Top Texas Betting Sites — Restrictions and Future Predictions
Looing for the best betting sites in Texas? Well, US readers amongst you will know that they don’t call it the Lone Star State for nothing. Texas has always been one of the most conservation states in the Union and has always stuck to its guns when it comes to determining its own laws.
Therefore, sports fans will be hard-pressed to find legal Texas sportsbooks, as sports betting is currently illegal in the state. Throughout this article, we’ll discuss current laws and the controversies surrounding Texas betting sites. Plus, we’ll offer up an educated guess on what the future holds for Texas sportsbooks.
Before we go any further, however, we’d like to hammer home the point that we only ever recommend trustworthy and licensed sites that we’ve tried ourselves.
Legal Betting Options for Texas Residents
Although we’ll dive headfirst into the nitty-gritty of why Texas online sports betting is currently outlawed in Texas, let’s talk briefly about what legal gambling alternatives Texas residents can enjoy.
Legal forms of gambling in Texas include the Texas Lottery, racetrack wagering, charitable bingos, and raffles. Aside from that, the state contains three land casinos owned by Native American tribes, two of which have sparked controversy in recent years.
We’ll give each of these legal activities its due as we go, but first, let’s return to the delicate relationship between the government and Texas betting sites, beginning with Daily Fantasy Sports.
Daily Fantasy Sports in Texas
Interestingly, a lot of states in the USA are unsure if they should classify Daily Fantasy Sports as a game of chance or skill. As it stands, Daily Fantasy Sports exists in a curious legal purgatory in the state of Texas, despite its undeniable popularity.
Although it’s technically illegal, Daily Fantasy Sports betting exists but its legal status is currently up for debate in Texas. For years it hid in the shadows and flew under the radar. In fact, several betting behemoths like DraftKings and FanDuel operated Texas sports betting apps that provided this service.
While it wasn’t explicitly outlawed, it also wasn’t clarified as legal by the state until it drew the attention of Attorney General Paxton in 2016. Out for blood, Paxton declared Daily Fantasy Sports to be illegal and demanded that operators cease operations, which prompted many legal battles between Texas state and operators that are still ongoing.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as events unfold.
Beware Offshore Texas Betting Sites
As it’s a conservative state with a strong penchant for business, it seems that Texas officials only allow forms of gambling that have been approved by the state. Nevertheless, as the cliche goes, if there’s a will, there’s a way. As such, several betting sites have found legal loopholes in the law, which has led to a rise of unregulated offshore betting sites cropping up in recent years.
Thriving in the grey area, popular offshore sites like Bovada, BetOnline, or MyBookie. The downside is, however, that none of these sites have valid Texas gaming licenses and should therefore be deemed untrustworthy. This is primarily because there are no safeguards or regulations to prevent fraud or to ensure player fairness.
As is so often the case on this site, we recommend that you should never bet real money on unlicensed platforms. After all, why take the risk with your hard-earned money?
Three Land-based Tribal Casinos
One may be forgiven for assuming that Texas, the largest state in the United States, is brimming with land-based casinos, given its agreement to allow casinos on tribal territory. There are just three tribal casinos in the Lone Star State, two of which have been the subject of intense legal debates.
At present, no land-based casinos offer sports betting in Texas. Only the Eagle Pass casino, managed by the Kickapoo Tribe of Texas, fits the usual definition of a conventional casino you’d imagine. This casino falls under federal jurisdiction rather than specific state laws, which is why it can offer casino games.
Naskila Gaming, a Texas electronic bingo parlor, is the second location, also owned by the Kickapoo Tribe. There have been threats of lawsuits against the tribe and their second casino attempt to offer casino games on tribal property since its debut in 2016.
The facility has won a significant legal victory in federal court, but the tribe expects a state appeal at some point. There are three casinos in total, the latest of which is operated by the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo tribe, which has been trying to open a casino in the El Paso area for many years and has likewise encountered numerous legal challenges.
Racetrack Betting Aplenty
Despite the drought of Texas sportsbooks, racing fans will be pleased to know that race track betting is legal in Texas. Naturally, there are a couple of stipulations that must be followed. Firstly, all betting must be completed on-site in one of several Texan racetracks.
Thankfully, several establishments simultaneously offer simulcast racing and wagering on races across the country throughout the entire year. Four esteemed facilities that host both a racetrack and a simulcast betting venue can be found in Fredericksburg, Grand Prairie, Selma, and Houston respectively.
Greyhound racing is still theoretically allowed in Texas, however, there are no active racing facilities in the state at the moment. While a few venues do provide the option to wager on simulcast greyhound races across the country, worries over the dogs’ humane treatment continue to trouble the industry of greyhound racing and its credibility as an institution in the United States.
Despite Legal Issues, Poker and Card Rooms Thrive
There are many independent poker clubs to pick from in Texas, which fans of its ever-popular variant will be please to read. For the record, these poker clubs have discovered a way to circumvent the state’s unique exception to the ban on casino betting. Although playing poker is technically illegal in Texas, three scenarios can be used to operators’ advantage.
Players should all have equal odds of winning, without the House having an edge. It must be played in a private setting with no one else present, and instead of taking a cut of the pots, the clubs make money by charging members and staff for their time.
The fact is that, in the eyes of the Texas government, poker is once again a game of chance (despite the skill involved), and is thereby illegal. Despite the fact you can find poker tables at some Texas tribal casinos, online poker is currently illegal in Texas, with no present signs of when its legal status may change.
While the Attorney General has yet to define poker’s official legality, the unsettled legal situation has seen an increase in Texas poker aficionados playing to their hearts’ content in ‘private locations’ that exists inside the legal grey areas of the law.
Neighboring States with Legal Sports Betting
It’s remarkably difficult for law-abiding Texans who want Texas online sports betting but don’t want to traverse state lines to take advantage of legalized sports betting elsewhere. Although sports betting on mobile devices is permitted in Louisiana, three other states — Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas — have taken a different stance and now outlaw all forms of online sports betting.
Nonetheless, gambling boats have featured in Texas’ colorful history from time to time. Casino ships promoted “cruises to nowhere” into international waters, where gambling in all its guises was no longer forbidden.
This fad of casino cruising began in other states in the early 1980s, but it was late to the party in Texas. This was largely due to a state regulation requiring boats carrying gambling equipment to first stop at a foreign port of call before docking in Texas.
This industry has seen numerous corporate bankruptcies and protracted legal fights over the years. The latest recorded gambling vessel, the ‘Aranas Queen Casino,’ left Texas for Georgia in 2015 and hasn’t been seen since.
Remember that online sports betting is supposed to be fun. If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Council on Problem Gambling is here to help.
Best Betting Sites in Texas — The Situation Might Change
What would it look like if the state of Texas legalized sports betting? Let’s imagine we’re in the future, what if we could wager on the most recent matches and competitions right from our phones? What would that look like exactly? How can we tell if a Texas sportsbook is trustworthy?
As we indicated at the outset, it is vital that you only play at licensed and authorized sites. You may be confident that only the best betting sites in Texas will employ cutting-edge encryption technology and will provide fair and transparent payment rates.
A padlock icon next to the URL address is an easy method to determine if a website is secure. To protect young and vulnerable players, a respectable website should contain procedures that require users to verify their ages and the opportunity to include self-exclusion and timeout periods to reduce the likelihood of dangerous gambling patterns.
Any service that provides Texas online sports betting should allow fans to wager on their hometown teams like the Texas Rangers or Dallas Cowboys. As a result, the finest Texas betting sites should cover all of these major leagues like the NFL, NBA, or MLB, as well as top-level fights in premier combat sports like boxing or MMA.
Texas Gambling Laws
At this stage of our lowdown on the laws surrounding Texas betting sites, we’d like to clarify how peculiar some of this state’s betting attitudes are, particularly in comparison to other the situation in other states. As you may have noticed a pattern emerges when we examine gambling in Texas.
A lot of betting types are technically illegal but not specifically mentioned or clarified in legal betting stipulations. For example, there is no specific statute allowing or prohibiting online casinos. However, the way they’re worded suggests that no other forms of gambling are legal.
There is no explicit regulation prohibiting players from accessing offshore online casinos, even if they are technically unlawful. It’s still impossible to police the actions of offshore operators because Texas lacks an official gambling regulatory body.
Because of this, even though Texas has not taken any legal action against anyone playing at an online casino, the state cannot ensure the safety of players gambling at offshore casinos. All of this legal ambiguity has led to its fair share of legal battles and disputes.
Feeling confused? Here’s a quick summary of which betting types are legal in Texas, and which aren’t.
| Betting Type | Law |
|---|---|
| Sports Betting | Not Legal |
| Online Sports Betting | Not Legal |
| Land-based Casino | Legal |
| Online Casino | Unspecified |
| Poker | Legal (Certain Stipulations) |
| Racetrack Betting | Legal |
| Texas Gambling Age | 21+, 18+ for Horse Racing/Bingo/Lottery |
As you can see from the table above, the legal minimum gambling age depends on the betting activity. In Texas, there is currently a minimum gambling age of 21 for most betting types, such as land-based and internet casinos. This age limit is fairly typical when compared to the rest of the United States.
If sports betting becomes legalized in the not-so-distant future, it’s almost certain that prospective punters would need to be at least 21 to partake. However, the minimum age is 18 for horse racing, lottery, and charity betting forms like bingo or raffles.
Anyone under the age of 18 who is found in violation of the legislation may be subject to a fine and criminal prosecution. Therefore, we advise you to steer clear if you’re underage. If you’d like to know more, check out our guide to online betting in the US.
History of Gambling in Texas
Texas has a long history of gambling, dating back to the saloons of the Wild West and even predating the state’s independence from Mexico. After all, it is a state that has given birth to its world-famous poker variant. Simply put, the Lone Star state has an illustrious and complex relationship with gambling.
Only in the early twentieth century did Texas begin to reject these immoral practices. Gambling was officially outlawed when Texas implemented Prohibition. A significantly tougher approach to gambling regulation was established near the conclusion of Prohibition. Following the Great Depression, Texas returned to gambling as a temporary solution to its ailing economy.
With recent reintroductions of gambling to Texan society and suggestions to catapult it farther into the modern age with the introduction of online sports betting, the story of gambling in Texas remains unwritten.
To highlight Texas’ tumultuous relationship with betting, we encourage you to check out our list of the most significant dates in Texas gambling history.
By now, you’re probably curious about how Texas gambling laws have evolved in the modern era, and how it all relates to sports betting. Following the controversy surrounding Daily Fantasy Sports in 2016, it appears that Texas’ first real moves to legalize sports betting surfaced in 2019.
In 2019, the Lone Star state introduced its first prospective sports betting law, but it was defeated in the House. Following this, pro-betting Texas governors appeared willing to bide their time, as there was no major movement to legalize gambling in 2020.
This pause in enacting new legislation continued well into 2021, with Texas gaming lobbyists perhaps deterred by the Coronavirus outbreak. Even so, no new information has been revealed yet about the legalization of sports betting in Texas in 2021 or its current state.
Last year, the state missed the May 31st deadline to propose new laws, so we may have to wait until 2023 for votes on new laws and the best betting sites in Texas.
The Future of Online Sports Betting in Texas
As our loyal American readers are probably aware, Texas is a state full of proud people who are protective of their traditions and generally skeptical of federal government supervision. Even though it is a state with a strong business mentality, many legalities regarding gambling regulations remain unclear.
Given the progress that sports betting has made in other US states such as Arizona, as well as the fact that major sports teams wield influence in the future markets, the future appears bright for Texan sports betting aficionados. Furthermore, tribal gaming lobbies, as well as the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, have expressed interest in partnering with online Texas sportsbooks.
In fact, the Democratic candidate for Governor in April 2022 explicitly indicated his support for allowing sports betting. Similarly, any potential tribal wins on the side of land casino lawsuits will also have a massive impact on the future. But for now, until these legal wranglings are unentangled, only bettors from legal sports betting states will be able to place sports bets.
What will Texans of the future have to bet on? Only time will tell, but rest assured we’ll keep you in the loop on the best betting sites Texas residents may be able to enjoy in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
While we try to cover as much ground as possible in our articles, it’s still possible that some of your questions may still remain unanswered despite our best efforts. If this is still the case, please feel free to contact us anytime at info@bestbettingsites.com, and we’ll do our best to help.
In the meantime, however, we’ve compiled a list below of the most commonly asked questions that we regularly receive from our dear readers. You might just find your answers there. All the best!
⚖️ Are online gambling and sports betting legal in Texas?
No. At the time of this writing, all kinds of sports betting are banned in Texas. Legislation to allow sports and online betting in 2021 appears to have been postponed until at least 2023. Despite what some websites may imply, there are no legal Texas sports betting apps available on mobile devices. It is illegal for a Texas-based sportsbook to accept bets from residents of the state. If you'd like to know more, check out our detailed breakdown of online sports betting in Texas.
🛡️ What is the legal gambling age in Texas?
It depends on the betting activity. In Texas, there is currently a minimum gambling age of 21 for most betting types, such as land-based and internet casinos. However, the minimum age is 18 for horse racing, lottery, and online bingo. Anyone under the age of 18 who is found in violation of the legislation may be subject to a fine and criminal prosecution. For a fuller overview, check out our deep-dive into the gambling laws of Texas.
🚨 Are offshore betting sites legal for US players?
No offshore betting sites are registered or regulated in any way in Texas. Unregulated betting services offer no guarantees of fairness or player safety, so don't place your trust in them. For this reason alone, we advise you to avoid them. Please check out our breakdown of all the risks involved in off-shore betting.
🔎 Can I use VPN to play at online sportsbooks from other states?
If you don’t live in Texas, you may find a handful of betting providers that claim to be based in Texas that you can use, though they're considered illegal. Even with a VPN, many sites will recognize your IP address and may restrict access to you if you attempt to join their online sportsbooks. You could, however, check out which neighboring states allow online sports betting.