Mala suerte

On the House's last morning to pass its bills on third reading, as Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) read with an auctioneer's speed, it seemed gambling had lost big. The Lottery Commission's sunset bill was up for a vote, but it would not help; members amended it last night to block gambling expansion without even a debate. Despite a strong ally in Rep. Kino Flores (D-Mission) and friends on Ways and Means, the video-slots lobby would walk away from the House with no better reward for its efforts than an exhaustive committee hearing. An anti-gambling lobbyist smiled broadly as he walked toward the chamber. I told him I'd thought slots had the most clout among the representatives.

"That's what they thought," he said.