Texas Online Gambling Laws
Attitudes in Texas about gambling laws are some of the hardest to decipher you'll ever find. Lawmakers in the state of Texas have worked hard to limit gambling interests beyond the official state lottery and the horse racing interests, yet the people of Texas clearly love to gamble. You might wonder how I know such things, but as a born Texan, I've seen it my whole life.
- Does Texas Allow Online Gambling
- Oklahoma Online Gambling Laws
- Is It Legal To Online Gamble In Texas
- Alabama Online Gambling Laws
Notice all the casinos located along the borders of Texas. The Louisiana riverboat casinos located in Shreveport and Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana are about 3 hours from the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Look in the parking lot of these casinos in northwest Louisiana and it's dominated by Texas license plates.
Texas Online Gambling Laws. Which Forms Of Gambling Are Legal In Texas? While Texas may be more restrictive than one might think, there are still.
It's the same in Native American casinos located just north of the Red River in southern Oklahoma. Drive in the Choctaw Casino in Durant or the Win Star Casino in Thackerville, both about 10 miles north of Texas, and you'll see a parking lot full of Texas drivers on vehicles bought at North Texas car dealerships. The Choctaw and Chickasaw casino properties, located 1 hour north of the DFW Metroplex, have become some of the largest casino space in the entire world. I guarantee most of that money comes from Texas gamblers--not the residents of Oklahoma.
Texas Law and Poker
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Like South Carolina, Texas state law specifically mentions games played with 'cards' when defining what it means to engage in gambling. Section 47 of the Texas State Code (subsection 02(3)) prohibits betting anything 'of value' on 'games played with cards.'
That makes it quite difficult to argue that poker doesn't count as gambling under Texas state law. And a variety of legal precedents buttress the notion that poker qualifies as gambling within the borders of Texas.
The next question poker players typically ask: Given that poker is gambling, is there any way to play poker legally for real money in Texas? The answer: There are ways, but not as many as players would probably like.
With no commercial casinos, you won't find many live poker rooms in Texas. Tribal operators have been slowly moving into the market (see the Lucky Eagle as one example), but live poker is still pretty scarce in the Lone Star state. There have been frequent legislative attempts to bring more land-based gambling to Texas, but none has gained sufficient traction with voters or lawmakers.
On the matter of charitable gambling, Texas law allows bingo (see 2001.001) and raffles (see 2002.001) to be conducted by qualifying outfits. But poker has never been given the green light as an approved charitable gambling activity in Texas.
We'll end on a positive note for poker players in Texas. The charges for illegal gambling mention that social gambling does not constitute an offense. The standard rules apply for the exception to kick in; the game has to be non-profit, take place between people with a genuine relationship and no one can act as the 'house' or 'bank.' Meet those conditions and your private poker game is 100% kosher in Texas - even if you're playing Omaha.
Does Texas Allow Online Gambling
Texas Indian Casinos Closed
Oklahoma Online Gambling Laws
A certain amount of Texas anti-gambling laws are due to political skulduggery. The Tigua and Alabama Casinos, at the time Texas' only two Native American casinos, were closed in 2002. The closing of these casinos was a part of the larger Jack Abramoff lobbying scandals, for which Abramoff spent 5 years and 10 months in federal prison (2005-2010). It seems Jack Abramoff was on the payroll of Louisiana's Coushatta Indian Tribe. The Coushatta had a casino on the Texas-Louisiana border which relied heavily on Texas gamblers.
Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed were paid millions of dollars to create the impression Texans were dead set against casinos on moral grounds, when most of the furor was caused by paid lobbyists trying to protect Louisiana gaming interests. To underscore the crassness of the campaign, records from the Abramoff case show the Tigua Nation claimed after then-Texas Lt. Governor John Cornyn closed down the Tigua and Alabama casino operations, Ralph Reed approached them (the Tigua) to help them get their casinos reopened.
So when you look at the Texas gambling laws, note that a sizable number of Texans themselves seem to enjoy legalized gambling. While you'll find plenty of Texans who think betting on games of chance is immoral or at least morally corrupting, the issue is nowhere near unanimous. Texans vote differently every weekend in casinos throughout Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Kickapoo Lucky Eagles Casino
The Kickapoo Lucky Eagles Casino is the only Indian casino now operating in the state of Texas. This casino is located in Eagle Pass, Texas on the Rio Grande River, and thus the border with Mexico. Currently, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino has 400 Bingo seats, 1,857 video gambling machines, and 14 poker tables. Eagles Pass is located to the southwest of San Antonio. Texas is a huge state, so this casino is far removed from the casino interests in western Louisiana and southern Oklahoma.
Texas Legal Dog Racing Laws
Texas gambling legislation allows dog racing in the state. Three separate greyhound racing venues exist in Texas, in Harlingen, Corpus Christi, and La Marque. These dog racetracks are the Corpus Christi Dog Track, the Gulf Greyhound Park (La Marque), and the Valley Race Park (Harlingen).
Is It Legal To Online Gamble In Texas
Legal Texas Horse Racing Laws
The state government also allows thoroughbred and quarterhorse racing in Texas. You can find horse racing at the Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas. The three other horse tracks in Texas are Retama Park in Selma, the Gillespie County Fairgrounds in Fredricksburg, and Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, which is situation between Dallas and Fort Worth.
The Texas Racing Commission regulates all dog tracks, horse tracks, parimutuel betting, and off-track simulcasting in the state of Texas.
Learn About Other State Laws
Texas Charitable Raffle Laws
In 1990, the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act went into effect, allowing licensed charitable gaming organizations to operate legally in Texas. To learn more about this act, read Chapter 2002, Occupations Code of the Texas Annotated Code.
Texas Lottery Laws
Texas lottery laws include provisions for the Texas Lottery, the Mega Millions Multi-State Lotto, and the Powerful Multistate Lottery. Games offered in the Texas Lotto include the Cash Five, Daily 4, Pick 3, Texas Two Step, and the Second Chance Luck Zone. Scratch-offs are also available at most lottery vendors. All lottery gaming is regulated by the Texas Lottery Commission.
See also:
Although many forms of gambling are permitted in the state of Texas, a plethora of restrictions apply to most areas, too. Traditionally, Texas has always been a gambling state, with betting embedded within the culture here.
Alabama Online Gambling Laws
Perhaps one of the most profitable forms of gambling in Texas is its state lottery, which has grown in popularity since its formation in 1992. Horse and dog racing betting is permitted, but poker and social gambling are only loosely available, with restrictions applicable.
Texas allowed the establishment of two Class-II casinos in the state, which must obey the state's gambling regulations at all times. The Aransas Queen and Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino have many Class II slot games, bingo, sports betting and poker rooms that host regular events.
Texas Gambling Laws - Summary and Look to the Future
At the time of writing, the Texan penal code does not make any mention of the iGaming industry, but some of its existing legislation may be applicable to online wagers.
Since illegal betting is described as entering 'into an understanding in order to win or lose something of value in any activity involving chance', prosecutors would be within their rights to place online gambling under this umbrella, too.
Texas Gambling Laws - A Brief History
- 1933 - State agrees to legalize pari-mutuel wagering.
- 1971 - Charitable gambling legislation passed for the first time.
- 1989 - Texan voters pass constitutional amendments allowing charitable gambling statewide.
- 1992 - State-operated Texas Lottery established.
What Types of Gambling are Legal in Texas?
- Casino Gambling – There is only one casino in Texas and it has slots, video poker, electronic games and live poker.
- Sports Betting – The only current sports betting that is legal in Texas is horse racing and the tracks do well there as there is little competition from casinos. You can follow any Texas sports betting news here.
- Online Betting – The only online betting currently in Texas is on horse racing and most of the large horse betting sites accept players in Texas. We will be following any news regarding online gambling in Texas here.
- Daily Fantasy – Daily Fantasy is illegal in Texas but some sites continue to operate there. It is clear the battle of DFS sites in Texas is far from over.
- Poker – Poker is legal in Texas but as stated earlier, there is just one casino.
- Bingo – Bingo is legal in Texas for charities and is popular as there aren’t many options when it comes to gambling.
- Lottery – Texas has a lottery with many in-state drawing as well as scratch off tickets and interstate lottery tickets.