In North Texas, it is not uncommon for owners of gas stations, truck stops, or convenience stores with eight-liners to be arrested and for police to seize motherboards from the machines or the machines themselves. However, some feel that this law goes too far and unfairly targets business owners. This law was created to help prevent the proliferation of illegal gambling operations in the state. In Texas, keeping a gambling place is a criminal offense. This includes operating game rooms with eight-liners or video slot machines that pay out cash prizes. While it’s legal to bet on horse races, buy a lottery ticket, or participate in office pools, basically any other semblance of gambling is against the law. Texas has some of the strictest gambling laws in the nation – and most confusing. This offense is commonly used to bust gaming rooms and mom-and-pop gas stations that have gambling machines that give out tokens or tickets that could be exchanged for something of value. Keeping a gambling place in Texas is the criminal offense of allowing someone to use premises for gambling. What is Keeping a Gambling Place in Texas?
