A verdict given by Attorney General Greg Abbott last Tuesday, might put an end to the Southeast Texas bikers tradition of charity poker runs. According to Abbott, any poker run with a possibility of winning cash prizes is a violation of the gambling laws of Texas.

This decision was made relating to a case of a group called the Blue Knights, which is a voluntary group of retired and active law officers, who planned to have a poker run, in the cause of raising money to help a deputy who was injured in an on duty car accident.

In the charity poker runs, the motorbike riders usually go through several locations. At the last stop of the ride, the riders who checked in all the locations reveal their five cards poker hand. The prizes are given for bikers with best hand, the second best hand and even the worst hand The winners usually donate their winnings. Southeastern Texas bikers used to run those events almost every week, especially during spring and summer.

Tom Maness from the district Attorney office is not surprised by this verdict. He says that in order to keep the charity poker tradition without changing the Texas gambling laws, they will have to do it without the money prizes.