The Farmers Branch City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to reject an ordinance that would have legalized card rooms in the city.
Doug Polk, three-time World Series of Poker Bracelet winner and co-founder of Upswing Poker and Lodge Card Club, previously had plans to build Texas' largest card room in Farmers Branch. But his hopes of building a facility in the city all but died when the city council rejected the card room ordinance.
“Obviously it wasn't the outcome we were looking for. I felt like there were a lot of comments about residents not supporting us and that's not true,” Polk said. “We had a lot of supporters here, so I want to thank them. It wasn't just the outsiders of Farmers Branch that lost tonight, a lot of the residents lost too.”
The 47,000-square-foot facility would be located at 4880 Alpha Road, just minutes from the Dallas North Tollway and Galleria Dallas. The failed ordinance did not allow card rooms to operate within 300 feet of a school, so the neighborhood is made up primarily of warehouses.
The Polk facility would have a restaurant, bar, and about 100 table games, including poker. The card room will employ about 300 people and should attract about 300,000 visitors a year, Polk said.
Despite being rejected by Farmers Branch, Polk hasn't given up on his goal of building card rooms across Texas. He already has his 27,000 square foot Card His Room round his lock, sees more than 200,000 guests a year, and employs about 200 employees.
Expansion to other big cities like Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas is still on his mind.
“First of all, we need to get enough sleep, but we also need to meet more people and build more alliances,” Polk said. “A lot of people here in North Texas are reasonable, and I think we can convince them that this is a good thing. One day we will show that card rooms are the best thing for this city and other cities. I hope I can.”
Approximately 27 people were in favor of legalizing card rooms, and 25 people opposed the existence of card rooms in the city. The denial is a loss for Polk, but a big win for some Farmers Branch residents like Adrian Wright, who are concerned about the card room's potential impact.
“They talk about how it will bring business to restaurants and hotels, but it doesn't. People who frequent here will go to nearby places like Addison,” Wright said. he said. “One of the most important things to consider is that Texas hasn't legalized gambling. We can't afford to take that risk. Is this what we want? How does this fit into our city’s branding?”
Polk looked throughout North Texas for locations to build a cardroom in areas such as Denton and Tarrant counties, but all areas prohibited cardroom operations. This made the Dallas County Farmers Branch one of Polk's only choices for card rooms in this area.
Dallas legalized card rooms in 2019, granting a license to Texas Card House, the city's first poker venue. However, the city changed its mind and ordered the facility to cease operations in 2022 after incorrectly approving a certificate of occupancy necessary for business operations.
However, due to the ambiguity of the laws behind card rooms, Texas Card House continues to operate today.
Gambling is illegal in Texas, but there are approximately 60 private poker clubs in the state that operate in a somewhat legal gray area. In Dallas, a push to close card rooms cost the city well over $500,000 in legal battles.
While it is debatable whether card rooms in Texas are legal under state law, if a card room does not collect rake, which is a fee for operating poker games, it is technically legal to operate a card room. It may be argued that there is.
Instead, Polk's plan to operate out of Farmer's Branch was to use membership fees and seat fees in place of the traditional rake collection.
Meanwhile, North Texans looking for gambling solutions have to travel to nearby states like Louisiana and Oklahoma to spend their money. Still, Polk sees a future where he and other operators can build large-scale facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“I still have to digest this loss, so I think it's too early to say exactly where I'll go next. I'd like to consider my options and see how this plays out,” he said. Told. “It's going to be difficult to get this off the ground, but this is a premier market and we want to be a premier destination one day.”
