Oh, Lone Star State. I have a bone to pick with you. This is a touchy subject, too, as I’m a proud citizen of the great state of Texas.

I love your food; I love your diverse cultures and climates. I love that you can be country and hipster all at the same time.

But.

Casinos worldwide are expected to rake in $130 billion in gaming profits in 2019 - proving that most of the time, the house really does win. If a Las Vegas vacation or trip to another gambling mecca is in your future, keep in mind a little thing called the 'house edge.' It's an advantage that gives the casino an assured return on a bet and gives the player an assured loss. Because this bill explicitly prohibits gambling. One of the Indian casinos in Texas, Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, offers pull-tab machines, bingo, and poker. That casino is the larger of the two casinos in Texas. It has a hotel, five restaurants, and a casino with 3,300 gaming machines. You can have them but are asked not to use them in casinos. Staff may help you and bring you to a safe area to take photos if you ask. 3 reasons why: Security. They don't want you taking photos of their surveillance cameras or cage areas like you'. None of the other answers actually address the main reason. They blame it on religion (namely Southern Baptist denominations), ignorance, and a lack of desire. While all of these are minor factors, the original reason was that in it's establishme.

I want to know why you hate gambling.

This is a heart breaker for this gambling Texan girl.

Why are almost all forms of gambling illegal in my home state?

Why do you want me to take my hard-earned dollars out of state to spend on my favorite hobby?

I don’t want to give that taxable revenue to Louisiana, Oklahoma, or Nevada. I want to go to the Gulf Coast and let my family enjoy our warm waters.

Then I want to gamble.

Why are you keeping this from me?

Did I do something wrong?

Why are you so mad at gambling?

So many questions.

Let’s see if I can answer some of them.

The History of Gambling in The Lone Star State

Texas, much like its neighbors to the east and west, has changed hands many times of the course of its history. It was once even its own sovereign nation. Texans often refer to the Republic of Texas.

Texas was originally part of multiple native tribes, but we know how this goes. It changed hands between the Spanish (Tejas is the Spanish spelling), American, Mexico, and even the French.

Texas has the strictest real money gambling laws in the United States.

I would’ve guessed our Mormon friends in Utah would be a no go on gambling, but no.

It’s Texas.

This was huge swing from the Wild West attitude of the 1800s. Texas is the home of many outlaws like Billy the Kid and Jesse James. Let’s not forget that Bonnie and Clyde were Texas residents, too.

This is not a neat or prim and proper state. We like to be left alone, not told what to do, and keep to ourselves.

The Prohibition Era ushered in a clamping down of the above vices to almost do a 180 from the torrid, wild past of the state.

So, when did the State of Texas make gambling illegal?

It’s a long drawn out answer. I wish it were easier. I wish it were something simple like 1920.

But no, it was a slow suffocation of the hobby.

The state would see local governments outlaw vices in their regions starting in the Reconstruction Era of the post war South. The nail in the coffin was the passage of the 18^th amendment to the United States Constitution. This made alcohol and gambling illegal throughout the country.

Once this amendment was overturned, many states started to reopen racetracks and saloon or bars. Texas dug its heels in the ground on the topic of gambling.

The legality of gambling has wavered throughout the state over the years, but one thing has stayed true.

Texas doesn’t condone most forms of gambling.

Texas has 2 casinos. We are number 2 in size and population in America. We are last in gambling.

And it doesn’t look like the legislature is going to budge anytime soon.

There are some obscure loopholes in our gambling laws, and the lottery is a big government business.

What Type of Gambling Are Legal in Texas?

There are a few types of gambling that are legal in Texas.

Most of these are weird – except for the lottery.

The Texas State Lottery

The State of Texas legalized a state lottery in July of 1991. That was a big win. I remember when my parents got together with their friends to go in a ton of tickets. My siblings and I started seeing scratch off tickets in birthday and holiday cards from our grandparents.

Playing the lottery in Texas is a big deal. An estimated 68% of Texan play some form of the lottery. With almost 40 million residents, that is a lot of money.

I am from Austin, the capitol of the state. Downtown they used to live film the drawings and we would watch through the window on our way to the bar when I was in college at University of Texas at Austin.

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t played the lottery. When my husband and I were young and broke we would buy scratch off in hopes to win enough to cover our bills

The Texas lottery is as common as a rodeo or going 2 stepping after a meal of Mexican food or BBQ.

The state makes billions off the proceeds. This money is allocated to schools and wildlife and land protections. Texans are big hunters which makes them conservationists by default.

Horse and Dog Racing

Under the pari-mutuel racing rules, Texans can participate in dog and horse betting. There are 3 class 1 racetracks in the entire state.

This type of gambling was legalized in Texas in 1978. Texas was about 30 years behind the rest of the country.

I didn’t grow up with adults going to the races because of the old hold over of prohibition and the Progressive Movement.

Native Tribe Casinos

Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the 3 recognized native tribes of Texas were granted the right to open gaming establishment.

The Kickapoo Tribe has the Lucky Eagle Casino. It’s found in Eagle Pass, in far West Texas on the Mexican border. It’s a long hot drive from almost anyone in the state except Laredo.

The Tigua Tribe owns and operates the Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.

You’ll find it in El Paso on their native lands. El Paso is the 5^th most populated city in the state, but it’s still a 9+ hour drive from the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Are you seeing a trend?

The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe offers gambling, too – at Naskila Gaming.

That’s located in Livingston, just north of Beaumont, Texas. It’s only a 3-hour drive, but there’s not a lot to see once you get there

The Naskila Gaming and Speaking Rock Entertainment have been wrapped up in red tape and legal disputes for years and may not be able to survive. This is against trend for other native casinos in other states.

You’ve heard of WinStar?

The largest casino in the world?

It is a native owned casino and has its own economy. It’s literally an hour drive from my house over the Oklahoma border.

What gives?

What Are 8-Liners and How Do They Work?

If you’re not from here, you’ve probably not seen these shady little machines. They’re the video poker looking machines in gas stations and dive bars.

They are gaming machines that offer noncash prizes of less than a $5.00 value. I have played these at a now closed bar (probably because they didn’t ID people).

Nowadays I see them mostly in underserved communities. It’s always a slimy gas station. The state legislature has been trying to outlaw them since the 80’s.

They argue that they qualify as in-person gambling and don’t follow that state guidelines of approved gambling.

That’s not the type of hobby gambling I’m look for in my home state, are you?

Casino Cruises

This one is tricky. I’m impressed to be honest. These one day “cruises” take people to a cruise to essentially nowhere.

They stop in international waters so that there is no jurisdiction to say, “Quit it!”. It is pretty genius but expensive.

The cost has caused many startups to fail or rebrand with more failure. They leave out of a Texas port with mostly Texas passengers.

The problem is most of the Texas ports are a short drive to Louisiana, our eastern neighbor. Louisiana is very pro gambling.

See the problem?

Why would I get on a day cruise and risk sea sickness when I can take my entire family to the Golden Nugget Lake Charles Casino and Resort for an all-inclusive resort vacation?

Conclusion

It’s not good. Texas has even made friendly wagering illegal in the state. If I host a poker night with real money, I could serve some prison time.

When will Texas catch up and join the 21^st, heck even the 20^th, century?

I don’t know.

Every year it’s on the state legislature’s docket.

Every session it fails.

Maybe other states have made it too easy for Texans to come visit.

I see it as a missed opportunity for tax revenue for the state. And tourist dollars. Texas is so big that driving from Dallas to the coast is considered being out of state in other parts of this country.

Austin has 100s of 1000s descend on it every March for the SXSW festival.

Why not also make some tax venue off them with gambling?

It just doesn’t make sense.

But this state likes to do things the hard way because that’s how it’s always been. For a long time.

I would love to hear your thoughts and questions. Please leave a comment below.

The United States are home to over 1500 casinos—more than any other country in the world, in fact–and those gambling dens generate over $71 billion in revenue per year. The casino gambling business continues to grow throughout the country, too. Critics are quick to dismiss the casino industry as being harmful to consumers, but these businesses employ at least half a million people.

But the USA is also a patchwork quilt of gambling laws that vary from state to state. Most states have at least one casino now, but there are still some holdouts where there is no legal casino in which to gamble.

Even the states that are home to the most casinos—Nevada, Oklahoma, Colorado, and California—have dozens of sometimes strange laws on the books regulating the operation of these casinos. For example, Oklahoma is allowed to host casino games that use playing cards, but games with spinning wheels or dice are illegal. (That law is about to change, but you should see the contortions Oklahoma casinos go through to offer roulette and craps powered by decks of cards.)

In the state of Colorado, the most you’re allowed to bet in a casino is $100 at a time.

The rest of this posts looks at the various situations related to casinos by state. I think you’ll find these facts and statistics of interest.

This might seem obvious, as Nevada is home to Las Vegas, the former gambling capital of the world. It’s also home to Reno, which is also known as a casino destination. Nevada has 334 casinos operating within its borders.

But you’d be surprised as some of Nevada’s closest competitors. I live and work in Texas, which is right on the border of Oklahoma, a state which is fast becoming a gambling mecca in its own right. Oklahoma now has 134 casinos operating there, too. That’s about a third of the number of casinos as Nevada, but the latter has been opening casinos since 1931. Oklahoma just got into the business in 2004.

According to WorldAtlas.com, these are the 10 states with the most casinos, in order:

• 1. Nevada – 334
• 2. Oklahoma – 134
• 3. California – 62
• 4. Colorado – 40
• 5. South Dakota – 39
• 6. Florida – 35
• 7. Mississippi – 35
• 8. Arizona – 34
• 9. Washington – 32
• 10. Michigan – 30

I’m not sure how long these numbers will remain accurate, of course. The industry continues to grow throughout the United States.

2- The Best Casino in the United States Is the Mohegan Sun

USA Today runs a website called “10 Best.” They rank various businesses and products by category, and their ranking of casinos in the USA might be definitive, as it’s based on a readers’ poll. The #1 casino in their poll is the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Along with Foxwoods, the Mohegan Sun is one of just 2 casino resorts in the state. It’s made up of 3 casinos:

Indian Casinos In Texas

• 1. Casino of the Earth
• 2. Casino of the Wind
• 3. Casino of the Sky

Between the 3 casinos, Mohegan Sun is host to over 5000 gambling machines and over 275 tables games. They also have a poker room with over 42 tables and a race book. If you enjoy Asian style gambling, they have a separate area for that which offers games like baccarat, pai gow poker, and sic bo.

The rest of 10Best’s list looks like this, in order:

Only 4 of the casinos in the top 10 are in Nevada, which sounds like a lot, until you consider how many casinos are in the state of Nevada compared to other states.

3- The Largest Casino in the United States in the Winstar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma

For years, Foxwoods in Connecticut was the biggest casino in the United States. It has over 340,000 square feet of entertainment. It’s been open since 1986, and the resort itself has over 2200 rooms for guests.

But the Winstar World Casino in Oklahoma has been growing like a weed since it opened in 2004. It doesn’t compete with Foxwoods in terms of number of sleeping rooms, but it has over 500,000 square feet of gambling space. I can remember when it first opened, and it was little more than a big tent on the side of the road.

Those 2 casinos combined are bigger than the next 5 biggest casinos in the country, each of which has about 150,000 square feet for gaming.

According to TripInfo.com, the next biggest casinos in the United States include:

Every state in the Union now has at least once casino, with only 5 exceptions:

• 1. Alaska
• 2. Tennessee
• 3. Utah
• 4. Vermont
• 5. Virginia

You would think Alaska would be a prime state for casinos, as there’s a relatively large Native American population there compared to other states. But the Indian reservations in the state of Alaska don’t fit the legal definition of “Indian Lands.” This has to do with, among other things, the tribes’ authority to levy taxes.

Tennessee is possibly the most conservative state in the Union. As a result, even though there have been repeated attempts to legalize casinos, the state still can’t pass legislation to allow casinos there. Tennessee does have a state lottery, though, and fantasy sports for money is legal there, too.

Utah, like Tennessee, is extremely conservative, largely because of the large Mormon population and influence there. When my wife visited the state a few years ago, she had trouble finding a place that would sell her a real cup of coffee. (Mormons eschew caffeine.) I think she might have been exaggerating, though, but still—that’s the kind of attitude you’re dealing with there.

Vermont is one of the smallest states in the country, and they’re best-known for their maple syrup. All the states surrounding Vermont offer casino gambling, so it’s not much of a priority to legalize, regulate, and open casinos there in the state itself.

Virginia has been politically opposed to casinos for years, even though Maryland is nearby and offers casino gambling. Their situation is similar to that of Texas. Lots of money going across the border because the state can’t find a way to convince the religious conservatives running the government to legalize and regulate casino gambling. (Texas does have one casinos, though—it’s just so out of the way that it might as well not exist.)

5- Roughly a Third of the Casinos in the United States Are Native American Casinos

Unless you’re completely unaware of United States history, you already know that we weren’t the first people here. In fact, we took over the country from the natives who already lived here. What’s left of the indigenous tribes now have a certain amount of legal authority when it comes to governing themselves.

This is referred to as “tribal sovereignty.” These tribes are considered “domestic dependent nations,” and they’re recognized by the United States federal government. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 is one of several laws that try to clarify the legal relationship between the federal government and these tribal governments. It’s specific to the operation of gambling businesses.

That law limits the ability of state governments to regulate gambling businesses run on tribal lands.

And that’s the reason we’ve seen so many Native American casinos springing to life over the last 30 years. There are close to 500 casinos run by over 200 different tribes. Since there are only 1500 or so casinos throughout the entire country, it’s easy to calculate the percentage of those that are run by Native American tribes.

Also, since Native American tribes aren’t required to report casino revenues, the actual dollar amount of revenue generated by these properties is unknown.

6- Not All United States Casinos Are the Same—They’re Categorized in Multiple Ways

You can probably guess based on what I’ve included in this post already that you can categorize U.S. casinos according to whether they’re run by a Native American tribe or not. That’s a good starting point, but you can make further categorizations, too.

One category of casinos is “pari-mutuel.” These are casinos located in horse racing or dog racing tracks. Pari-mutuel casinos are also often called “racinos.” They don’t usually differ much from other casinos, but some of them have specific laws allowing slot machines but not table games. And sometimes they offer slot machines where the results are determined by historical racing results, similar to how some casinos use bingo results to determine their slots results.

Another category of casinos is the “riverboat casino.” In many southern states, gambling was illegal, but only on dry land. These riverboat casinos used to have to go on a cruise every day, but the laws aren’t as strict now. Most riverboat casinos never leave the dock anymore.

In fact, many of these riverboat casinos aren’t even on rivers anymore. They’re now docked in lagoons. In Mississippi, the laws have relaxed so much that a riverboat casino can be built on land. It just has to be close to a river.

7- You Must Be at Least 21 Years Old to Gamble in a U.S. Casino, but There Are Some Exceptions

The laws related to the legal gambling age are state laws, so they vary by state. They’re remarkably consistent, though. In almost all states, you must be 21 to gamble. The only exceptions are:

In those states, the minimum age to gamble legally is 18.

Some states do allow limited gambling by 18 to 20-year-olds. Usually, the only kind of gambling you’re allowed to participate in if you’re under 21 is bingo and other kinds of pari-mutuel gambling. These states allow limited gambling by 18, 19, and 20-year-olds:

Casinos Open In Texas

8- The First United States Casino Was Called Brown’s Saloon

Casino gambling as we know it dates back to 1822. Brown’s Saloon was the name of this proto-casino, and it was located near the border between Colorado and Wyoming. It was so named because it was located in a town called Brown’s Hole. The saloon catered mostly to trappers who were trading in furs, which was a popular industry at the time.

Brown’s Saloon, aka Brown’s Hole Saloon, was open for 18 years, from 1822 to 1840.

9 – The Only 2 States with Legal, Regulated Online Casinos Are Delaware and New Jersey

Delaware was the first state to legalize online casinos in 2012. They didn’t launch their first sites until late 2013. It’s a relatively small market, although they posted gambling earnings in excess of $3 million in 2016

New Jersey legalized online casinos in 2013. Compared to Delaware, the online casino marketplace in New Jersey is huge—they posted revenues of $196 million in 2016. That number increased by over 25% in just a year, so the market is still growing there.

New Jersey is expected to start taking online sports bets, soon. This should show a dramatic increase in revenues again.

Pennsylvania has passed legislation allowing online casinos, but there are no companies in business yet. The legislation is still recent.

10- Sports Betting Will Soon Become Legal in a Lot of States

Until the recent Supreme Court decision on May 14, 2018, the only state where you could legally bet on sports was Nevada. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was the law preventing states from legalizing, regulating, and offering sports betting.

In light of this Supreme Court decision, multiple states have started the ball rolling toward offering legal, regulated sports betting. Delaware, Mississippi , New Jersey, and West Virginia already had legal mechanisms in place for launching sports betting. They were just waiting for PASPA to be struck down. They’ll be the first states to offer sports betting in this new environment.

At least another dozen, and maybe as many as two dozen, other states are considering passing legislation to legalize and regulate sports betting. Most of them won’t have any action available until 2019, though, as they need time to get the legislation passed.

And there are 10 interesting facts and statistics about the state of casino gambling in various states. The United States has a rapidly changing casino and gambling environment, both legally and business-wise. It will be fascinating to watch the environment continue to grow over the next couple of decades.

Why Can't Texas Have Casinos

• You're damn lucky if your state doesn't have a casino they are just stealing peoples $$ big time

• KY has slots at a race track in Mitchelleville/Franklin, KY. IL has casinos, Metropolis. There are a Lot of mistakes reference casinos!

• Does Alabama have slots ? Darn state does not even have lotto