Texas Supreme Court Turns Away Case Letting Dallas Poker Rooms Stay Open

Texas poker rooms in Dallas can keep running after the Texas Supreme Court chose not to hear the city’s appeal. This decision means card clubs like Texas Card House can continue their operations.

Poker Club Licenses Remain Valid After City’s Legal Case Fails

Late last week, the state’s top civil court decided against reviewing the case filed by Andrew Espinoza. He worked as Dallas’ chief building inspector before and tried to challenge a prior ruling that supported the club. That earlier ruling brought back the poker room’s occupancy permit, which the city had tried to cancel back in 2021.

Poker clubs in Texas operate in a gray area of the law. Gambling is illegal, but the state law makes an exception for private games if all players have the same chance of losing or winning and the host does not take a cut from the games. Clubs like Texas Card House claim they stay legal by charging membership and seat fees instead of taking part of the players’ earnings.

The disagreement started in 2020. Dallas gave out permits to poker clubs after spending months talking with operators. However, things changed after two years. The city said it had made a mistake with those approvals and told card rooms to close. Texas Card House fought back by taking the issue to the city’s Board of Adjustment, which decided the permit should stay in place. After that, Espinoza, working on behalf of the city’s building department, filed a lawsuit against both the business and the board. This led to a strange courtroom moment where the city ended up suing itself.

Legal Costs Soar Above $500,000 in Dallas Poker Club Dispute

A district court at first agreed with Espinoza, but the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas reversed that decision in 2024. The appellate judges stated that the trial court should have respected the Board of Adjustment’s decision. Since the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the appeals court’s ruling now stands.

This legal fight has come with a high price tag. Records revealed that Dallas has spent over half a million dollars of public money to hire outside lawyers to represent both sides of the city’s internal disagreement. Some council members opposed this spending and expressed concern that taxpayers were covering the costs while businesses bringing income to the city remained stuck in uncertainty.

The ruling allows Texas Card House to keep running right now, but it does not address the bigger argument about whether social poker clubs follow state law. Places like Champions Social Club in Far North Dallas are still in their own battles with city officials to get permission to hold games.At least for now, the decision lets Texas Card House and Shuffle 214 keep their poker tables going while the larger legal uncertainty around the industry remains unresolved across Texas.