tl;dr: These rooms are illegal and will be closed (imo).
Law enforcement is busy playing whack-a-mole with illegal game rooms and other investigations.
In the past, they've taken months and in one case they took over a year to complete an investigation into establishments with 8-liner machines (think slot machines).
Here's the head of the Austin Vice Squad discussing game room investigations.
Quote:
...Sgt. Bob Miljenovich heads the Vice Unit of the Austin Police Department...
...Miljenovich says his team doesn’t have enough resources to crack down on them as he’d like because of higher priorities.
“Both the child exploitation and the human trafficking mission for eight detectives and three officers, those take up the bulk and vast majority of work which leaves not a whole lot of time and resources to devote to the game rooms,” he explained...
One problem with these rooms is that they are everywhere, and they close up and move all the time. But the main problem with 8-liner game rooms is that they're legal as long as the prizes they pay out aren't worth more than $5.
Law enforcement can't tell by just driving down the street and seeing one of these places in operation whether the room is legal or not, so an investigation (that will stand up in court according to the DA) has to be done to prosecute.
Typically, neighbors complain or there's an incident at one of these places that causes an investigation to be launched. In 2012 a guy was shot and killed trying to rob one of these places, which brought on an investigation.
These poker rooms are not "private places" and the owners are receiving an "economic benefit" other than "personal winnings."
Quote:
(8) "Private place" means a place to which the public does not have access, and excludes, among other places, streets, highways, restaurants, taverns, nightclubs, schools, hospitals, and the common areas of apartment houses, hotels, motels, office buildings, transportation facilities, and shops.
(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings
A bunch of restaurant/bars were having poker nights in central Texas and some of the owners asked the DA's office if they were within the law because they weren't charging anything. No rake, no entry fees, no dealer tips etc. (I've seen dealers at charity events, but usually the restaurant games had the players dealing).
The DA told them that they received an economic benefit from players purchasing food and drinks at their establishment, and that made the games illegal. The places where I saw games shut them down, and I haven't seen an advertisement for one of these in years.
I have no doubt whatsoever these poker rooms will eventually be closed down.