Wiechmann: Poker players drawing dead in Texas thanks to DA, not TABC

by David Wiechmann
February 08, 2005

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has pushed its chips all-in, and it would be wise for bar owners and managers not to call their bet. Thanks to a recent change of opinion from the district attorney, in-house poker tournaments no longer are allowed in Lubbock.

Poker tournaments came to Lubbock via Jake's Sports Bar when ESPN brought poker back to the main stream by televising the World Series of Poker. After Jake's first tournament was shut down before it started because it was a buy-in tournament with Jake's taking no cut from the pot, it was then determined poker tournaments with no money on the table would be acceptable.

Mike Fuqua, manager at Bash Riprock's, said he got on the band wagon and made sure his bar followed all guidelines of the district attorney. He said he spoke numerous times with the district attorney's office about the matter before he started having his tournaments on Sunday and Wednesday nights.

One thing he did know, however, was poker would eventually come to an end in Lubbock because it always had been illegal, and he saw no changing that.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "If it hadn't been allowed in the past, why would it be allowed now? I was just following what the DA had told me I could do."

Fuqua foresaw the final hand and said he entered the poker craze to bring business to his establishment, which is why the other bars did it.

But the confusion in the end of poker tournaments lies in the new interpretation and who is enforcing it.

TABC has nothing to do with the poker decision or the end of free poker tournaments with cash prizes. TABC is simply enforcing laws pertaining to alcohol permits.

"It is not a TABC violation to play poker," Fuqua said. "It is a TABC violation to be in the midst of a criminal act in your place of business, and then they have criminal recourse on you."

Because poker tournaments with cash prizes are illegal, hosting one technically would be against an alcohol permit since an illegal activity would be taking place at the bar. Where does this leave poker players looking for a free game and a chance at easy cash? Without any hole cards or chips.

There is a loophole, and poker could still be played, but winners get nothing more than a handshake from the last man out and a pat on the back from his buddies.

"You can't win or lose anything," Fuqua said. "It's not against the law if they're not getting anything. If I were to have a tournament now, I can't give them a T-shirt or a free beer. I can't give them a penny for winning."

TABC is standing firm and is not bluffing with this situation. Lt. Harry Schreffler said it always has been illegal to host these tournaments, it is just a matter of that law being enforced by the district attorneys across the state, and particularly in Lubbock. He and his men also are enforcing the law with regard to the previously mentioned violation by Fuqua.

Failure to follow that law could result in a last call for the bar.

Schreffler said non-compliance with this case would equal a 15-day closure for the bar in violation or an option to pay a minimum $150 per day fine for that 15-day period and remain open. That fine could max out at $20,000 a day if TABC finds it suiting to that particular case.

The decision to enforce the laws by the books came to be because of what Schreffler said was "a problem in the community." Poker had become too popular in Lubbock, and therefore, it had to be stopped. He said he believes the popularity of the game is what brought about the change.

"We are trying across the state to be as fair and balanced as we can with people who have permits," Schreffler said. "The DA interprets the penal code, and we are simply regulating the alcoholic beverage laws."

So, don't blame TABC for shutting down the tournaments. It's the old laws and recent interpretations by the state that took the cards away.

Wiechmann is a senior journalism major from Lubbock. Send comments to david.m.wiechmann@ttu.edu