Lubbock DA calls poker tournaments illegal
Associated Press
LUBBOCK -- Do bar and restaurant card tournaments requiring entry fees and promising prize money violate state gambling laws?

District Attorney Bill Sowder says they do.

Spurred by recent attempts to hold card tournaments at Lubbock businesses, Sowder held a news conference Friday to inform owners of his stance before pursuing criminal charges.

"The law is not designed to punish the Friday night poker game at a guy's house," he said in today's editions of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "The law is not designed to throw out the football pool at the shop.

"Some people legitimately thought they were doing the right thing and didn't know they were violating the law, and we didn't want to arrest those people, even though we could," he said.

Jake's Sports Cafe recently canceled a Texas Hold'em poker tournament when law officers questioned the event's legality.

Owner Scott Stephenson said his event does not amount to gambling.

"It's no different than a golf tournament or a dart tournament," he said. "The way we're running the game, there is no bet. We don't let people bet money in the game."

The Jake's tournament would charge players entry fees and offer prizes to the winners. Instead of money, players would wager points on each hand.

But Assistant District Attorney John Grace said that when it comes to gambling, the Texas Supreme Court says points are the same as money. And because each player's odds of winning differ with each deal of the cards, poker is gambling, he said.

"It's gambling when their ability to get that prize depends on a game of chance," Grace said. "It's gambling if it involves any measure of chance."

Golf, billiards and tennis are games of skill, and therefore such tournaments are not illegal, he said.

Source: Houston Chronicle