DeSoto City Hall is done playing games. The DeSoto City Council has adopted a new ordinance, Section 8.12, that bans amusement “redemption” and gambling-style machines inside city limits and orders businesses that host them to shut the devices down or remove them or face enforcement. City leaders have framed the move as a way to crack down on nuisance activity tied to certain pay-to-play machines and to protect nearby neighborhoods and commercial corridors. The rules are aimed at machines found in places like arcades, bars, restaurants, convenience stores, and game rooms.
According to a Facebook post from the DeSoto Police Department, the ordinance “prohibits maintaining, displaying for patronage, or otherwise keeping for operation by patrons any amusement redemption machine or gambling device” within city limits. The post warns that continuing to display, maintain, or operate those machines can bring citations, fines, and other penalties under the city code. The DeSoto Police Department specifically lists arcades, bars, restaurants, convenience stores, and game rooms as examples of businesses that must comply.
Council Had Been Planning The Crackdown
City staff says the push to rein in so-called game rooms has been in the works for months, part of a broader “nuisance businesses” review that started last year. A special council session on November 17, 2025, included a presentation and a proposed five-track strategy that singled out game rooms and laid out a schedule for drafting and adopting new regulations. DeSoto City Council documents show staff recommended stakeholder outreach along with phased enforcement steps that would culminate in ordinance adoption.
How Texas Law Treats Redemption Machines
Under Texas law, whether a machine is considered an illegal “gambling device” depends on how prizes are awarded and whether anything of value is at stake. Chapter 47 of the Penal Code defines a gambling device as a contrivance that, for a consideration, gives a player a chance to obtain anything of value, while carving out an exception for bona fide amusement machines that only offer low-value noncash prizes. Texas Penal Code Chapter 47 provides the legal framework cities use to draw lines between lawful arcades and illegal gambling operations.
Other North Texas Cities Have Moved Similarly
DeSoto is not acting in a vacuum. Across North Texas, cities have either banned or tightly regulated redemption machines and “eight-liner” style devices amid concerns about crime and nuisance behavior. Fort Worth and several other municipalities have adopted local rules that define and restrict amusement redemption machines or require game rooms to be licensed as a way to keep them in check. Fort Worth offers one example of that approach in its city code…