• Legal Gambling In Texas
• Texas Charitable Gaming

The Texas Racing Commission Official Website. Before beginning, please check here to see if the type of license you need is eligible for online application, the fee for the license, and whether you must also submit an online addendum form. A general business license is needed to manufacture, own, buy, sell, rent, lease, trade, maintain, transport, exhibit or store coin-operated amusement machines in Texas. General business license holders can house a machine in another person's business.

Texas is one of the strictest states when it comes to gambling and its laws can cover a wide variety of activities. Under Texas law, (Penal Code §47.02) gambling is considered a criminal offense if someone:

• makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest
• makes a bet on the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or on the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or
• plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device.

The law does provide for some exceptions such as participating in the state lotteryor placing bets on horse and greyhound dog races (sometimes referred to as pari-mutuel wagering). The law also provides for some affirmative defenses to prosecution:

• the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;
• no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and
• except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants

Additional exceptions include if the person reasonably believed their conduct:

• was permitted under Chapter 2001, Occupations Code; (Charitable Bingo)
• was permitted under Chapter 2002, Occupations Code; (Charitable Raffles)
• was permitted under Chapter 2004, Occupations Code; (Sports Charity Raffles)

The first page of this guide will provide you with an overview of the Texas laws on gambling while the subsequent pages will discuss more specific topics like bingo, eight-liners and poker.

• Casino Gambling: Legal
• Poker: Legal
  (restrictions apply)
• Horse Racing Betting: Legal
• Dog Racing Betting: Legal
• Lottery: Legal
• Daily Fantasy Sports: Not Specified
• Charitable Gaming: Legal
• Social Gambling: Legal
  (restrictions apply)
• Online Gambling: Not Specified

Texas gambling law is among the strictest in America. This has to do with tradition, mostly. Texas was settled largely by people with no strong cultural tradition of gambling. In the German-settled areas of Texas (including the present-day capital of Austin), the only form of gambling known was microstakes poker. Unlike parts of New England, there’s no amount of legal gaming in Texas’ history.

When Texas converted from a Union democrat to a conservative Republican state in the 1970s and 1980s, the state’s tendency to shy away from gaming grew into a matter of policy. That being said, some policy changes involving gambling law in the Lone Star State have been successful. Texas is home to one of the most profitable and popular state lotteries. Other big changes in Texas allowed for the opening of not one but two casino-like businesses.

Legal Gambling In Texas

We dug through Texas’ criminal and penal codes and put together some facts about the state’s complex gambling law. We’ve also included some resources for people who want to do some research on Texas gaming law on their own.

Texas Charitable Gaming

Texas has come a long way in terms of the freedom to gamble. Just a few decades ago, Texas didn’t have a lottery, had no charitable gaming laws, no allowance for social gambling, and no casinos. Besides pari-mutuel wagering (and a massive underground illegal sports betting and poker network), Texans had no way to gamble. Fast-forward to today, and Texas is now home to two Class II casinos, a powerful and well-attended lottery, a carve-out for charitable bingo and raffles, and a loophole that sort of (kind of) makes home poker games legal.

Before we dig too much deeper into Texas’ gaming laws, let’s look at some key stats and information about the state’s gaming industry.

• Age Requirements: 21
• Approximate Annual Gambling Revenue: n/a
• Approximate Annual Gambling Taxes: n/a
• Number of Commercial Casinos: 0
• Number of Racinos: 0
• Number of Tribal Casinos: 2 (class II only)
• Casino Regulatory Body: Texas Lottery
• Lottery National Rankings: 4th

Over the past thirty years or so, chaos has reigned in the Texas legislature. This once proud Union democrat state has been totally overtaken by the Tea Party and the religious right. Gaming laws have changed so much in the past few decades, the state’s gaming laws are all but unrecognizable. They’re also difficult to dig through. Below, you’ll find our analysis of the current state of gambling law in Texas. Remember that we aren’t lawyers and we don’t intend this as legal advice. If you need legitimate legal advice about Texas gambling, consult a Texas lawyer with experience in the gaming business.