OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

._ 

Ronorable X.0. Flowers 

Secretary of State 

Austin, Texne 

.r 

i 

Dear Sir: Attention of Mr. Will ~e&Rfchardaon 

+plnion flo, 0&3f3.--~ is% ', 

Re: CorporatlonLy~~Furg&e blause - 

Innocent aprmte. .~' .'. ',~ 

Your roquest for 

c~i'ullg considered w this, 

request a0 L"ollova: 

he members mag from time to time detertie.' 

"We vould ap:,?reclate anopfnlon from you as to 

vhether such purpose clause ia authorized In Texas, 

and whether it comes within the innocent sporta aubdtvlsion of Article 1302." 

The purposes for whloh private aorporationfi ma? be 

formed in the State of Texa6 are enmmrated in Article 1302, 

Vernon's Annotat&d Civil Statutes. Se&ion 9 of said artltle 
306 

Honorable M.O. Plovers, Page 2 

reads am follows: 

“9. To support and maintain bicycle clubs, 

mad other Innocent mport.8." 

Webmter'm Iiev International Dlotlonary, 2nd Edition, 

defines the terms "bridge", "8hlmt" and "mport", am followm$ 

“EPldgO - A card gam derived from vhimt, etc. 

"Whist - A card mm for faur 

withapaakof5 ?--i&k G 

player8 played 

"sport - 3ome partleular play, gmmI8, or mode 

of mxmamementj amt (1) a d.tvsrmion of the field, 

am fowling, hunting, fishing, raelng, -8, emp. 

ath%otle g-em, and the like1 also any of various 

chl1m.r gaPem OF dlvormion6 umually played un$er 

aover, am bovling, rackets, bmmkmtbm~, ho. 

The came of 3mlth vs. Worthmm, 157 3W 741, held that 

under Rev. Stat. 1911, Article 1121, mubd. 36, permitting the 

fomtlon of bicycle clubs mnd “other inuoaent sports," a aorporate charter naming In its purpose olaumo an automobllo crlub, 

the purpose and objeat of which shall be to promote innooent 

sports by mean8 OS automobtlee, vam inmuSSlc%ent, 8Inee a 

definite lnnoaent sport must be named, vhlah the charter did 

nat do. The earn8 also held that,the rule of "ejumdem generlm* 

dld not apply, mince the.tena "@oyolo elubm" vam used ln the 

8enme of a distinct and lndivldtil tnnooent sport, complete 

within itself and separate in ills ldentltp. The oame almo held 

that the aubdiolmlon of the l tmtute was not invalid beaaume 

delegating by the quoted clause "other Snnooent mport8" legislative power to the Setretary of State to determine what aorporatfonm mmg be formed. We vimh to paint out however that 

mince the rendition of maid same, the Legislature In 1929 pasmed Seatlon 91 of Article 1302, V.A.T.C.B., which authorlmem 

the creation of corporations Soor the purpore of forinbg automobile clubs. 

Article 615, Vernon's Annotated Texam Penal Code, 

readit am Sollovat 

Whoever shall 

or othzxisg of 

, or bet or wager mny aor4r~r 

at mny-gmmm of awls at 

any place not a private mxnoe ooaupied by a 
Bonorable M.O. Floverm, ?mge 3 

Samllx, shall be fined not exceeding fif%y dollars. (Undermaorlng ours) 

It la an offense to play cards even without betting 

mt any place, except at a private rmmldenae occupied by a 

sma11y. See the following oam4mr 

Elliott vs. State, 127 SW 5473 

Borders vs. State, 6 SW 532% 

Oallegam vs. State, 95 3W 124; 

Lamar vs. State, 95 SW 511. 

Article 617, Vernongm Annotated Texas Yens1 Code, 

reads as Sollovm~ 

"The provlrlonm of the two preoeding articles 

which permit gsmfng at a private residence oaeupied 

by a family shall n&t apply in came much residence 

im one oomunonlg r&orted to for the purpose of gmming, nor vhere the gmme played la m banking gmme." 

This department held in an exhaustive conferentre 

opinion vritten by Eon. C.M. Cureton, First Ammimtant Attorney 

General, (later Ohle? Sumtiae of the Su reuse Court of Texas) 

dated February 20, 1915, printed in 191 B -1916, Reports of the 

Attorney Oenmral, pmgem 454-470, in&, that pool mnd billiard 

alubm could not be ahartermd under the purpose clause which 

authorized the formation of aorporatlonm "to support and maintain blcgole clubs, and other innocent mportml beoaume maid 

amusements of pool mnd billiards WON) Agamwmn mnd not "nportm.* 

We quote frorm maid opinion am follovmt 

%%e games of pool and bllllaldm am eomnly 

understood are not sports in thm usual and ordlnary sense of that vord, but are guaem and therefore are not eabraoed vlth5.n thm terse, mnd pmvl- 

&ions of subdivision 56 of Artlele 1121. 

"The use of words and phrmmem and the meaning 

attached to thmm~ may be detsrm&ned by their mtatutory use, their judlaial, 001Zoquial and teehnlaal 

uue and by their literary and historical emfployiment 

. . . . 

“The courts of othei; state4 have likevlme tonmtantly and continuoumly referred to the axsuaoxmsntm 

known as pool and bflliardm as gmmem arsd almam8d 
Ranorable #.O. Flowerm, Pm,ge 4 

theme mmnxmemmntm, aa does our statute. along with 

cards, checkers, e~c....~Undermaorlng ours] 

546. 

"The City of Clearwater va. Bovmsn, 82 Pac., 

"Squlsr vs. State, 66 Ind., 3171 

"Sykes vs. State of Alabama, 67 Ala., 77. 

"United State vs. McKennm, 149 Fed., 252. 

"Ellison vs. Lmvin, 66 L.R.A., 604. 

"The word 'sport' la usually confined to field 

sports, though of aourse it lllay have other memnlagm, 

but its usual slgnifleatlon Is that auggemt4d. 

"White vs. Western Aasurmnue Compaixy of Toronto, 

54 liw 193. 

"WIrth vm. Calhoun, 89 IIW, 785. 

"In the first stated mmme thm court refers to 

a mportmman, quoting the Cent&y Dictionary am follow&t 

"'One who sports, a man who praatioes 

flold sports, 4mpeoIally hunting or flshlng, usually for pleasure and in a legltlmmte manner.' 

"In the last nmm#d came ths question vam whother or not a theatricml performmnae, aon4lmtIng of 

muslc and dmnoln& and ieate of aontortlon, was sport 

or sporting. The statute under examlnatlon r4ad, so 

Sar am It 1s nec488mry to refer to the case, am follows: 

"*If w person of the age of fourteen 

years or upvard shell be found on the first 

dmy of the veek, c ommmonly aalled Sunday, mportlng, rioting, quar~ellng, hunting, fishing or 

shooting h4 or she mhall be fined, etc.' 

"The statute vent momevhmt further than the quotation does in also mmking It an off4nma, to labor at 

comon labor on Sunday. The murt, after dimposlng 

of the question and in holding that the theatrlcml 

performance vem not embwoed within the tdnns of camman labor, th4n took up the immue am to whether or 

not It fell within the vord 'mpo&ing', as used in 
gonorable M.0. Floweca, Page 5 

this atLtute, and quoted vith approval the definnition of ‘sport’ as defined fn Webster, among other 

thlnga saying 

” ‘?3gort” ia defined by Webater aa 

followa: To divert; to make aierry; to 

represent by any kind of play; to exhibit 

or bring out in public, as to sport a new 

equipagej to play; to frollo~ to vanton; 

to praatioe the dfveraiona of the ffaldl 

to trifle.” According to the aama lexioographer , "sporting" means "lndulglng in 

aportr 

f:eld.” 

practlolng the dlveralona of the 

If we uae the definition of 

“mart,” inateed of: the to? itself, in 

EZ%%l~h~e “Zf 0EE~l j EeiZ~~- 

in dlvertlngJ (2) to indulge in axwryaakingj (3) to lndul 0 In rspreaentlng by 

any kind of play1 (4 7 to indulge In being 

out in publlo,, aa to indulge in sporting 

a new hat or carrlagej (5) to indulge ln 

play or frolic3 (6) to indulge in vantonneaaj (7) to indulge in trifling) (8) prrotiolng the diveralone of the field. It la 

obvious, we think, that the Lw@alature did 

not eplploy the tefln In the aenae of the 

firat, aeomd, fourth, fifth or alxth definition above given. They are too buoad. 

They Include too muah. If adopted in the 

oonatrmotlon of the atatute, our Sunday 

lav would rival the moat atrlngent of the 

blue lava. The third ia a aenae in whloh 

the teffa is rerely used, and ia illustrated 

in the Century Diotlonary by e line from 

Dryden~ “Row epor%ing on the lyre the ‘Lovea 

of youth.” Aa thua llluataated, It, alao, 

is too broad, aa it lnaludea awiy oonuaon and 

lnnooent dlveraiona. The seventh has no 

ap~:~licatlon tothla case. Thla leaves tha 

eighth8 !practlclng the dlveraiona of the 

field, as the definition the lawaakera probably had in mind when the law vaa enaoted. 

Thin appears still store probably on the OXa&nation of other defini’tiona. In the (Ientury mati.onary*e general meanlng of “sport- 
Bonorsble W.O. F1overa, Page 6 

lng” la aald to be "engaging or concerned 

in sport or dIversIon" the specific meaning, "interested In or 

aportarnt (89 11.W., .,87P 

raaticlng field 

"From the foregoing It la seen that the court 

took up each of the aeveral definitions of sporting 

as given In Webster and ooncluded that the Code under 

whIah the proaeoutlon vae brought could not refer to 

eny of the definitiona there given except the eighth 

one vhIoh vaa tpracticlngtie diversions of the field,' 

and It is thla definition which It seems to us the 

Legislature had in mind In providing that oorporations might be chartered for the purpose of proamtIng 

bieyycle clubs and other innocent sports. 

“The Supreme Court of this State has already 

held that in drefting the purpose olauae of a charter 

under this aubdlviaion a definite sport mrt be deaoribed or set forth. 

%a&th VI). Worthara, 157 S.W. 741. 

'The court In en opinion rendered In tha Sa&th 

oaae referred to baseball as a vell reoogaixed and 

definite lnnoaent sport. It seem to us that this 

aaae Is persuasive of the lnalatenae which ve make 

that the vord 'nporta,' as used In this statute, does 

not refer to @mm, but refers to those classes of 

amusements which have been reaogniaed from time 

Iaaaemrial as aporta, not to that olasa auoh aa 

oarda, dice, pool and billiards, vhioh h")re been 

from time lmmaorlal ~seifled as games. 

This department held In an opInIon written by Hon. 

A.R. Stout, Assistant Attorney Oensml, dated Januall~ 12, 1934, 

recorded In Vol. 353, pages 302-307, lnoluslve, that the 

Hetropolitm Bridge Club of Rouaton, Texas, vas not entitled 

to receive a ahartsr f'rom the Seoretary of State under aubdiVision 9 of Article 1302 of the Revised Civil Skatutea. This 

Opinion referred to Judge Curetonta holding In the opinion 

above quoted. We quote from Judge Stout's opinion as follovar 

"It has long been a deputmental ou6tom and 

praatloe to refufte to gent eharter8 similar to 

the one in question. TM.6 praatloe and euatom 

Is due soam weight, eapeoially if there ahould be 
mnmable l6.r). Plovers, ?age 7 

any doubt about the matter. Hoorman v. Terroll, 

202 8.U. 727, 109 Tex. 1733 Sdwmrds v. Jams, 

7 Tex. 372~ Flm Aark. v. Love, 108 8.W. 810 

101 Tex. 376~ Walker v. Meyers, 

sup.). 

266 S.V. 499 [T.x. 

In the juagwmt of the vrlter, there 18 

no doubt, for one mason, on aoaouat of the most 

stringent laws that ve have always had against 

eatis and gutag. Horeover, if the point in que8- 

tlan should be doubtful, the opinion of the then 

Attorney bneral, nov~&$'dqtice of our Supems 

Court, Is, or xhould be HerPir county 

v. Balamld, 205 S.W. 445 fZE%L4d). 

"Hany years have passed since the&j Many 

Legislatures frmh from the people hwkooars and 

IT-* Ourrt&ukshavebeenreaodifiedand thin 

rulI.ng of ove~elghteenyeara agoha not been departed from, yet dmlng all of this tins, subdlvislon 9 has not been ahanged one vhft. 

"'phi6 is not all. While mury mportsmlghtbe 

gaaum and many &user might be sporta, bridge or 

card plnyliq la one plea- or ps8tWe th8t hrs 

alvaya~ been eoxuldwed and dealgnated as a 1’ 

The vrltor haa failed to find where it ha8 

desl.epyrted othwvlre. It la a card &are that is 

en *offshoot* oi the old l&gll& game of uhiot 

and that is all there ir to it. About It, tha 

lexioographen says 

“‘A eard r8Bembllng vhhirt.' 

Webster*6 Eev r ternational Dlatiomwy. 

"Bridge ir just as muoh a &me u 18 poker 

and they are both universally spoken of as ga?6es. 

As onevhohas MISS knowledge of bothliole sn4 

Bf~.Culbertson no imtanae 0aabe *oalXed& 

where either oi them ever applied amythins other 

th83lthOVOl’d 'gm't0 thI8 mat mtim. 

'At the time subdIvlaioz~ 9was r&rat purred, 

bridge vaa not played muah, if even beeud of. 

Poker, however, then as mu, Was Still SxteU& u 
3%2 

Eonorable X.0. Plovers, Page 8 

faot, we had then, as now, stringer& lava mgalnat 

it, and as lrte as 1911, we flnd Judge Dmvidmon 

aaytngr 

"'Thmt the prmctloe of gambling la 

demoralltlng, lnlrioal to aoalety. and 

destructive to the rorala of the youth 

a6 well as Iwn of uturer years.* Purvla 

v. State, 137 S.W. 701. 

'%e vriter does not believe that any good lavyer would seriously oontend for long thet A poker 

club oould be orgmnleed under aubdlvlsion 9, yet in 

so far as the lava of our Legislature provide, bridge 

and poker hew the acme legal standing or occupy the 

amme station, legallY. 

"Article 615 of WI- Penml Code ot 1925 provides: 

"'Whoever ahmll plaY, or bet or 

wager any mosey or othear thing of value, 

at a.ny game of oarda at mny place not a 

private maldemse oacupled bY a frnily, 

shmll be fined not exoeedlng fifty dollrra.' 

"In other vordm, whoever ahmll plug . . . mt ray 

game of cards . . . ahmll be fined not exceeding 

fift dollati, and the only exception la a private 

real b co, vhich one amp play umrds tr game vlth oarda 

in, ao long as he does not oommo~y resort to It for 

that plppose. If he commonly reaorta to such prlvmte 

residence for the purpose of gmmlng, then his cornhot 

Is illegal just as it would be In any place save a 

private realdenoe, whether he plrced monay or value 

on the cards or not. ArtSoles 615 and 617 of 1925 

Penal Code3 20 Texas Jurisprudence, p. 619, pmrm. 14~ 

Osllegaa v. State, 95 S.W. 1233 harvim v. State, 137 

s.7. $01. The above cited authoritlem serve to illurn& 

trate the prino'lple, although the books are full of 

analogous ones. Our Legislature has no doubt alvaya 

prooeeded upon the theory that: 

"'Cerda are as mumh a 

ma ang device yet Invented. 

qsm;~qa~lce 

State, 5 X0. 451. This mtatemmnt from ihe 

suprewe Court of Missouri, is in keeping 

with generml experlenoe and would oertmwY 
~tmwable 11.0. Fhvo~, "a&a 9 

be admitted by all men., without proof, 

argument OF diecourse. 

"Since it 1s agalwt the law to play cards, 

VhOther vlth 6~ VithOUt 8hkO8, in any plae0, 

8aVe a private rerldenae that 18 not G-rhlJ 

re8orted to for the purpO80 Of gaming, it 18, 

therefore, both alsar and elementary th&t the 

aorporatlon could not be chartered for a purpore 

that va8 not lavful. 146 C.J., p. 126, para. 

119. 

"It 18 contemplated by the lav that th8 uorporatlon, if a aharter vere granted, rhould have 

a plaoe of bU8inO88. Artiole 1304. Ordlnarlly, 

thi8 plaoe vould be the headquarter8 of the 'olub.' 

It would be here that the wmber8 would usually 

wet and play bridge, yet thf8 vould be unlavful, 

and in 8trlot legality, the lav could not and 

vould not countenance it, Should it be argued that 

bridge vould only be played ln private home8, 

ooauplud by a family, then there vould~be no nued 

vhst8oeVer fOF a OOFpOZ'atiOXL A8 ha8 bOOn 8talad, 

It hae long been a departnental male to not grant 

dl6l't&8 8Uoh a8,the One Ill Qlle8tlOiL UO kWv Of 

no exoeption to the male and have bum unable to 

find any oa8e that vould 8aaation the granting of 

a ahar$er, 8uah a8 the one applied for, under Tern8 

lav.' 

The pwO8e ohl8e Of th8 pX’OpO8Ud ~O~O~atiOll 8tate8 

that t&i wetlngm of the olub vi11 bo held at 703 Rluhmond Road, 

8ou8ton, Texa8, or at the XW8ldenoe8 of other member8 of said 

alub a8 the member8 my frond ties to time determine and that 

aards will be played at 8aid plaoe8. Said JNl’pO88 daU8e do08 

not dleeloae whether or not 703 Riahmnd Road 18 a prfVatS re8idews oacupled by a family nor da08 it di80108e vhether or not 

the other re8idencea are private %W8idenue8 occupied by fuilie8. 

The playing of eard8 by 8aid propo8ed club member8 may or Day 

not.be illegal, dependent upon all the fast8 and Oireum8tWe8 

Lnrolved, under the rule8 of law laid davn above in thi8 opinion. 

H6vever, this department vi11 not make arty a88WEPtlOn a8 t0 

vhether or not 8aid alub vi11 or will not violate the 1aV vith 

reibrenO8 t0 playing oard8 or gsaLing. !ht PWardl888 Of wh&hor or not the game8 played are played In ~1 illegal manner they 
” -- 314 

&nwrable LO. nover8, Page 10 

o@tafly CawOt be ala88ed a8 "fMOOent 8pOrt8" Vithh the 

aantemplatlon of rubd. 9 of A&ials 1302, v.A.T.c.S., rupra. 

In Vim Of the foregOing authOrltie8, it 18 the 

@nlon of thlr department that "bridge", "vhl8t" and other 

card g8WS are "g8WS" and aF0 Wt "ilUlOOWt 8pOFt8" Within 

th8 oontemplatlon of rubdlvl8ion 9 of Article 1302, V.A.T.C.S., 

8upra, and that said proposed charter &mild be ref'u8ed by 

tlm Seoretary of State. 

Your8 very truly 

ATTORHBY ORRHFUL OF l'EXAS 

QPROVEDNOV 15, 1940 

u/7%-M& 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS