In a significant turn of events that will have poker fans celebrating all over Texas, HB 222 was passed by the Texas House Committee last week. Jose Menendez’s bill, also known as the Poker Gaming Act of 2009, will allow new licenses to be created that enable secure venues to offer games of poker to the public. 
The bill was passed by a vote of 6 to 3, but it’s not quite a done and dusted deal yet.
In order for the bill to make it past the committee, it was amended so as to allow a referendum to take place on the issue. Since poker can be a topic of disagreement, individual Texan communities will be able to vote on whether or not to allow poker to be played where they live.
Texas state director for the Poker Players Alliance, said that, “the vast majority of communities in Texas will hold successful elections allowing Texas Hold’em at specific locations. This is a smart way to allow local control over what will quickly become an economic development issue.”