In the Permian Basin, there are new businesses ideas like Kojack’s Poker Club that are bringing the experience of the centuries old card game to West Texans and giving big competition until the point that they will become the new trend in small towns around the united states.
“We know poker players living in the community and we wanted them to have something to keep them from travelling to other states like Oklahoma or Louisiana, We try really hard to mimic casino play aside from taking the rake so that players will be ready for the world series of poker and world poker tournaments.” said Kimber Kincaid, a co-owner of Kojacks.
But, how they operate under a Texas Penal Code that outlaws gambling? The answer is in the details.
“There are three things that we have in place that keep us as a legal operator, one of those being a private membership-based club, the second is that there is no rake taken off the table, and the third is that everyone has the same advantages of winning and losing,” Kincaid explained.
Legally speaking, poker is defined as a game of skill with equal opportunity for all players. So, with the house not taking a cut, and the privacy of memberships only, Midland police officials like Sgt. Chandler says the businesses are as legal as a private poker game among friends.
“Private poker rooms have not really raised concern as a Midland Police Department, as long as they’re legal and not collecting any money,” said Chandler.
There are now over 40 private poker rooms in Texas.
