extended to other poker rooms, which operate as social clubs requiring memberships to enter and play. Seems this has already started with Tyler, just about an hour east of Dallas. That's unfortunate. Players will just go back underground. There are dozens of underground games around -- well, maybe not in Tyler, but definitely in Dallas.

I'm hoping things go well for TCH.