Case Name: WALLING v. STATE
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1920-12-08
Citations: 225 S.W. 1096
Docket Number: No. 6011
Parties: WALLING v. STATE.
Judges: 
Reporter: South Western Reporter
Volume: 225
Pages: 1096–1096

Head Matter:
WALLING v. STATE.
(No. 6011.)
(Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.
Dec. 8, 1920.)
Gaming <§=>98(2) — Conviction for playing game with dice not warranted, without proof of betting.
Under Pen. Code 1911, art. 557, prescribing the p.unishment for betting or wagering anything of value on any game played with cards, dice, etc., a conviction cannot be sustained on proof that defendant played a game of craps, without any showing that any bet was made on the game.
Appeal from Knox County Court; J. M. Morgan, Judge.
Emory Walling was convicted of playing and betting at a game played with dice, and he appeals.
Reversed and remanded.
J. S. Kendall, of Brownfield, for appellant.
Alvin M. Owsley, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

Opinion:
MORROW, J.
It was charged that appellant "did unlawfully play and bet at,a game played with dice, called craps." On this charge he was convicted, and a fine of $25 assessed against him.
Two witnesses testified on behalf of the state. The appellant offered no testimony. The witness Trott testified that he had played a game of craps with the appellant at a certain place named by him. The other witness disclaimed any transaction of the kind. This constitutes all the evidence, and the record is absolutely bare of any testimony showing that a bet was made at the game. It is the bet, or wager, that is denounced by the statute. Article 557, P. O. Absence of proof of this essential fact renders the evidence insufficient to support the judgment. Looper v. State, 56 Tex. Cr. R. 498, 120 S. W. 880; Lucas v. State, 57 Tex. Cr. R. 198, 122 S. W. 387.
The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded.