Welcome to PlayTexas, your source for Texas online gambling news and information. While real money online games aren’t available in the state, those in Texas can play online games at social and sweepstakes casinos. Texas also has a state lottery, three tribal venues, and three horse racing tracks. Read on for all you need to know about gambling in the Lone Star State including present options and future prospects for online gambling in Texas.
While real money online casinos aren’t legal just yet, there are plenty of great alternatives available for players in Texas. Below are the best sweepstakes casino options available for players interested in playing casino games online.
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Real money online casinos are not legal in Texas, and they’re legalization is still at least two years away.
Commercial casino gambling is also prohibited in Texas. Two tribal locales in Texas offer Type-II casino games. The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel offers slots and non-banked card games like poker and bingo to patrons who visit the facility in Eagle Pass near the Mexico border. Naskila Casino in Livingston (deep East Texas) offers electronic bingo.
Online sweepstakes casinos provide Texans their best opportunity to play casino-style games, including online slots, video poker, table games, live dealer, and even some creative original games.
Sweepstakes and social casinos, like McLuck, WOW Vegas, and Stake.US, offer their games for free or for the chance to win cash prizes. While we wait for the legalization of real-money online casinos in Texas (which will very likely be a long wait), sweepstakes casinos provide an excellent alternative for online gambling enthusiasts.
Real money online poker is not legal in Texas. However, Texans can play poker online at social and sweepstakes sites such as Global Poker. Poker rooms and card rooms operate in Texas but do so by insisting upon memberships, charging for seat time, and, most importantly, not taking a rake.
These clubs are currently ensnared in a legal debate, originating in Dallas. The case revolves around what constitutes “economic benefits” from poker. In the 2023 legislative session, bills were introduced to clarify these laws. None were signed into law.
Daily fantasy sports contests are available for play in Texas. Like other states, Texas has no law explicitly authorizing or prohibiting DFS. Sites like DraftKings Texas and FanDuel Texas operate in a legal gray area. That said, the issue of DFS’s legality has been a matter of contention.
In 2016, Attorney General Ken Paxton opined that daily fantasy sports contests are gambling under state law and are illegal. DraftKings responded by filing a lawsuit. The lawsuit continues today, and there is no timeline for a resolution. A 2023 legislative effort to make DFS legal passed out of the State House but died in the Texas Senate.
The Texas Lottery became legal in the state through a legislative action in 1991 and began selling tickets in 1992. Its goal is to provide funding for education in the state. Texas also allocates lottery tax dollars to veterans associations. The Texas Lottery offers draw games and scratchers at thousands of retail locations throughout the state. It also participates in the popular multi-state drawings Mega Millions and Powerball.
Top Texas-specific draw games include Lotto Texas and Texas Two-Step.
There is no legal sports betting in Texas.
Texas lawmakers have softened toward sports betting in recent years, though. In fact, online sports betting legislation passed the House for the first time in 2023.
However, sports contracts can be placed and traded in some prediction markets, including on platforms like Underdog Predict and Kalshi. And horse race betting is legal in a limited capacity. There are three active horse racetracks, located in Houston, San Antonio, and Grand Prairie. Each racetrack houses its own off-track betting location for races around the country, but there are no standalone OTB sites in the state. Online horse betting, which allows for Advance Deposit Wagering, remains illegal under Texas law.
No. Texas online gambling is illegal. Even horse betting and lottery games, which are both legal in person in the state, are not legal online. The only legal options to play casino games online in Texas are social and sweepstakes gambling sites.
No. The 2023 Texas Legislature session came and went, and no gambling legislation was passed. Sports betting and casino legislation passed the House for the first time, but it never received a hearing in the Senate.
Most gambling activities in Texas require players to be 18 or older to play. Although, in some cases, you must be at least 21. You must be at least 18 to play the Texas Lottery. However, the one tribal casino operating in the state requires players to be 21 or older. Also, some Texas poker rooms set the minimum age at 21, while others require only 18. If Texas legalizes any additional gambling activities, the minimum age would likely be 21.
No. There are no legal sportsbooks in Texas at the moment. Any books that accept wagers from people inside Texas are doing so outside the law. It is risky to bet at such sportsbooks as there is no way to ensure bets are protected and winning wagers will be paid.
Yes, but the future is unclear. DraftKings and FanDuel both allow players from Texas to participate in their contests, as do other DFS sites. However, both major companies are part of ongoing litigation with the Texas attorney general, and there could be a decision to disallow DFS as gambling in the near future. In the meantime, Gov. Greg Abbott has acknowledged that DFS has become commonplace in Texas and represents an acceptable form of entertainment.
No. There are no real money online casino games in Texas. The best online options for Texans are social and sweepstakes sites like Pulsz, Chumba Casino, Fliff, and Funzpoints.
No. There are no online poker sites where Texans can play legally. The nearest alternative is a sweepstakes site like Global Poker.
The state government remains skeptical about any gambling expansion. Even though a majority of Texans support the legalization of casinos in the state, bills to expand gambling never seem to move out of committee in the Texas Legislature. The 2023 legislative session was the first time to change that distinction as the Texas House advanced both casino and sports betting bills. With some softening on the part of key lawmakers, and education on the dangerous offshore market, this attitude is changing.
