Texas Online Gambling

Texas Online Gambling

Welcome to PlayTexas

Here you will find up-to-date information about legal Texas gambling, including:

  • Online and retail casinos in Texas
  • Texas sports betting
  • Daily Fantasy Sports
  • Texas Lottery
  • Poker, including coverage of potential online options

Most forms of gambling are illegal in Texas, and the 2023 legislative session did not change that. While sports betting legislation cleared the Texas House, it died in the Senate. Casino legislation made it to the House floor. Progress was made.

The attention shifts to 2025, but PlayTexas has the latest in online Texas gambling.

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Legal Gambling in Texas

Online Casinos

Real money online casinos are not legal in Texas. The only online casino options available to Texans are social and sweepstakes casinos like Pulsz, Chumba Casino, and Luckyland Slots. These can be played for fun or for the chance to win cash prizes.

Commercial casino gambling is also prohibited in Texas. There is one tribal casino in Texas offering Type-2 casino games. It is owned and operated by the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel offers slots, non-banked card games like poker and bingo to patrons who visit the facility in Eagle Pass near the Mexico border.

Poker Rooms

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 and 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. Piling onto the debate are a few legislative efforts dealing with semantics.  One would change the language of the law, handing questions of their legality over to the counties. Another would change the language of the law, redefining what constitutes a “private poker club.”

Horse Racing

There are three active horse racetracks in Texas at present, all in major population centers. Modern horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering on the results became legal in Texas in 1987. Subsequent changes to the law allowed for simulcast wagering at each licensed facility. Thus, 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 allowed for Advance Deposit Wagering, on sites like TVG remains illegal under Texas law. Currently, a larger debate embroils Texas horse racing.  The Texas Racing Commission and the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority are at odds. The results have cost Texas racetracks millions of dollars in purses and many jobs, and no compromise is yet in the offing.

Daily Fantasy Sports

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 and FanDuel operate in a legal gray area. That said, the issue of DFS’s legality has been a matter of contention over recent years.

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 any kind of resolution. A 2021 legislative effort to make DFS legal passed out of committee favorably, but never received a floor vote.

At the moment, Texans shouldn’t worry too much about playing DFS. Any legal recourse pursued by the AG will target the operators and not the players.

Texas Lottery

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. However, 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. Lottery tickets can be purchased online through courier services like Jackpocket and Jackpot.

Sports Betting

There is no legal sports betting in Texas. None of the legislative sessions since 2018 have borne any fruit for sports bettors in Texas. Texas lawmakers have softened to sports betting since PASPA, due mainly to the prevalence of the expansive offshore market. In fact, online sports betting legislation passed the House in 2023 for the first time. It never received a hearing in the Senate, however.

Despite online and retail sports betting bills failing during the 2023 legislative session, the progress made can be a foundation to build upon in 2025.

Legal Texas Gambling FAQ

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 is underway, and, while there are numerous pieces of legislation filed on legal casino gambling and sports betting, online gambling is not on the table.

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 determine if the sites are honest and fair in their treatment of players.

Yes, but begrudgingly. 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 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 to 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. 2023 has been the first year 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.

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