SPECIAL REPORT: Business owners all in on legal poker clubs
It looks like a casino.
There’s cards, chips, dealers and live music. People are betting their own money and playing poker.
El Paso Player’s Club is the third poker club to open up in El Paso since July. All of these clubs claim they are completely legal, despite the state’s strict gambling laws.
“The way it works in Texas is there’s ways around the gambling laws per se,” said Joe Garcia, El Paso Player’s Club managing partner. “One of the big things that the state of Texas says is it has to be in a private membership area. You can’t just have it out in the open, open to the public. Anybody that comes here has to be a member.”
El Paso Player’s Club, along with El Paso Card House and House of Kings, all operate under a similar model. Players must pay a monthly membership fee. The businesses provide a place for people to play. But, the clubs do not take a portion of the money.
“The house isn’t favored. We rent the venue for them to play poker. We provide a dealer and we provide chairs for them to play poker. They rent the chair for an hour and then they become a member. That’s where the house makes the money,” El Paso Card House manager Kevin Ryland.
Here’s what the Texas penal code says about gambling:
It has to occur in a private place. No person can receive an economic benefit other than personal winnings. The risks of losing and the chances of winning must be equal for all participants. Three different poker clubs have closed in the Dallas area since 2017, ever since law enforcement began to crack down on them.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has declined to give an opinion on the legality of these clubs. He’s citing the fact that two clubs in San Antonio and Austin are facing lawsuits, and his office does not comment on an issue that is the subject of pending litigation.
“There’s a lot of risk to it. I quit a job to come here and give it my full potential and we took that risk to make this one work,” Ryland said.
But for now, these clubs are going all in on what they believe is a legal business model.
“We’ve put lots of money. Lots and lots of money into this. A lot of hard work,” Garcia said. “As far as being legit and legal, we’re doing everything that we need to be doing.”
