Doug Polk’s Dallas-Area Poker Room Plans Rejected

Efforts by Doug Polk to bring a poker room to the Dallas area suburb of Farmers Branch were rejected earlier this week. On Tuesday night, the city council voted down a proposal to allow poker clubs.

The poker pro purchased The Lodge poker club two years ago in the south Texas City of Round Rock and is hoping to expand into other areas of the Lone Star State, starting with Farmers Branch. The meeting saw numerous supporters and opponents of the plan show up to voice their opinions.

Polk spoke to the council in hopes of alleviating any concerns about the effect a poker club might have on the city.

“There are card players all over your city today, so I want to dispel the idea that this is somehow eroding the fabric of the community,” Polk told the council, according to PokerNews.

Clubs Bring Mixed Reactions

Poker clubs have proliferated across the Lone Star State over the last few years. However, Texas law bars gambling if the house is taking a rake. Rooms get around functioning more as social clubs where players pay dues similar to what might be expected at a country club.

The clubs have grown in number, especially in south Texas, and the venues host regular cash games and tournaments. However, some cities have fought against seeing clubs within their jurisdictions and the city of Dallas has been locked in a court battle with business owners who worked to open clubs within the city.

Some critics have even argued that the Texas clubs aren’t actually legal at all.

“A person commits the crime of ‘gambling promotion,’ if he intentionally or knowingly operates or participates in the earnings of a gambling place,” gaming legal expert and publisher of the Gambling and the Law blog noted in a post addressing the issue. “And ‘keeping a gambling place’ is a separate crime.”

Despite that, the clubs remain open in many parts of the state. Polk took the rejection in stride and has promised that he will keep searching for a city to open his next club.

“Want to thank everyone that came out tonight,” he noted on Twitter afterward. “Lots of people came and spoke, I appreciate supporting our concept. I also recognize lots of people who spoke against were trying to do what’s best for their town. Overall, they were respectful. Lots of great people in Farmers Branch.”

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