Texas casinos

Texas Casinos Online

With the world’s most appreciated poker game being named after the state one would think that Texas wouldn’t be too shabby of a place when it comes to gambling. You’d be wrong thinking this though as risk-taking in Texas is a pretty sad story. While pari-mutuel betting on horses is fairly wide spread and poker clubs have been increasing in numbers, there are only a few places where one can enjoy slot machines and only a single one where table games can be played – a cruise ship.

As the lone star state is the second biggest province in America land based casino gambling is not an option for most of its residents. But that hasn’t stopped Texans from gambling. Every day hundreds of thousands are spinning on slots, playing table games and indulging in other types of risk-taking at Texas friendly online casinos. These are gambling sites that accept residents from the lone star state and offer a wide selection of casino products, and sometimes sports betting and poker as well.

Best online casinos in Texas listed and reviewed

With the ambition of guiding you to a high quality gambling experience, we have gathered the very best Texas casinos that can be played at online from the convenience of your own home. These sites, which are listed below, offer plenty of valuable bonuses; hundreds of varying games; first class support; sophisticated safety standards; and many other things that make them fantastic choices.

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How do I gamble at online casinos in Texas?

Gambling online is really simple and can easily be enjoyed by anyone in a matter of minutes. Getting started all you have to do is to sign up an account with a gambling site and fund this account with money. Then you’re all good to go indulging in hundreds of different games.

There are, however, a few other things that are good to know about as well, such as taking part of bonus offers and verifying yourself – something that must be done before a cash outs can be made. To cover everything you need to know we have created a thorough step-by-step guide below.

Step 1: choose a fitting gambling site to play at

All of the best Texas casinos that we have listed above are absolutely fantastic choices. They are quite similar when it comes to the selection of casino games; expertise and availability of the support; withdrawal times; bonus offers and banking options. What separates some of them from the rest is that some of the sites are offering sports and horse race betting as well as a poker platform in addition to their many casino games. 

Step 2: create a personal casino account

Once you’ve chosen a gambling site to play at you need to sign up an account. This process is similar to any other account creating process that you may have gone through. You’ll be asked to provide your name, date of birth, home address, e-mail and phone number.

It’s very important that you provide the correct details. Not only may it be that a code will be sent to your e-mail or phone in order to activate your account. To be able to make a cash out your identity will also have to be verified at a later stage by providing the casino with a photo copy of a valid ID.

Step 3: check out promotional offers

There’s no better way of increasing your long term chances of winning than taking part of bonus offers. As the activation of these can vary, with some having to be activated before making a deposit, we suggest checking out the casino’s promotional page prior to funding your account.

While all bonus offers are beneficial to use it’s important to know that they all come with certain rules known as terms and conditions. Before taking part of an offer it’s highly recommended that you read these through. You don’t want to break any rules or be faced with any unpleasant surprises.

To give you an example of a rule it’s quite common that you have to wager a received bonus a certain amount of times before being able to make a withdrawal. It may for instance be that you have deposited $100 and received $100 in bonus with a wagering requirement of 10x. In such a case you would have to play for a total of $1,000 before cashing out.

Step 4: fund your account with money

Depositing money is similar to making any type of online purchase. At the cashier of the casino you’ll find several different payment methods to use such as debit cards, wire transfer and bitcoins. Minimum deposit limits are usually low ($10 – $20) and if you deposit with a debit card your account will be instantly funded.

Step 5: enjoy the games at the casino

Once your account is funded with money it’s time to get the gambling going. You don’t have to download any software or anything like that but all games can be easily enjoyed in your web browser. We suggest trying out a little bit of everything. While some of the more modern products can be quite complex they also tend to be the most entertaining. Since all games have detailed rules and pay tables in them it shouldn’t be too hard learning them.

Step 6: verify your casino account

Hopefully you’ve been lucky with the games and would like to cash out some money. Before doing this you are, however, required to verify your casino account. This is a security process that exists to tackle underage gambling and fraud, and a process that all legitimate online casinos in Texas have in place. Don’t worry – the verification is easily done. All you have to do is to send the gambling site a photo copy of a valid ID. Once done they will usually have a look at this and approve it within 24 hours.

Step 7: make a withdrawal of your winnings

With your account verified there’s nothing standing in the way between you and your profits. Head to the cashier at the casino and you’ll be able to request a cash out which is handled within 48 hours. Withdrawal options usually include wire transfer, bitcoins, check by courier and person to person.

Bonus step: speak with the customer support

At all of the best Texas casinos that we have listed for online gambling you’ll always have a first class customer support by your side. If you ever have any questions or ever need help with anything you can reach them on live chat, e-mail and phone all around the clock. The agents are friendly and professional so don’t hesitate reaching out to them. They may even give you a personal bonus if you’ve been loyal enough and ask them nicely.

Being one of the most hostile states towards gambling it is definitely not legal to play casino online in Texas or indulge in any other risk-taking online. In fact all gambling that isn’t explicitly allowed, mentioned in the state law, is considered to be illegal. This is covered in the state’s criminal code 47.02 that defines illegal gambling activities as the following:

“placing 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”

“placing a bet on the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or on the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate”

“playing and betting for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device”

As you can see, the above covers anything from sports wagering to spinning on slot machines and playing poker. And even if internet gambling isn’t specifically addressed in these segments one can assume that the laws could easily be applied to activities taking place online.

What penalties will I face for playing casino online in Texas?

None at all! In theory you could be fined, but in reality you are more likely to win a million dollar jackpot. Texans have gambled over the internet for about two decades and no one has ever been faced with any legal action for doing so. This tells us two things;

  1. The state’s resources are better spent elsewhere than chasing down single gamblers.
  2. No one will be faced with any legal action for playing online the next twenty years either.

Playing online your concern is definitely not with the law, but what you should focus on is choosing a reliable gambling site that will provide you with a safe and satisfying experience. Since you are here this is of course easily done as we have listed the very best Texas casinos for you on top of the page.

A brief look at the history of gambling in Texas

1800s: Brothels, saloons and gambling halls are running wild in Texas.

1906: All types of gambling are made illegal.

1933: Pari-mutuel betting on horse racing is legalized.

1937: Betting on horses didn’t last for long as this year saw a ban on it.

1981: Through the Bingo Enabling Act charitable organizations are allowed to host bingo games and offer pull-tabs.

1987: In a vote the people of Texas approve of legalizing pari-mutuel betting on horses and greyhounds.

1988: The first casino in Texas opens up. It’s a cruise ship that has to reach international waters to offer its gambling. From this year many legal battles took place between cruise ships offering casino games and state legislatures, and eventually the cruise ships had to shut down.

1989: Through a vote raffles are added to the list of games that charitable organizations are allowed to offer.

1992: A state run lottery program is introduced.

1993: Gambling devices offering prizes that aren’t cash and valued at a maximum of $5 are legalized under the Fuzzy Animal Bill. This law was exploited by many businesses who offered their players cash prizes even if they weren’t allowed to.

1993: The first tribal casino in Texas opens up – Speaking Rock Casino. It is not approved by the state though, but it is operating under federal guidelines from the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that was introduced in 1988.

1996: Another tribal casino opens up in Texas – The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino.

2002: After a long legal battle the Speaking Rock Casino is shut down.

2014: This year allowed forhistorical racing games to be offered at racetracks. These games look a bit like slot machines, but offer betting on horse races that have already run in the past.

2015: The Speaking Rock Casino is allowed to re-open as it is determined in court that Texas had violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and had no rights shutting down the venue.

Land based casinos in Texas

Unlike most American states it’s not easy getting an authentic casino experience in Texas. There are a couple of gambling venues available with one of them being quite a large one. The problem is that all of the casinos are located in areas that take about half a day to reach by car for most residents. If you’re into table games such as roulette, blackjack and craps this is also a problem as these games are currently illegal, thus aren’t offered by any of the venues. This is why playing online at any of the best Texas casinos that we have suggested is highly recommended if you want to gamble.

Should you, however, like to visit one of Texas land based venues we have listed all of them below.

The Aransas Queen

Address: 2200 TX-361, Aransas Pass, TX 78336
Type of casino:
Cruise ship
Slot machines:
200+
Table games: 10+
Poker room: No

The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino

Address: 794 Lucky Eagle Dr, Eagle Pass, TX 78852
Type of casino: Tribal
Slot machines: 3000+
Table games: None
Poker room: 12 tables

Naskila Entertainment

Address: 540 State Park Rd 56, Livingston, TX 77351
Type of casino: Tribal
Slot machines:
800+
Table games: None
Poker room: No

FAQ about gambling and casinos in Texas

How old do I have to be to play casino online?

Unlike the land based casinos in Texas that have an age requirement of 21, you’re able to play at the vast majority of gambling sites at the age of 18.

Are the poker clubs in Texas allowed to operate?

Yes they are, believe it or not. These are making use of the social gambling laws that exist in Texas. These state that any type of gambling is allowed as long as the following three requirements are met:
1. The gambling occurs in a private place.
2. No person is making money from hosting the games.
3. All participants have an equal chance of winning.

How are the poker clubs in Texas making money?

Since they aren’t allowed to charge any rake most of them have become economically viable by charging membership fees. Some clubs do this by the hour just like gaming cafes. According to the law this is legal to do.

Is it possible gamble for free at online casinos?

It sure is! Once you have created an account you’ll find that the vast majority of online casinos in Texas allow you to play their slot machines, table games and video pokers for free. By just clicking on the games you’ll get the option of enjoying them with demo credits. Should these credits ever run out for you, all you have to do is to reload the game and you’ll get new ones.

How do you decide which the best Texas casinos online are?

We are passionate gamblers that have years of experience in the online casino industry. Even though players are unique and have different needs we know what the majority of people value the most. Safety always comes first, followed by game selection; value and frequency of bonus offers; as well as availability and expertise of the customer support. Then there are several other things that are less important, but have to be taken into consideration as well, such as withdrawal times; payment methods; and mobile navigation.

So what we do is that we gather each and every gambling site that accepts Texans and rate them on these factors, and come up with a total score. The most important factors do of course weigh more heavily into this score. We would for instance never recommend a casino that didn’t have superb safety standards no matter how great they would be when it comes to other things.

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