At the end of the run, prizes would consist of $700 for the best hand, $200 for the second-best hand and $100 for the worst hand.

The club's advertised run said riders could buy hands for $10 each with no limit on the number of hands that could be purchased. The Blue Knights is a motorcycle club consisting of active and retired police officers. The poker run that prompted Abbott's opinion was organized by the Blue Knights Texas XXXI chapter to raise money for Galveston County Deputy Sheriff Michel Roy, who was injured in April when his squad car collided with a drunken driver's vehicle. Charitable poker runs in the past year have been hosted by motorcycle clubs as well as police and fire departments around the state. At least seven have posted poker runs on the Internet through March. The ruling will broadly affect motorcycle organizations across Texas. the nonprofit organization would become a custodian of a bet in violation (of the state Penal Code).' 'Even if the contribution goes to a charitable cause and the nonprofit organization will pay prizes from other money, a participant pays money for the chance to win a prize,' Abbott said. He said an organization that kept part of the proceeds for charity would violate the state's prohibition on gambling.

At the end of the run, a cash prize is usually awarded for the best hand, the second-best hand and the worst hand.Ībbott ruled that a poker run with cash prizes would amount to a lottery under state law. Poker runs typically have a participant paying a registration fee or have the motorcycle rider purchase cards or hands at various rally points. Attorney general rules motorcycle clubs' events are illegal gamblingĬopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin BureauĪUSTIN - Motorcycle clubs that stage 'poker runs' for charity will find 2006 less bountiful because Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled Tuesday that such fundraisers amount to illegal gambling under Texas law.

Texas vfw gambling laws