Texas
Sports Betting in Texas
The history of legalized gambling in Texas is a familiar one. Gambling was very popular in the days of the ‘Wild West’ but when the Texas territory was granted statehood that changed dramatically. The initial constitution banned all types of gambling. Even parimutuel betting wasn’t safe in Texas during the height of horse racing’s popularity in the United States. Parimutuel betting was legalized in 1933 and banned again in 1937. It wouldn’t return until 1987 with simulcast betting added in 1991.
Unlike most states, Texas has fought hard to deny Native American tribes the right to regulate gaming on tribal land. Beginning in 1996, a number of casinos and bingo halls opened on tribal land but were closed down again. Ultimately, the state prevailed and today there’s only one in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state.
The only other gambling available in Texas is the state lottery which began operating in 1992 offering the typical assortment of draw and scratch off games. It’s unlikely that Texas will do anything about adding sports betting to their meager mix of gambling options anytime soon.
Sports Betting in Arlington
The population of the Dallas Metroplex has continued to boom over the past couple of decades. As a result, Arlington has been transformed from a just another suburban town into one of the 50 largest cities in the United States. That’s the good news—the bad news is the same as for Dallas, Fort Worth and the rest of the state and that’s Texas is one of the most gambling restrictive jurisdictions in the country. For that reason, the best gaming options in Arlington are the same as the rest of the Dallas/Fort Worth area and are found across the Oklahoma State Line where there’s an abundance of casino gambling available. Texas does have parimutuel wagering and a lottery but for anything else the options inside the ‘Lone Star State’ are practically nonexistent.
Even Native American tribes have felt the wrath of the restrictive Texas State government which has worked overtime to deny them their rights of sovereignty over tribal land. Today, there’s just one Native American casino in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. Since it’s over four hours from Arlington it’s not really worth the drive when the Oklahoma border can be reached in less than half that time.
There is some good news—the gambling scene across the border in Oklahoma is an oasis of personal freedom for Texans living under the thumb of religious fundamentalism. The Oklahoma State Government has allowed Class 3 gaming since 2004 and as a result the Native American gaming industry is booming. Today there are well over 100 tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. Casinos vary greatly in size and offerings but the biggest will have slot machines, video poker, table games, simulcast betting and live poker action. There are properties throughout Oklahoma and with the ‘Red River’ along the border with Texas just 90 minutes away this is likely the best option for Arlington area gamblers.
Another option is one available in most major cities—hop a flight to Las Vegas. With the exception of big events, a round trip ticket from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to Las Vegas McCarren Airport can be had for less than $200.
Sports Betting in Austin
Austin has become one of the United States’ ‘hip’ cities over the past decade but it has always been a big part of Texas culture. It is the state capital and the fourth largest city in Texas with just under a million residents inside the city limits. It’s location is 3 hours South of the Dallas Metroplex and 90 minutes North of San Antonio. Austin’s economic and social culture might be dramatically different from that of the rest of the state but they’re in the same boat when it comes to Texas gambling law.
Simply put, Texas is not a good state for gambling. The good news is that most of the major cities in Texas have a border close by with a state that takes personal freedom more seriously than their religious fundamentalist run theocracy. The Dallas Metroplex is in fairly close proximity to Oklahoma while Houston is a quick drive from the Louisiana border. El Paso has its own options allowing them quick access to the border of New Mexico and a little further away Arizona. There’s also the Mexican border and a few intriguing gaming options in Ciudad Juarez. Austin is really in the middle of these major cities making a ‘run for the border’ a bit more difficult.
Texas has gone out of their way to deny Native American tribes the right to operate gaming properties on sovereign land—and they’ve been very effective at it. Today, there’s just one Native American casino in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. It’s not a bad little property for what it is but for a three and a half hour drive it doesn’t provide much ‘bang for the buck’.
While the gambling scene across the border in Oklahoma is prospering nicely it’s not the easy drive from Austin that it is from the Dallas Metroplex. The Oklahoma State Government has allowed Class 3 gaming since 2004 and as a result the Native American gaming industry is booming. Today there are well over 100 tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. Casinos vary greatly in size and offerings but the biggest will have slot machines, video poker, table games, simulcast betting and live poker action. There’s a lot of gambling options available in Oklahoma but with a four and a half hour drive to the Red River and the state line it’s not an easy trip.
Louisiana and Mississippi also have a variety of casino gambling options but they’re not really close enough for a ‘day trip’. New Orleans is seven and a half hours from Austin and the coastal resort area of Biloxi, Mississippi is approximately 8 and a half hours away. The most convenient casino gambling option is likely Lake Charles, Louisiana where there are a couple of riverboat casinos offering slots, table games and live poker but even this is four and a half hours away. One upside of making the long drive to the Biloxi area is sports betting which is now available at a number of the gaming properties in the area.
Another option is one available in most major cities—hop a flight to Las Vegas. With a little bit of advance shopping a round trip ticket to ‘Sin City’ can be had for around $150 from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) to Las Vegas’ McCarren International (LAS).
Sports Betting in Dallas
Texas has long been synonymous with gambling but while the ‘Longhorn State’ has a rich history the present is a different matter. There is very little in the way of legal gambling in Texas which is bad news for the residents of Dallas and surrounding areas. Not that this is anything new—the glory days of Texas gambling predated statehood. The initial Texas state constitution banned all types of gambling. Even parimutuel betting wasn’t safe in Texas during the height of horse racing’s popularity in the United States. Parimutuel betting was legalized in 1933 and banned again in 1937. Keep in mind that at this time horse racing was more popular as a spectator sport than NFL football or MLB baseball. It wouldn’t return until 1987 with simulcast betting added in 1991.
Texas is so anti-gambling that the state has worked hard to deny Native Americans the right to operate casinos on tribal land. They’ve also been very effective and today there’s just one Native American casino in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. That’s not much gambling for the four hour drive from Dallas to San Antonio. The only other gambling available in Texas is the state lottery which began operating in 1992 offering the typical assortment of draw and scratch off games.
There is some good news—the gambling scene across the border in Oklahoma is prospering nicely. The Oklahoma State Government has allowed Class 3 gaming since 2004 and as a result the Native American gaming industry is booming. Today there are well over 100 tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. Casinos vary greatly in size and offerings but the biggest will have slot machines, video poker, table games, simulcast betting and live poker action. There are properties throughout Oklahoma and with the ‘Red River’ along the border with Texas just 90 minutes away this is likely the best option for Dallas gamblers.
Oklahoma is also the most likely venue for sports betting near Dallas. There isn’t anything concrete in the works for Oklahoma sports betting but given the dynamic nature of their gaming industry there’s a strong probability that it’ll be available in the ‘Sooner State’ within the coming year.
Sports Betting in El Paso
El Paso is the sixth largest city in Texas and one of the fifty largest in the US in terms of population. It’s also one of the largest cities along the US border with Mexico right across the imaginary line from Ciudad Juarez. While it might not share much culturally with the rest of the state it does share of one Texas’ most dubious distinctions. Simply put, Texas is not a good state for gambling. The good news is that most of the major cities in Texas have a border close by with a state that takes personal freedom more seriously than their religious fundamentalist run theocracy. The Dallas Metroplex is in fairly close proximity to Oklahoma while Houston is a quick drive from the Louisiana border. El Paso has its own options allowing them quick access to the border of New Mexico and a little further away Arizona. There’s also the Mexican border and a few intriguing gaming options in Ciudad Juarez.
Texas has gone out of their way to deny Native American tribes the right to operate gaming properties on sovereign land—and they’ve been very effective at it. Today, there’s just one Native American casino in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. It’s not a bad little property for what it is but not worth the eight hour drive from El Paso.
While the gambling scene in Texas is pretty sad there are several options for El Paso area gamblers. The New Mexico border is just a half hour away and while much of the state’s casino industry is in the Northern part of the state near Albuquerque and Santa Fe there’s a couple of options down South. One of the best is the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino which is just 90 minutes to the North. For a less sumptuous casino there’s the Casino Apache Travel Center not far away. Both properties have table games and slot machines and the Mountain Gods Resort has a live poker room. If you don’t mind a drive, El Paso is just four hours South of Albuquerque and there are a number of casinos in the area. The closest option of all is the Sunland Racetrack & Casino right across the New Mexico border. In addition to live thoroughbred racing Sunland offers a large casino with over 700 gaming machines including electronic versions of table games like blackjack.
Arizona is a bit further away but it’s another booming Native American casino market. It’s a 325 mile drive to Tuscon but there are several casinos in the area. The largest is the Casino Del Sol with 1,300 slots and video poker machines along with table games, bingo and a live poker room. There’s also a separate property called ‘Casino of the Sun’–it’s a big confusing since ‘Casino del Sol’ means ‘Casino of the Sun’ in Spanish. In this case, ‘Casino of the Sun’ is a smaller property with 300 slot machines, blackjack, bingo and live poker. There’s also the Desert Diamond Casino Tucson which is a fairly large property offering the same mix of games.
The closest—and most intriguing—gambling options are just a few minutes to the South across the Mexican border. There is now a thriving casino industry in Ciudad Juarez offering a nice assortment of gambling options including slots, video poker, table games, bingo, live poker and sports betting. Keep in mind that the amount of English speaking personnel at these casinos vary widely.
Another option is one available in most major cities—hop a flight to Las Vegas. With a little bit of advance shopping a round trip ticket to ‘Sin City’ can be had for around $200 from El Paso International Airport (ELP) to Las Vegas’ McCarren International Airport.
Sports Betting in Fort Worth
Texas is not a good state for gambling. For that reason, the best gaming options in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are found across the Oklahoma State Line. Texas does have parimutuel wagering and a lottery but for anything else the options inside the ‘Lone Star State’ are practically nonexistent.
Texas is so anti-gambling that the state has worked hard to deny Native Americans the right to operate casinos on tribal land—and they’ve been very effective at it. Today, there’s just one Native American casino in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. Since it’s over four hours from Fort Worth it’s not as good of an option as heading to Oklahoma. The only other gambling available in Texas is the state lottery which began operating in 1992 offering the typical assortment of draw and scratch off games.
There is some good news—the gambling scene across the border in Oklahoma is prospering nicely. The Oklahoma State Government has allowed Class 3 gaming since 2004 and as a result the Native American gaming industry is booming. Today there are well over 100 tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. Casinos vary greatly in size and offerings but the biggest will have slot machines, video poker, table games, simulcast betting and live poker action. There are properties throughout Oklahoma and with the ‘Red River’ along the border with Texas just 90 minutes away this is likely the best option for Fort Worth area gamblers.
Another option is one available in most major cities—hop a flight to Las Vegas. With the exception of big events, a round trip ticket from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to Las Vegas McCarren Airport can be had for less than $200.
Sports Betting in Houston
Houston is the fourth most populous city in the United States but that’s little consolation for gambling enthusiasts. Despite the area’s population of two million plus they’re in the same boat as the rest of the ‘Lone Star State’. Simply put, Texas is not a good state for gambling. For that reason, the best gaming options in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are found across the Oklahoma State Line. Texas does have parimutuel wagering and a lottery but for anything else the options inside the ‘Lone Star State’ are practically nonexistent.
Texas has gone out of their way to deny Native American tribes the right to operate gaming properties on sovereign land—and they’ve been very effective at it. Today, there’s just one Native American casino in operation—the Kickapoo tribe operates the Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel near San Antonio on the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. It’s not a bad little property for what it is but not worth the ten hour drive from Houston.
While the gambling scene across the border in Oklahoma is prospering nicely it’s not the easy drive from Houston that it is from the Dallas Metroplex. The Oklahoma State Government has allowed Class 3 gaming since 2004 and as a result the Native American gaming industry is booming. Today there are well over 100 tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. Casinos vary greatly in size and offerings but the biggest will have slot machines, video poker, table games, simulcast betting and live poker action. There’s a lot of gambling options available in Oklahoma but with a five hour drive to the Red River and the state line it’s not an easy trip.
Louisiana and Mississippi also have a variety of casino gambling options. New Orleans is approximately five hours from Houston and the coastal resort area of Biloxi, Mississippi is approximately 6 and a half hours away. The most convenient casino gambling option is likely Lake Charles, Louisiana where there are a couple of riverboat casinos offering slots, table games and live poker. One upside of making the long drive to the Biloxi area is sports betting which is now available at a number of the gaming properties in the area.
Another option is one available in most major cities—hop a flight to Las Vegas. With a little bit of advance shopping a round trip ticket to ‘Sin City’ can be had for around $100 from either of the area’s airport—Houston’s Hobby Airport (HOU) or the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
Sports Betting in San Antonio
San Antonio is the second largest city in Texas based on population and the 7th largest city in the United States. It receives high marks for its quality of life and is home to the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. It’s a great place to live but unfortunately that’s not the case for gambling enthusiasts.
Simply put, Texas is not a good state for gambling. The good news is that most of the major cities in Texas have a border close by with a state that takes personal freedom more seriously than their religious fundamentalist run theocracy. The Dallas Metroplex is in fairly close proximity to Oklahoma while Houston is a quick drive from the Louisiana border. El Paso has its own options allowing them quick access to the border of New Mexico and a little further away Arizona. There’s also the Mexican border and a few intriguing gaming options in Ciudad Juarez. The bad news for San Antonio based gamblers is that their city is essentially in the middle of the aforementioned list meaning that it’s even farther to the border no matter which way they go.
It might come as small consolation that San Antonio is the closest major city to the state’s only Native American casino. Texas has gone out of their way to deny Native American tribes the right to operate gaming properties on sovereign land—and they’ve been very effective at it. Today, the Lone Star State’s only Native American casino is operated by the Kickapoo tribe near the border with Mexico offering slots, bingo and live poker. The Lucky Eagle poker room is the only legal live poker facility in the state. It’s not a bad little property for what it is but its still two and a half hours away.
While the gambling scene across the border in Oklahoma is prospering nicely it’s not the easy drive from Austin that it is from the Dallas Metroplex. The Oklahoma State Government has allowed Class 3 gaming since 2004 and as a result the Native American gaming industry is booming. Today there are well over 100 tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. Casinos vary greatly in size and offerings but the biggest will have slot machines, video poker, table games, simulcast betting and live poker action. There’s a lot of gambling options available in Oklahoma but with a five and a half hour drive to the Red River and the state border it’s not an easy trip.
Louisiana and Mississippi also have a variety of casino gambling options but they’re not really close enough for a ‘day trip’. New Orleans is eight hours from San Antonio and the coastal resort area of Biloxi, Mississippi is approximately nine and a half hours away. Even the closest Louisiana gaming properties are five hours away in Lake Charles, Louisiana where there are a couple of riverboat casinos offering slots, table games and live poker. One upside of making the long drive to the Biloxi area is sports betting which is now available at a number of the gaming properties in the area.
There’s also casino gambling to the West but it’s of little consolation to San Antonio residents since it’s even further away. El Paso is an eight hour drive though from there its a quick jaunt over the border with New Mexico to Sunland Park. The thoroughbred horse racing track also offers a casino with 700+ slots and electronic table games. There are a few casinos elsewhere in the Southern part of New Mexico.
If your Spanish is up to the task you might consider a trip to Monterrey, Mexico. The town is five hours South of San Antonio and has over a dozen casinos offering thousands of slot machines including electronic bingo, video poker, video keno and more. There are a few properties offering live table games with a couple of poker rooms in the area. Seven of the area casinos offer live sports betting. The area earned a bad reputation after a 2011 attack on two casinos by the Los Zetas drug cartel left 35 people dead. There hasn’t been much drug related violence since but keep in mind that the Monterrey area casinos serve an almost entirely local clientele and you’re not likely to find much in the way of English speaking amenities.
Another option is one available in most major cities—hop a flight to Las Vegas. With a little bit of advance shopping a round trip ticket to ‘Sin City’ can be had for around $200 from the San Antonio International Airport (SAT) to Las Vegas’ McCarren International (LAS).
