An appeals court ruled that a Dallas poker club could remain open after the city government revoked its operating license, citing the state’s gambling ban.
The 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas on Tuesday upheld a March 2022 decision by the city’s Board of Adjustment – a volunteer committee made up of members appointed by the City Council – allowing the Texas Card House to keep its use permit.
Then-Dallas Building Official Andrew Espinoza sued the company and the board to reverse the decision, and a district judge in November 2022 upheld the city’s revocation of the permit, saying the board had “made an illegal decision.” Texas Card House appealed to the higher court, arguing that city officials had caved in to lobbying and simply changed their minds about allowing the poker club, even though there had been no change in the law or the company’s business practices to cause the revocation.
The appeals court said District Judge Eric Moyé erred in his 2022 ruling by failing to show “due respect” to the previous decision of the Board of Adjustment, which handles challenges to decisions on the city’s development ordinance.
“The court may not substitute its discretion for the BOA even if it concludes that the overwhelming burden of evidence is against the BOA’s decision,” the appeals court’s decision states. “If reasonable people could have reached the conclusion that the BOA must have reached to justify its action, the court must uphold the BOA’s order.”
Attorneys for Texas Card House and the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the appeals court ruling Wednesday.
Taxpayers were left to foot the legal bills from two separate lawsuits seeking to shut down poker businesses previously approved by the city. The City Council approved Dallas spending at least $550,000 to represent the building official and the Board of Adjustment, which also reversed Dallas’ 2022 decision to revoke Shuffle 214’s building permit.
Texas Card House and Shuffle 214 have their own legal representation.
Although gambling is illegal in Texas, the law allows games to be played in a private location as long as no one benefits economically from the game other than personal gain and all players have an equal chance of winning, regardless of individual skill or luck.
The city government allowed at least three poker companies to operate in Dallas until 2020, but changed its stance a year later due to public pressure. The city now declares them illegal. Then-City Attorney Chris Caso told City Council members during a public meeting in 2019 that the companies were legal.
Texas Card House signed a lease for its northwest Dallas location near Farmers Branch in December 2019 and received city certification in October 2020.
But in the summer of 2021, there was a strong backlash from some Far North Dallas residents who opposed plans for another poker shop near their neighborhood. City attorneys and building officials said they had re-examined the state’s gambling law and concluded they had wrongly allowed poker shops to operate by misinterpreting the law.
Texas Card House and Shuffle 214 appealed the revocation of their use permits to the Board of Adjustment. A third business, Poker House Dallas, closed in June 2023 after a judge granted the city’s request to close it because it did not have proper permits.
Dallas is considering updating its zoning code to allow poker businesses to operate independently of the provisions of state law. The proposal would allow private clubs that offer games of skill such as axe throwing, darts, shuffleboard or poker to obtain a special use permit to operate.
A subgroup of the city planning commission voted unanimously against the proposal in March.
The full Planning Board voted to delay a decision on the code change on August 8 until the litigation is resolved.
