Texas Betting

There is no legal sports betting in Texas, online or in person, and Texas is one of the few prohibition states where the ban also closes off betting on horses over the internet. Placing a bet is a criminal offence under the Penal Code and taking bets is a more serious one. What is lawful here is pari-mutuel betting in person inside a licensed racetrack enclosure, the state lottery, and charitable raffles.

What Texas Law Says About Betting on Sport

The prohibition is statutory rather than constitutional, and it sits in Penal Code chapter 47.

"Sec. 47.02. GAMBLING. (a) A person commits an offense if he: (1) 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… (d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor." — Texas Penal Code §47.02

Running a book is graded higher. Section 47.03, gambling promotion, covers a person who "engages in bookmaking", and provides that "(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor." Section 47.01(2) sets the bookmaking threshold at receiving, recording or forwarding "more than five bets or offers to bet in a period of 24 hours" or bets "totaling more than $1,000 in a period of 24 hours". Section 47.05 adds a separate Class A misdemeanour for communicating gambling information with intent to further gambling.

Section 47.02(c) lists the defences, and that list is the map of what Texas does allow: conduct "permitted under Subtitle A-1, Title 13, Occupations Code (Texas Racing Act)" and participation "in the state lottery authorized by the State Lottery Act (Chapter 466, Government Code)". There is no sports-wagering defence anywhere in the chapter.

What Is Lawful in Texas

Pari-mutuel horse and greyhound racing is regulated by the Texas Racing Commission, whose stated mission is "to protect the safety and integrity of the sport of pari-mutuel horse racing in Texas, through the administration and enforcement of the Texas Racing Act". The Commission's own race parks page lists four venues: "Sam Houston Race Park", "LoneStar Park", "Retama Park" and "Gillespie County Fair & Festival".

That wagering has to happen at the track. This is the provision most often got wrong about Texas:

"Sec. 2027.002. WAGERING RESTRICTIONS. (a) Wagering may be conducted only by a racetrack association within the racetrack association's enclosure. (b) A person may not accept, in person, by telephone, or over the Internet, a wager for a horse or greyhound race conducted inside or outside this state from a person in this state unless the wager is authorized under this subtitle." — Occupations Code §2027.002

Subsection (d) closes the other side of the transaction: "Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person may not place, in person, by telephone, or over the Internet, a wager for a horse or greyhound race conducted inside or outside this state." Section 2027.001(b)(3) requires Commission rules that "prohibit a racetrack association from accepting a wager made by telephone", and §2027.102(b) bars anyone other than a racetrack association from taking a race wager from a Texas resident while that resident is in the state. There is therefore no advance-deposit wagering in Texas at all — unlike California, Idaho or Minnesota, each of which licenses it.

The lottery is authorised by the constitution at Article III §47(a), and in 2025 its administration changed hands. SB 3070 of the 89th Legislature was captioned "Relating to the abolishment of the Texas Lottery Commission and the transfer of the administration of the state lottery and the licensing and regulation of charitable bingo to the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation"; the bill history records "Signed by the Governor 06/20/2025" and then "06/20/2025 E Effective immediately". The lottery now sits with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Charitable raffles and charitable gaming are carved out of the constitutional lottery ban by Article III §47(b) and (d).

One further offence is worth knowing. Occupations Code §2033.008 makes it "a felony of the third degree" to knowingly wager on a race held in this state that is on tribal land and "is not held under the supervision of the commission".

The Minimum Age

Texas has two ages, because it has two lawful products. For pari-mutuel wagering the Racing Act defines a minor as "an individual younger than 21 years of age" at Occupations Code §2021.003(26), and §2033.017(b) makes it an offence for a minor to knowingly engage in wagering at a racetrack. For the lottery the line is 18, under Government Code §466.3051, headed "SALE OF TICKET TO OR PURCHASE OF TICKET BY PERSON YOUNGER THAN 18 YEARS OF AGE."

What Would Have to Change, and When

Nothing passed in 2025. HJR 134, by Representative Harless, proposed "a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to legalize wagering in this state on certain sporting events" and was referred to State Affairs on 19 March 2025, where it stayed. Its Senate companion SJR 65 was referred to the same committee on 10 March 2025. The furthest any Texas measure has travelled was in 2023: HB 1942 of the 88th Legislature passed the House as amended on 11 May 2023 and died the next day on receipt in the Senate, and its enabling amendment HJR 102 was adopted by the House on the same day and met the same end.

Timing is the structural obstacle. Article III §5(a) provides that "The Legislature shall meet every two years at such time as may be provided by law and at other times when convened by the Governor", so the next regular session falls in 2027. A called session is possible — the 89th Legislature held two in 2025, listed in Texas Legislature Online as 89(1) and 89(2) — but Article III §40 bars legislation "upon subjects other than those designated in the proclamation of the Governor calling such session", so nothing could move unless the Governor put the subject in the call. And because the recent vehicles have been joint resolutions, they would also need the threshold in Article XVII §1(a): "The proposal for submission must be approved by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House", followed by a vote of the people.

Prediction Markets

Texas has taken no recorded position. The Attorney General's news-release index carried no mention of Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, prediction markets or event contracts when it was checked on 7 October 2026, and there is no state gaming commission that could issue a cease-and-desist: the Racing Commission's remit is pari-mutuel horse racing. That absence of state action, rather than any authorisation, is why these platforms are recorded here as a grey market.

Responsible Gambling

No Texas state-operated problem-gambling helpline could be sourced. The Texas Lottery's responsible-gambling page points instead at the National Council on Problem Gambling — "24/7 Confidential Helpline Call or text 1-800-MY-RESET or 800-522-4700" — and at the Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling, which is not a state body. The same page states that "Texas Lottery® games are designed to be entertainment for adults 18 and older." If you are looking for a state-funded service in Texas, the finding is that there is not one to name.