There are 3 gaming establishments in activity in TX. Those are the Arkansas Queen Casino, the Eagle Pass Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel and the Naskila Entertainment Casino Livingston. In total, the three casinos provide more than 4,000 slot machines, 80 gaming tables and 10 poker tables. Gambling laws in Texas are rather complicated due to the history of legislation and consequent amendments, for example it is legal for Casinos to operate slot machines, but illegal to pay out cash prizes. In the early 20th century pari-mutuel betting was legalized and paved the way for betting on horse and dog races, which was officially.
It wasn’t the most auspicious start for the Jacks or Better Casino boat.On April 15, only a week after its very first jaunt, the 155-foot yacht—which, conditions permitting, takes daily trips out of Galveston and into federal waters, where gambling is legal—scraped against a marker, causing an estimated $40,000 in cosmetic damage and knocking the ship out of commission for weeks.
We took a ride on the Jacks on May 5, the day it resumed operations. Captain Dave Kendrick, who’s been a licensed captain since 1997, gave us a tour of the bridge, the room from which he steers the ship.
“I was the captain during the accident,” he said, addressing the incident in his matter-of-fact manner. “It’s the first time that has ever happened in my career. We were coming in at 11:20 p.m., and I lost sight and confused the markers. When I figured out what was happening, it was too late…. There’s no good excuse for it, but things happen, and I’m thankful nobody got hurt.”
The incident certainly didn’t deter 60 passengers from paying $15 a pop to board the sleek vessel the day we went out. They resembled your typical casino crowd, which is to say most were Baby Boomers or older, many were wearing Crocs, and more smoked cigarettes than didn’t.
We wandered up to the top deck of the boat from the bridge. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The ship glided past shrimp boats casting their nets and container ships heading to port. Seagulls and pelicans followed in our wake, hoping to catch an early lunch.
Although it was a beautiful scene, few were taking it in. Instead, they were inside, having already claimed their seats on the mostly windowless gambling floors, ready to play.
Many people are traveling to Louisiana to gamble. Why not keep that money in Texas?
Each trip the Jacks takes out into the Gulf of Mexico lasts seven hours—an hour and a half each nine-mile trip into federal waters, plus four hours of gambling—and the best days to go out, particularly for the seasickness-prone, are when the water’s nice and calm. The ship offers two floors of colorful Vegas-style slot machines and card tables where up to 150 passengers can play games like blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat (pending Coast Guard approval, the capacity could jump to 300).
“I’m excited to try this,” one woman also enjoying the view, Kim Walden, told us. Walden owns a beach home in Galveston and, she confessed, loves gambling. She and her husband not only frequent commercial cruise lines (which all have casinos), but regularly travel to Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas’s Native American reservations. She was excited, she said, to try something closer to home. “It’s nice that finally we have something practically in our backyard.”
Largely due to antiquated Bible Belt politics, gambling in Texas is illegal, with the exceptions of the lottery, horse and greyhound racing, reservation casinos, and casino boats like the Jacks or Better, which offer single-day gambling trips without having to meet the old requirement of first calling on a foreign port. These boats have served towns along the state’s coast, including Galveston, ever since being legalized in 1989, but before the Jacks’ arrival, the Oleander City had done without for a couple of years.
We wandered inside, and, finally, the moment arrived. The captain announced we were in federal waters and that tables were open. Immediately, a symphony of dings, pings and slot-machine tunes filled the air.
As we watched the action, we thought of a point Henry had made while we chatted inside the bridge. “Many people are traveling to Louisiana to gamble,” he’d said. “Why not keep that money in Texas?”
Texas is one of the strictest states when it comes to gambling and its laws can cover a wide variety of activities. Under Texas law, (Penal Code §47.02) gambling is considered a criminal offense if someone:
- makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest
- makes a bet on the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or on the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or
- plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device.
The law does provide for some exceptions such as participating in the state lotteryor placing bets on horse and greyhound dog races (sometimes referred to as pari-mutuel wagering). The law also provides for some affirmative defenses to prosecution:
- the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;
- no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and
- except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants
Additional exceptions include if the person reasonably believed their conduct:
- was permitted under Chapter 2001, Occupations Code; (Charitable Bingo)
- was permitted under Chapter 2002, Occupations Code; (Charitable Raffles)
- was permitted under Chapter 2004, Occupations Code; (Sports Charity Raffles)
Gambling Places In Texas Houston
The first page of this guide will provide you with an overview of the Texas laws on gambling while the subsequent pages will discuss more specific topics like bingo, eight-liners and poker.