Texas was the 28th state to join the United States and has earned a reputation for being one of the most business-friendly states in the country.

Try your luck at some of the best Texas Casinos. Stay & play at one of 40041 casino hotels in Texas and let the games begin. 2 – Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut. Connecticut isn’t quite New Jersey in terms of being a Vegas alternative, but it’s long been known as having a few nice casinos tucked away. The Foxwoods Resort is far and away the biggest of them, and in fact is one of the largest casinos in the world. WinStar World Casino and Resort will reopen Wednesday at 25% capacity, but with two months of pent-up demand from Texans who frequent the Oklahoma attraction. The 10 Biggest Casinos in the World - Duration. Visiting the casinos of Biloxi and The Mississippi Gulf Coast - Duration. Casino Time at the Oklahoma Texas border! - Duration: 1:17. 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.

Yet, to this day, Texas remains the state least likely to legalize online gambling in the US.

Currently, online gambling is illegal in The Lone Star state. Brick and mortar casinos built in the state are also deemed to be illegal.

However, there are still a few ways you can gamble legally in the state:

• Indian Casinos
• Boat Cruise Casinos
• Horse and Dog Tracks
• Lottery/Raffles

Online Casinos in Texas

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like online casinos will ever be legalized in Texas. The government is very opposed to the idea and dismisses any attempts at trying to regulate it.

That being said, there are still options for those who want to play casino games for real money! Texas allows sweepstakes which means you can play slots online and potentially win cash.

You can also participate in legal online poker games through sweepstakes sites or Daily Fantasy Sports leagues. The state tends to move quite slow when it comes to gambling laws, land andonline, so we don't expect much out of Texas.

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Land-Based Casinos in Texas

There are two Indian casinos and one casino boat in Texas.

Both Indian casinos offer class II gaming machines based on bingo. Class II video gaming devices in Texas casinos look like slot machines but are actually bingo games and the spinning reels arefor “entertainment purposes only.”

No public information is available concerning the payback percentages on any gaming machines in Texas casinos. Unlike the casinos in Texas, in many states, the slot machine payback statisticsfor that particular state’s casinos are released as a matter of public record. Just click here to seea list of slot machine payback statistics for all U.S. casinos.

If you are looking for Texas casinos near Houston this is your best bet. While Houston has no casinos, Jacks or Better Casino is only about an hour away.

Types of Casinos in Texas

Currently, there are only 2 land-based casinos in operation in the state of Texas. Both of these are owned, operated, and built on Native American territories. There is also one casino cruiseship, and horse tracks which accept parimutuel betting.

Indian Casinos

Under federal law, all Native American territories are considered to be independent and operate under their own jurisdiction.

However, ever since the 'Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act' came into play in 1988, the government of Texas has been trying to change this. A campaign was launched within the court system toshut down all forms of gambling, specific to those on Native American soil within the state.

The state of Texas argues that the 'Federal Restoration Act' of 1987, which officially recognized the Tigua and Alabama - Coushatta tribes, should take legal priority. Why? Because this billexplicitly 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, fiverestaurants, and a casino with 3,300 gaming machines.

The other casino, Naskila Gaming, does not have a hotel. It has one cafe and more than 800 gaming machines.

Both of these casinos are open 24 hours daily.

Casino Cruise Ship

The casino boat, Jacks or Better Casino, is based in Galveston. The boat sails nine miles out into the Gulf of Mexico where casino gambling is permitted.

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The casino boat offers blackjack, craps, roulette, three card poker, a sportsbook, slots, and video poker. You must provide a photo ID or you won’t be allowed to board.

Parimutuel Wagering

Surprisingly, Texas does allow residents to wager at horse and dog tracks in the state.

Horse Tracks

The horse tracks are broken down into Classes:

Class 1 horse tracks:

• Lone Star Park - Grand Prairie
• Retama Park - Selma
• Sam Houston Race Park - Houston

These tracks are allowed to host races as many times as they would like.

Class 2 horse tracks have yet to be built in Texas. Multiple tracks are in the works, and once open, will be permitted to host up to 60 race days a year.

Class 3 horse tracks:

• Gillespie County Fair - Fredericksburg

Currently, this is the only Class 3 horse track that operates in Texas. The Texas Racing Commission allows Class 3 tracks to host up to 16 race days a year.

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There are no Class 4 horse tracks in Texas.

Greyhound Tracks

Texas has three greyhound tracks, as permitted by the Texas Racing Commission. Dog racing isn't nearly as popular as horse racing in the state, but still offers residents the chance to watchraces live or virtually. The most popular greyhound track is the Gulf Greyhound Park, located in La Marque.

Texas residents can also visit the following greyhound tracks:

• Valley Race Park - Harlingen
• Gulf Coast Racing - Corpus Christi

List of Land-Based Casinos In Texas

Shown below is a list of all casinos in Texas. Click on a casino name below to see a page of detailed information about all Texas casinos.

Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel

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• 794 Lucky Eagle Dr, Eagle Pass, TX 78852
• 1 830-773-2255
• Games: 3,000 slots and 1 poker room

Naskila Gaming

• 540 State Park Rd 56, Livingston, TX 77351
• 1 936-563-2946
• Games: 800 slots

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Texas Land-Based Casinos Map

By PATRICK SVITEK and MITCHELL FERMAN. Texas Tribune

The casino empire helmed by GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson is zeroing in on Texas.

Las Vegas Sands, among the world’s largest gaming companies, has set its sights on legalizing casinos in the state with a stable of high-powered lobbyists for the upcoming legislative session — and on Tuesday, a public acknowledgment of its ambitions.

Andy Abboud, Las Vegas Sands’ top lobbyist, said the company was pursuing Texas as one of only a few expansion opportunities, along with places like Japan, Brazil and New York.

“We view Texas as a worldwide destination and one of the top potential markets in the entire world,” Abboud said during a conference hosted by the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. “Texas is considered the biggest plum still waiting to be out there in the history of hospitality and gaming.”

For over a half hour Tuesday, Abboud made a robust pitch for legalizing casino gambling in Texas, putting a clarifying exclamation point on recent speculation that Las Vegas Sands was targeting the state. He proposed a “limited number of destination resorts in Texas,” in or near big cities, that would not aim to replicate Las Vegas but would “blend into existing infrastructure.” He said a “strict regulatory environment” would be an “absolute requirement.” And he urged lawmakers to require bidders to make a “minimum investment of 1 or 2 or 3 billion dollars so that you absolutely only get the best companies bidding and they are forced by law to build an incredible facility.”

Las Vegas Sands’ interest in Texas is coming to light after a November election in which Adelson and his wife, Miriam Adelson, ranked among the top donors to Republicans’ successful battle to preserve their majority in the state House. The couple donated $4.5 million in September to a Texas account affiliated with the Republican State Leadership Committee, the top national GOP group involved in state legislative races.

Previous efforts to legalize casino gambling in Texas have not taken off, though the appetite could be different this session, when lawmakers are faced with a $4.6 billion budget shortfall. That has generated speculation about new revenue sources, including “sin taxes” such as legalizing casino gambling and marijuana.

“They are job creators, they hire a lot of additional employees, they have tremendous purchasing power,” Abboud said of casinos. “But they are also tremendous generators of tax revenue.”

State leaders have shown little openness to more gaming in Texas, let alone casino gambling. In 2015, Gov. Greg Abbott said he “wholeheartedly” supported Texas’ gaming restrictions while ordering state lottery officials to stop exploring sports betting games.

The state has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country, but there are a few exceptions where the practice is allowed, such as bingo, the state lottery, and at horse or greyhound dog races. Through court decisions and legislation in the 1980s, three federally recognized Native American tribes operate casinos with limited games — in Eagle Pass, El Paso and Livingston.

Speculation about Adelson’s plans mounted in recent weeks as Las Vegas Sands hired 10 lobbyists who are deeply connected at the Capitol. They include people like Gavin Massingill, chief of staff to outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton; Drew DeBerry, a former senior staffer to Abbott; Karen Rove, the wife of veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove; and Mike Toomey, a chief of staff to two former governors.

Toomey left lobbying earlier this year to serve as chief operating officer of Abbott’s Strike Force to Open Texas, focused on business reopenings during the coronavirus pandemic.

While Abboud spoke effusively Tuesday about the potential for Texas to become a world-class destination for casino gambling, he sought to keep expectations in check when it comes to the industry’s fiscal impact.

“We should be very clear,” Abboud said. “We will never pretend to say that we will solve all the economic problems of a state. We will help diversify an economy because of the wide range of taxes that we pay.”

In Texas, for example, casino gambling could help guard against the volatility of the oil and gas industry, Abboud said.

Asked if Las Vegas Sands has found states to be more amenable to casinos if their revenue is dedicated to something like public education, Abboud said Las Vegas Sands has not taken a position on that, believing it is a decision best left up to lawmakers.

State Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, introduced a bill last session that would have asked voters to approve casino gambling in certain parts of the Texas coast as a way of increasing funding for insurance for those living in the hurricane-prone region. Deshotel’s legislation got a committee hearing but went nowhere after that.

Deshotel has filed nearly identical legislation for the upcoming session.

“I’m very encouraged that a major casino operator is interested in Texas,” Deshotel said in a statement Wednesday. “It makes no sense for Texans to send hundreds of millions of dollars to other state coffers. Not to mention all the good paying jobs it will create.”

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Last session, Deshotel’s bill ran into opposition from groups like the socially conservative Texas Values and the Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission. A lobbyist for the commission, Rob Kohler, said Wednesday it would be “absolutely impossible” under federal law for Texas to pursue the limited destination gambling that Abboud pitched without opening the state to a flood of casinos like Oklahoma has experienced. Kohler also said he did not see any changes in lawmakers’ desires for casino gambling heading into the next session.

“We think that the elected members of the Legislature, as in the past, would recognize that this type of opportunity is not economic development and will end up hurting the state more than it would end up helping it,” Kohler said.

Texas Values reiterated its opposition Wednesday.

“We don’t support legalization of casinos in Texas,” said Jonathan Covey, policy director for Texas Values. “It’s not good for the economy and it’s not good for families.”

Abboud emphasized Tuesday that voter approval is the first step in his company’s vision for Texas.

“All that will happen in the Legislature this next session is for the state Legislature to put it on the ballot and to let voters decide,” Abboud said. “And then business leaders and community groups and the policymakers need to get involved in the process and make sure that this is done the right way.”

At the end of his talk with the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, Abboud urged anybody with questions to reach out to him and said his company is a “big, wide open, transparent book.”

“We’re proud of our product,” he concluded, “and we want to bring it to Texas.”