Why Major Poker Tournament Brands Now Embrace the State of Texas
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The thought of the biggest poker tournament operators entering the state of Texas just one year ago was a pipe dream. But as the calendar shifts to 2026, it seems as if everyone is trying to get in on that Lone Star State poker action.
A big year for poker in the land of Longhorns and Cowboys appears to be on the horizon, thanks in no small part to some actions taken by local poker clubs in 2025. It all started with Texas Card House winning a major legal battle and Doug Polk's affiliation with ClubWPT Gold, which helped lead to the World Poker Tour (WPT) bringing the $1,100 buy-in WPT Prime Lodge Championship to Polk's The Lodge Card Club in the Austin area.
The October tournament, the first-ever WPT event in Texas, was a huge success. Harvey Castro, in his home state, took it down for $225,020, beating out 1,648 entrants in the $1 million guaranteed no-limit hold'em event that had nearly $1.6 million in the pot. That was just the start of big things to come.
First WSOP Event in Texas
PokerNews broke the story in November that the first World Series of Poker (WSOP)-branded event would be coming to Texas. More specifically, the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) at Texas Card House Social, The Lodge's main competitor in Austin.
TCH Social, one of six Texas Card House poker clubs across the state, will host a WSOPC series from April 23 to May 4, 2026. A few months earlier — Jan. 27 to Feb. 1 — the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) is coming to The Lodge, and will head up to Dallas to Palace Poker from March 20-29.
"I am very excited about this opportunity," Texas Card House CEO Ryan Crow said when the announcement was made. "This is something we have been working towards for a long time. It's a great day for poker in Texas."
What Took So Long?
Poker has been booming in Texas for years. Many card rooms such as TCH and The Lodge Card Club have hosted successful local events such as The Lodge Championship Series and the Texas Poker Open at Champions Club in Houston. But the state, pre-2025, had gone without tournaments put on by the major national and international brands such as the WPT and WSOP.
Texas has some strict anti-gambling laws that have been a thorn in the local poker community's side. According to state laws, gambling is illegal. But the wording in Texas Penal Code 47.04 makes it possible to legally spread poker games so long as rake isn't collected.
The letter of the law has been hotly contested by some lawmakers. But the poker rooms in the state — the legal ones — operate as social clubs that charge membership and seat fees, as opposed to traditional brick-and-mortar card rooms that make their money through cash game rake.
Over the past decade, many poker clubs have faced threats — and sometimes legal action — from police and politicians who don't believe the law permits poker rooms to open legally. Poker operators have stayed away from Texas, concerned the rooms will eventually get shut down.
But Texas Card House Dallas, in September, won a historic lengthy legal battle against the City of Dallas that didn't just ensure TCH would no longer have to continue its expensive fight just to remain in operation.
It also made it clear to the politicians who oppose poker in Texas that stopping the rooms that are operating within the law and going through the proper business licensing procedures will likely be a losing cause. The TCH case never even made it to the Texas Supreme Court because the highest court in the state rejected to even hear the case.
One month later and the WPT entered Texas, and then came the WSOPC and RGPS. The upcoming year for poker in Texas, like everything else in the state, is shaping up to be big.
