The Texas Gambling Age: Casinos, Sports Betting & More

The Lone Star State has had a roller coaster of a relationship with gambling laws throughout its history. With only few forms of popular games for Texas State residents to enjoy, the current landscape is quite limited. However, unlike its more conservative southern neighbor Tennessee, Texas still does have two land based casinos within its borders.

With a thriving population, and an in ever-increasing economic importance within the US, including 54 Fortune 500 companies housed within the state borders, there are several commercial gambling entities chewing at the bit trying to gain a foothold in the potentially incredibly lucrative Texas gambling market. Below, you’ll find the Texas legal age for all activities in the state.

In the table above you will say the legal gambling ages required to participate in the legal forms of popular gaming allowed within Texas. Gambling at the state’s two tribal casinos there is limited to those above the age of 21 years, where is participating in the state lottery and playing bingo in Texas requires that participants only be 18 years old. If there is not an age located underneath a form of gambling then it is illegal within the state.

On this page we will go into further detail regarding the legal status of all forms of popular gambling within Texas. we will also discuss the legal ages for each form of gaming allowed within the Lone Star State. As well as doing a deep dive into the states gambling history, including a discussion of any law developments.

Casino Age in Texas

Casino gambling in the Lone Star State is limited to tribal reservations. Under the Indian Gaming Act 1988, states across the US are able to legalize land-based casinos which are located on tribal lands. These casinos exist under compacts signed within the state and local tribes which outline the scope of the games tribes are able to offer as well as defining the states oversight of the gambling undertaken onsite.

To date there are only two tribal casinos in operation in Texas both of which are limited by their compacts to only offer Class II gaming onsite. Class II gaming limits the forms of gambling casinos may offer to electronic machines. This means that traditional casino table game favourites are not available within either casino, and should gambling fans be after the opportunity to play a traditional casino table game they are best placed to visit neighbouring states New Mexico or Arkansas to get their fix.

The legal casino age for Texas is 21. The legal Texas gambling age for entering casinos is most likely set to 21 as this is also the legal drinking age for the whole of the US. As both casinos in Texas serve alcohol to visitors, by having the casino entry age mirror the legal drinking age casino operators are able to limit the chances of being prosecuted for serving alcohol to underage minors.

As mentioned in this page’s introduction, there are many major commercial casino operators that would like to set up shop within Texas, and have been actively lobbying the state legislature to open up the state’s gambling laws to allow for commercial casinos for several years. However, Texas is staying true to its conservative Southern roots and has not been swayed by any commercial lobbying.

What are The Casinos In Texas that accept 18 year Olds?

There are no casinos in Texas that allow 18 year olds to gamble in them. The legal gambling age for casino gaming in Texas is 21 years old. Keeping the casino age limit at 21 reflects Texas’ conservative values as well as keeping in line with neighboring state’s casino age limit. However, 18 year olds should not be discouraged, there are still other forms of gambling they can enjoy in the Lone Star state.

For those who are above the age of 21 we have included the addresses for Texas’ two tribal casinos in the table below.

Sports Betting In Texas

Interestingly, for a state that is known globally for its love of American sports – specifically American Football, sports betting is illegal in Texas. There have been times in Texas’ history where sports betting in some form or another has been legal, but in more recent history the state has taken a very conservative approach to sports wagering. As sports betting is illegal in Texas there is no legal sports betting age.

There have been moves in recent years to attempt to legalize sports betting within Texas, in February 2019 a state representative applied to authorize sports betting operations including mobile and online betting. This proposed bill also includes mention of high permit fees and revenue taxes for operators, as well as limiting the number of permits able to be issued to 5.

In order for the proposed sports betting bill to be passed a referendum must be placed before Texas voters, as the bill would require amending the states constitution in order to become law. Due to the state’s history of having an incredibly conservative and backward approach to gambling laws, coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic it looks as if any changed to sports betting laws in Texas are a long way off.

One form of sports wagering that is legal in Texas is pari mutuel betting on horse races. Pari mutuel betting was made legal in the Lone Star State in 1988, with the legal gambling age to participate in pari mutuel betting being set at 18. Residents of Texas are only able to place pari mutuel bets in person at licensed premises – which are limited to race-tracks in Texas. While at these licensed premises residents are able to place bets on live races as well as simulcast races.

One final form of sports wagering that is available to Texas residents is Daily Fantasy Sports. While not expressly legal in the Lone Star State, Daily Fantasy Sports is able to operate under a cloud of implied legality within Texas. We will discuss the legality of Daily Fantasy Sports and the legal gambling age required to participate in it later on this page.

TX Online Gambling Age

Texas being one of the more conservative states in the US has not been big in adopting new forms of gambling. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that online wagering is considered illegal in the Lone Star State. As online gambling is illegal it follows that there is no legal online gaming age.

While online gambling is not explicitly addressed in Texas’ laws, this does not mean that it automatically gains legality. According to the constitutional laws of the Lone Star stage no form of wagering is legal. Therefore while there isn’t an explicit list the broad definition of gambling within the states constitution Creates an implied illegality, which is then considered too encompass online gaming as well .

Even though online gambling on the whole is considered illegal in Texas some sites have found certain legal loopholes and continue to operate in the Lone Star State. The majority of these sites are run by offshore entities, because of this Texas State residents should be wary of them. Offshore gambling websites are not licensed or registered within the US, this means that they are not governed by US Federal law. Should to any player in Texas encounter any issues when playing on an offshore gaming website they would have no recourse against the operator as it is not registered within the US.

Poker Gambling Age

Poker of all forms is illegal in Lone Star State, as expected this also includes online poker. Even though the gambling laws like online gaming, Texas laws do not specifically state that online poker as illegal, however, true its exclusion from the list of approved real money activities allowed within the Lone Star State it automatically falls into a category of illegal gambling.

There have been no moves by Texas’ state legislature to make online poker and land based poker legal in the near future. Should any Texas residents wish to play any form of poker, they are best place to book a ticket to visit Nevada, Delaware or New Jersey we’re gambling laws are far more liberal and allow for both land based and online poker.

Daily Fantasy Sports

The legal gambling age for playing Daily Fantasy Sports and Texas is 18 years old. Do you too takes us residence strong affinity for sports, especially American football, Daily Fantasy Sports has fast become a favorite pastime of the state. This is not to say that Daily Fantasy Sports has been without its issues in the Lone Star State, in 2016 FanDuel left Texas for fear of breaking the law following this DraftKings being challenged The Texas state legislature in court and if it to develop further clarification of Daily Fantasy Sports legality within the state.

The most recent moves towards legalizing Daily Fantasy Sports officially within Texas were made in 2019 when a house bill was passed through the State House and was tabled by the states Senate. however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic further discussions regarding the tabled bill have stalled while the state attends to more pressing matters. Texas State residents will have to wait and see what the new normal post COVID-19 brings for Daily Fantasy Sports legality within Texas

Legal Age to Play the Lottery in Texas

Surprisingly for Texas it was one of the first southern states in America to legalize a state lottery. In 1991 a house bill was passed allowing the formation of the state grand lottery, following this in 1992 the first scratch off ticket was sold, within the first 3 hours of the state lottery being legal in Texas the state had sold enough tickets to pay back the startup investment for the lottery. the legal Texas gambling age for participating in the state lottery is 18 years of age.

The state lottery has not been without its controversy over the years, in fact in 2013 the Texas House of Representatives voted to end the Lottery Commission, which effectively bought the Lotto to a halt – this vote passed largely on moral grounds illustrating the conservative makeup of Texas’ state legislature. due to continued debate and dismay at the abandonment of a lottery there was a second vote held where in Many members of the House of Representatives reversed their decision in the lottery was allowed to continue.

Texas residents who play the lottery have the ability to play exciting local games alongside US favorites such as Powerball, Mega Millions, Cash 5 and Lucky for Life. all revenue raised from the state lottery is reinvested In Texas , with beneficiaries of the larger revenue including local students, veterans and more with other 19 billion dollars invested in the states Foundation School Fund since the lottery’s inception.

In line with Texas’ established approach to online gambling, there is no legal online lottery within the state. There is also no discussions about legalizing the online lottery taking plates within the state legislature. this may change in the future as many neighboring states adopting an online lottery, however given Texas’ established nature of taking its time when it comes to legalizing new forms of gambling Texas State residents should not hold their breath.

Texas Gambling Laws & Future Outlook

Texas’ gaming laws can be found within the state’s Penal Code 47 and within the state’s constitution. Under the state’s laws gambling is defined as, an ‘agreement to win or lose something of value slowly or partially by chance’. Given the wide definition given, all forms of games of chance within the laws of the state remit and therefore are automatically considered illegal. any form of legalized gambling operating within Texas is able to do so do you to the facts that it is included in a list of laws that are allowed as exceptions to the presumption.

There are taxes applied to gambling winnings within Texas , all winnings are considered personal income and therefore taxed at each individual’s personal income tax bracket. Additionally any gambling winnings over $600 that are won within a Texas State borders also subject to a 25% federal tax.

The current outlook of gambling in Texas is semi positive. the two land based tribal casinos bring in over $400 million in economic impact every year, while also supporting several thousand jobs. While this does seem like a large economic footprint, comparative to Texas’ population it is still relatively small when compared to other heavyweights across the US such as Nevada or Delaware. the only way to access will be able to take full advantage of the gambling economies potential within its state borders as if it was to finally allow commercial gaming interests to set up shop within the state.

However, it looks as though allowing commercial gambling interests to operate within the Lone Star State is a pipe dream. There are many local interest groups and lobbyists with conservative outlooks who would certainly block any attempts that may be made to liberalize Texas’ casino laws. In order to be up to date on all legal information regarding each state, we recommend checking out our legal gambling ages in the US article.

Frequently Asked Questions

We hope that this page has been informative and educated you further on the state of gambling laws within Texas. should you still have any outstanding questions take a look at the answers to the most frequently asked questions below.