A great Drey Carey video for reason.tv. Dallas PD sent a SWAT team to bust up a VFW poker game. Absolutely shameful. Dallas SWAT continues to embarass the city with misguided poker raids.
Even the most casual observer of criminal justice can see the blatant hypocrisy of our State's poker ban. Gambling in Texas is legal only if the State runs it. The Texas Lottery sells poker scratch off tickets, inter alia. Try and run a private poker game and we send a SWAT team to shut you down. Private poker is illegal. Our State's gambling laws exist only to protect the State's gaming monopoly.
DATE: 12/4/07 1:12 PM
What are the rules governing poker games. Can I be arrested for hosting a poker game?
DATE: 12/4/07 1:36 PM
§ 47.02. GAMBLING. (a) A person commits an offense if he: (1) makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest;(2) makes a bet on the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or on the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or(3) plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device.(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that: (1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place; (2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor reasonably believed that the conduct:(1) was permitted under Chapter 2001, Occupations Code; (2) was permitted under Chapter 2002, Occupations Code; (3) consisted entirely of participation in the state lottery authorized by the State Lottery Act (Chapter 466, Government Code);4) was permitted under the Texas Racing Act (Article 179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or(5) consisted entirely of participation in a drawing for the opportunity to participate in a hunting, fishing, or other recreational event conducted by the Parks and Wildlife Department.(d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor. (e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that a person played for something of value other than money using an electronic, electromechanical, or mechanical contrivance excluded from the definition of "gambling device" under Section 47.01(4)(B).
DATE: 12/9/07 12:51 PM
Many years ago the Dallas Police Dept. raided the Knights of Columbus' weekly bingo game across the Trinity "over in" Oak Cliff.During the next legislative session it became legal for nonprofit charitable organizations to play bingo.Let's see if the vets have as much pull as the Catholic church.