Chicago Tribune runs story on Texas poker crackdown
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The crackdown on private poker games in Texas is becoming so widespread that it’s transitioning into a national story - albeit one ran on an otherwise slow news day.
The Chicago Tribune published a piece today that provides a good overview of the recent Texas crackdown and even drops in a few quotes from Dan Michalski over at Pokerati (who get a name check in the article, nice). Excerpt:
State lawmakers have unsuccessfully proposed bills to expand gambling: measures ranging from allowing Texas hold ‘em at licensed bars and restaurants with the state getting a cut to letting voters decide whether the state should allow full casinos.
Those legislative efforts will likely continue, as the state looks for new revenue and realizes how many Texans gamble in neighboring states.
But until the law changes, Texas law enforcement officials say they’re going to do their best to shut down illegal poker games.
In Dallas this year, there have been at least six busts of illegal poker games, with police issuing Class A misdemeanor tickets for running or promoting gambling and Class C misdemeanor tickets for gambling.
“We don’t go out looking for these types of operations,” said Dallas Deputy Police Chief Julian Bernal, commander of vice and narcotics. “The community is calling us repeatedly with these locations. When we get the citizen complaints, we’re going to respond.”
