The story of the latest efforts to introduce online gambling in Texas is a tale of hopes dashed by entrenched opposition and conflicting political stances.

📅 2018: The US Supreme Court opens the way for states to write their own sports betting laws by ruling the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutional.

📅 2019: In the wake of the decision to overturn PASPA, two bills are introduced that would have lead to legal sports betting in Texas.

📅 2021: Five separate bills aimed at introducing legal online gambling are launched during the legislative session – but none is successful.

📅 2022: In preparation for the 2023 legislative session, a Senate resolution is filed to set up a Texas Gaming Commission.

This follows the declaration earlier in the month by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, president of the state Senate, that the bill was dead - despite its emphatic passage through the House. Jeff Leach, sponsor of the sports betting bill, accepts that its hopes are finished.

📅 June 2023: Former Texas Governor Rick Perry declares that voters should get the chance to decide on legal sports betting, and vows to back legalization efforts in 2025.

The recent struggles to legalize online sports betting here illustrate the scale of the challenge:

Progress toward the legalization of online casinos in Texas has been slow. Texas Online Casinos Legalization Timeline All eyes are now turned to 2025 and the next Texas legislative session. Online casinos tend to be legalized only after sports wagering you can currently bet online on sports in more than 35 states, but may play online casino games in just six. A long-time opponent of gambling, Patrick has been re-elected through to 2026, which means future bills may also struggle to pass.įans of online casino gaming will hope that efforts to legalize sports betting are successful.

It had support from prominent Texans including Jerry Jones and Rick Perry, but came up against formidable opposition in the form of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, president of the Senate. But that bill, designed to legalize sports betting, failed to pass through the Senate. The passage of bill HB1942 through the state House in May 2023, the first time such a proposal had received a green light, raised hopes that Texas online gambling might be on its way.

Texas legalizing casino gambling