Gambling in Texas is severely restricted—unless you count the bingo offered by charitable organizations. There are only two casinos and a handful of racing tracks.
Horse and greyhound racing is spread across the state at eight different tracks. All eight allow wagering onsite. Off-track betting (OTB) is illegal in the state, although residents can utilize several available online sites which take horse-racing bets.
Gambling, in the form of cards or slots, is illegal in the state. Tribal lands are exempt from this law and Native American tribes have the legal right to open casinos. This is due to the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. While three tribal casinos have opened in the last 20+ years, only two remain. All have had a hard uphill battle against the state to open and remain so.
Similarly, online gambling in Texas is illegal. Social casino sites do exist for those residents who want to play online poker in Texas or slots just for fun.
The only recent expansion of gambling in the state has been the proliferation of private poker clubs. PokerAtlas identifies 18 membership-style clubs around the state that spread various poker games.
These clubs operate using a delicate dance with existing state law, and certainly not in the spirit of the law. However, the state attorney general has, so far, declined to issue an opinion on their outright legality.
Chumba Casino – Best Texas Online Casino
Play at Chumba Casino, our favorite online casino for Texas players
The state has not legalized real-money online casino games.
Luckily, Chumba Casino serves the state, where you can play casino games via a sweepstakes format. You can win Sweeps coins, which you can then turn into real money!
Slots and video poker are among the popular options at Chumba.
Global Poker – Best Texas Online Poker
Play at Global Poker, our favorite online poker site for Texas players
Want to play Texas hold’em for real money in Texas, but online? Unfortunately, your options are limited.
But you can play at a sweepstakes-based online poker room called Global Poker. You play with Sweeps coins, which you can then convert to real money. Tournaments, cash games, sit and go’s — Global has it all.
DraftKings – Best DFS Site
Play at DraftKings, our favorite DFS site for Texas players
Pure sports betting will likely not be legal in Texas any time soon. For now, your best option is daily fantasy sports, or DFS.
The biggest operator around that serves Texas is DraftKings. You can enter contests with millions of dollars on the line for all sorts of sports, including NFL, MLB and NBA.
April 30, 2019: At present, there are two sports betting bills and one casino gambling bill under consideration in the Texas House of Representatives.
The two sports betting bills, HJR61 and HB1275, focus on different aspects of legalizing the practice in the state. HJR61 proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would legalize sports betting. HB1275, then, establishes a commission to oversee sports betting in the state.
Roughly a week after State Rep. Eddie Lucio filed this pair of bills, State Rep. Roland Gutierrez filed a bill that would authorize the construction of 12 casinos in Texas. Notably, this bill would relegate the decision to individual county voters, rather than requiring full state legalization.
All three bills have been referred to the House Committee for Licensing & Administrative Procedures. If history is any guide, the committee will be the final resting place for all three measures. However, it’s possible something unusual could happen.
Below you’ll find a list of resources that can help you learn more about the future of online casinos and online gambling in Texas.
Yes. However, real money options are quite limited in the state. The only real money slot games available are through sweepstakes-model sites. Otherwise, Texans must make use of social slot game platforms like Big Fish or Slotomania.
Almost nonexistent. Texas is one of the states most hostile to gaming expansion of any kind. Online casinos are anathema to many state politicians, both politically and personally.
No. New Jersey (and soon, Pennsylvania) online casinos have strict geolocation requirements. You must be physically inside the state to use their mobile apps.
No, not really. These are sites that operate outside of any sort of regulatory oversight from Texas authorities. So, in the case of disputes, you could easily find yourself without any legal recourse.
The Supreme Court did not exactly make sports betting legal, actually. The decision to throw out PASPA merely opened the door for states to decide their own fate with sports betting.
Unfortunately, Texas does not seem likely to legalize sports betting any time soon, even with two active bills in the state House. However, if you’re looking for some hope, the bills do allow for online sports betting.
There have been bills recently proposed that would authorize sports betting in Texas. However, like previous gambling expansion bills, they are likely to die in committee before they ever see the light of day.
So, it is quite unlikely that Texas will legalize sports betting anytime soon.
You can try to do it, but it’s a very risky proposition. These books operate outside the law, and are not regulated or checked out in any way.
So, your experience may or may not go smoothly. If things go south, you may find yourself unable to pursue any sort of justice or restitution.
For now, yes. DraftKings, FanDuel, and a few other operators do offer their services in the state. However, both companies have gone round and round with the state attorney general a few times, and there’s no telling when he might come back for another swing.
| Permitted/Offered? | Notes & Restrictions | |
|---|---|---|
| Land-based Gambling | No | Even the Native American tribes are struggling to offer gambling on reservation lands. |
| Online Gambling | No | No |
| Lottery | Yes | Residents are eligible for state lottery, Mega Millions and Powerball. |
| Charitable or House-based Gambling | Yes | Bingo parlors can operate as long as they are run as non-profits; home-based gambling is allowed as long as the house doesn’t take any kind of rake – even a membership fee or tips. |
| Minimum Gambling Age | 18 for the lottery, horseracing venues, and dog racing venues |
You can play at sweepstakes online casino for real cash prizes or you can play at social casinos with play money chips.
For the home of US poker, Texas does not have a lot of online options. But here’s where you can play Texas hold’em and other variants online.
Unfortunately, you cannot buy or redeem lottery tickets online in Texas. Per the Texas Lottery Commission,
“State laws and regulations do not permit the sale of tickets by mail, phone, or Internet. Also, federal laws and regulations may restrict such sales. You must buy your tickets from a licensed retailer here in Texas.”
There do not seem to be any plans to change this policy anytime soon.
Daily fantasy sports is an evolution of fantasy sports leagues that have been going on for decades. They are classified as games of skill in many states, with thousands and sometimes millions of dollars on the line daily. You can play online or via mobile apps.
Here are some of the biggest sites around:
Texas online horse betting is absolutely forbidden under state law. The Texas Racing Act expressly mentions that bettors must physically be at licensed facilities to place wagers.
With the exception of fantasy sports, no sports betting is permitted inside the state of Texas. Online sports betting is illegal under state law.
However, a recent pair of Texas House bills do include a provision for online wagering. So, were they to pass in their current form, online sports betting would be legal in Texas.
Unfortunately, they are unlikely to gain much legislative traction.
Texas is the single greatest tragedy of gambling. Nowhere else can you find an area so steeped in gambling tradition with so few legal options available.
The most famous poker game in the world is named after the state itself, and yet, Texans are mostly unable to play poker within the borders of the state. The only current exceptions are the private poker clubs that are popping up around the state, and even these venues remain under a legal cloud.
There are no non-tribal casinos in Texas. Except for two somewhat-difficult-to-access tribal casinos — of which one is still fighting the state attorney general for its right to legally exist — Texans must drive to nearby states to play any other game of chance. Even the most recent available study from 2013 pegged Texans’ annual spend in these border casinos just shy of $3 billion.
For slots players who don’t want to drive to Oklahoma, Louisiana, or New Mexico, there aren’t many good options in the Lone Star State. Unfortunately, many gamblers turn to underground eight-liner parlors. These operate illegally out of strip centers and business parks. They are constantly in danger of either being raided by law enforcement or robbed, sometimes with violent results.
Texans have two options – Lucky Eagle Casino and Naskila Entertainment Center.
While both casinos deserve attention, it’s important to realize that the sheer landmass of Texas is part of the reason these two options are so inadequate. In a smaller state, such as Delaware, two or three casinos might be enough to serve a statewide population of just under a million and a land area of around 2,500 square miles.
By contrast, Texas is the second-most populous state in the country (with 29 million and growing). It’s also the second-largest by area – a whopping 268,597 square-mile piece of ground. So, even though Texas does, in fact, have two casinos, driving to them is an arduous proposition.
The first casino of note is the Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass. Located within sight of the Mexican border, the Lucky Eagle is located on the Kickapoo reservation.
Due to their federal recognition under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the Kickapoos opened the doors in 1996. The tribe has slowly but steadily built the property into a decent-sized affair. It is home to over 3,300 slot machines, a poker room, a bingo parlor, and several restaurants. There’s also a full-service hotel on the grounds. Just as a reference, this casino is about an hour-and-a-half by car from San Antonio. However, it’s three hours from Austin, five hours from Houston, and five hours or more from Dallas.
The other option is Naskila Gaming. This casino stands on the Alabama-Coushatta tribal lands just east of Livingston, a small town 90 miles northeast from Houston.
| Property | Location | Number of Slot Machines |
|---|---|---|
| Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino | Eagle Pass | 3,300+ |
| Naskila Entertainment Center | Livingston | 365 |
