The best Texas sportsbooks and online betting sites are ones that offer a combination of great deposit bonuses, fast payouts, customer services and of course being 100% safe and reliable.
Historically, its gaming and gambling were outlawed in the 70’s, meaning the state has a longstanding opposition to most gambling and, at the time of writing this, sports betting is illegal in the state of Texas. Interestingly there is no specific law about the legality of online gambling, but online casinos are effectively prohibited.
- Texas Online Sports Betting With the exception of fantasy sports, no sports betting is permitted inside the state of Texas. Online sports betting is illegal under state law. However, a recent pair of Texas House bills do include a provision for online wagering.
- When Will Sports Betting Be Legal in Texas? In 2019, there were some positive developments for sports betting and gambling in the state. Two bills were created to legalize sports betting in House Joint Resolution 61 and House Bill 1275.
How To Bet On Sports In Texas
Online sportsbooks provide opportunities for people from around the world to place their wagers. That includes the great state of Texas. Even though a lot of people will lament the fact that Texas doesn’t have access to some of the operators in the United States, the fact of the matter is that Texans are better off with the options that they have.
Those options are online sportsbooks that service players from all over the world. Those options are places that have much fairer odds, much more lucrative deposit bonuses, and a lot more betting lines and markets.
They don’t have to cater to shareholders. They don’t have to mislead customers. They don’t have to do any of the unsavory things that we have seen with the growth of sports betting around the U.S. They can just rely on a business model that has worked for decades and a lot of competition that has pushed the industry to evolve and adapt.
Places like Bookmaker, BetOnline, and BetUS are at the forefront of that industry and would give Texans the opportunity to bet on sports in a safe and secure environment.
Don’t believe us? Read on to find out more!
Bookmaker Sportsbook
When we talk about the tippy top of the sports betting world, we talk about Bookmaker. For more than 25 years, Bookmaker has been the guiding light in the sports betting industry because of its reputation for taking big bets and for creating the odds. A lot of places have emulated Bookmaker over the years and they’ve been forced to keep pushing forward.
They’ve done it. They remain one of the industry’s leaders despite lots of challenges for that throne. Bookmaker is a great place to bet teasers and parlays, but also to make straight bets on spreads, totals, and money lines across all of the different sports. They also offer entertainment and politics wagering, among other offbeat betting markets.
Another thing that separates online sportsbooks from those well-known names in the U.S. is that they can offer fair odds. You won’t find betting lines that are heavily shaded or with big built-in margins. The difference in a sportsbook willing to offer -110 on both sides or a 20-cent difference on a market like UFC and what others are offering these days is huge to your potential bottom line.
Bookmaker isn’t scared of taking action. They aren’t going to restrict financial freedom and flexibility with unfair odds. They’re going to provide a great user experience and an excellent place for all Texans to bet on sports.
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BetOnline Sportsbook
Sports betting in Texas can be a whole lot of fun with BetOnline Sportsbook. This is a sportsbook that keeps pushing the envelope in so many different ways and provides arguably the best customer experience in the business. If you ever have an issue, the customer service team is extremely approachable and some of the top people at the company are very active on social media.
You have to respect a place that makes it easy to get your concerns addressed. It’s almost as if they have full faith and confidence in their product. And the reality is that BetOnline should have the utmost confidence in its product. This is a great place for those that want to create their own player props or participate in free-to-enter contests and pools for both the sportsbook and the casino.
BetOnline has all of the sports betting markets you could imagine and they are also the first sportsbook to post widely available lines that bettors from around the world can bet on with several different sports. They offer some of the best sign-up bonuses in the industry and also have an easy-to-navigate interface. It really is a great place to bet on sports.
Sportsbooks that innovate and also take on risks are places that you want to bet with and few, if any, do that as well as BetOnline.
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BetUS Sportsbook
They say that everything is bigger in Texas and, well, BetUS is a BIG sportsbook. They’ve made it a point to make a significant push in the player acquisition department by increasing their sports betting markets and available odds. They’ve been able to offer some of the best cryptocurrency bonuses and regular sign-up bonuses in the business.
You can get those and take advantage of all the excellent opportunities at BetUS. They’ve got a lot to offer each and every customer. Places that know how to treat every player as a VIP really have the customer service side of it down and that is something BetUS has excelled with in recent years.
It is really important to look at a sportsbook and see how they treat players, as both people and as bettors. Customer service can be lipstick on a pig if the product is bad, but BetUS backs up its fine customer care with a top-notch product.
This is a top-notch product. This is a great place to bet on sports.
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Texas Sports Betting
When it comes to Texas sports betting, you have a lot of choices. Online sportsbooks offer a lot of different perks and conveniences and those are a lot better than what other places can offer. Fair odds and a player-friendly environment are two things that you can find with those global sportsbooks.
Sportsbooks like Bookmaker, BetOnline, and BetUS will provide everything that you need with all of the convenience of betting from home.
They say everything is bigger in Texas and that saying certainly applies to the sports betting appetite of Texas residents. As the second largest State in the USA, with 29 million residents, it’s no wonder that Texas is considered a big market for sports betting in the United States.
Texas, like the majority of states in the US, does not allow sports betting within the State. This means if you’re a Texan who would like to bet on sports you will need to sign up an account to an offshore betting site that is licensed outside of the country.
On this page, I will outline the legality of betting on sports in Texas, as well as recommend my top rated offshore betting sites for Texas residents. I’ve also added some city specific pages, which you can find links to at the bottom of the page.
Is Online Sports Betting Legal in Texas?
I have a two part answer to this question. First, I should point out that it is not legal to run a sportsbook operation (accept bets) in the State of Texas. This is because Texas does not license or authorize any sports betting operations within the State. If you do find a sportsbook, online or offline, that claims to be licensed by and operated in Texas you can be confident that the site is illegal and you should not place bets through that operation.
Now on to the second part of this question. It is NOT illegal for Texas residents to place wagers through offshore betting sites. Offshore sportsbooks are licensed, authorized and regulated by a different jurisdiction, outside of Texas. By being regulated outside of Texas (and the USA) it is legal and safe for Texas residents to place wagers at these sites.
Best Sportsbooks for Texas Residents
Here are our two favorite offshore sportsbooks for Texas residents.
Both of these sites are very large and widely used across the United States. Bovada, our top rated site, actually only accepts American residents, which allows them to fully cater their offerings to the American public.
Sport Betting In Texas Lottery
- Built for American bettors
- Wide variety of competitive betting lines
- Easy to navigate betting platform
- Accepts players worldwide
- Competitive betting lines
- Fast & easy deposits and withdrawals (including Bitcoin)
Offline Sports Betting in Texas
There is currently no offline sports betting allowed in Texas. If you do come across an offline bookie within the State you should know that they are operating illegally.
The only way to currently bet on sports in the State of Texas is through an offshore sportsbook like the ones I’ve outlined above.
Major Sports Teams in Texas
Texas is a sports hot bed with a huge variety of professional sports teams in the major cities. I’ve added a quick list of some of the major pro teams who call Texas home below. Click on the city name for more specific information about sports betting in that city.
- Austin FC
- Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
- Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
- Dallas Stars (NHL)
- FC Dallas (MLS)
- Texas Rangers (MLB)
- None
- Houston Astros (MLB)
- Houston Dynamo (MLS)
- Houston Rockets (NBA)
- Houston Texans (NFL)
Sports Betting Texas
- San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
Horse Racing in Texas
It is legal to bet on horse races at the track in Texas. Below I’ve listed some of the major horse tracks currently operational within the State.
Texas Online Gambling Laws
**You can also place wagers on races taking place at each of these tracks at either of the sportsbooks I recommend above.
Major Tracks
Online Gambling In Texas
- Lone Star Park, Grand Prairie
- Sam Houston Race Park, Houston
- Retama Park, Selma