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We get asked all the dang time, what’s the state of legal betting in Texas? And honestly, we rarely have much to say.
That’s because things hardly change in the Lone Star State, one of 11 without a legal sports betting market. Moreover, the in-state legislators meet once every two years to change laws, and the most recent session was earlier 2025, so we won’t get another until 2027.
But… we do get some quotes here and there from key figures, and in that regard, there’s no one bigger than Governor Greg Abbott. He was recently asked about the state of legal betting, not just sports, but casinos too. No surprise, he’s not promising anything anytime soon. Here’s what he was quoted as saying (completely unedited) by CBS News Texas:
“I’m simply not there yet. Because we’ve seen increasingly problems that go along with gaming. Whether it be addiction or whether it be things that are happening in sporting events and athletes who are on the take. And so, there have been more red flags raised. That caused us to have to pause, step back, take a look at this and make sure that we wouldn’t do anything that would be harmful, either to the people of the state of Texas, the culture that we have in the state, or to sporting events that we have in the state.”
This is significant, not just because it’s the governor, but also given what Abbot said before. Back in early February, and the buzz of Super Bowl betting, Abbott said he was open to letting voters decide on sports betting. Compared to other, more critical Texas lawmakers, that appeared to be a godsend to in-state bettors.
So the latest quote throws water on that optimism. So in this article, we want to get into Abbott’s hesitation. Keep reading and we’ll explain why he’s getting cold feet.
Why Sports Betting And Casinos Are Being Lumped Together
For years, gambling advocates have tried to separate online sports betting from casino gambling inside of Texas. Sports betting, the argument goes, already happens illegally and can be regulated cleanly. Casinos, meanwhile, bring a different set of social and cultural concerns.
Based on the interview quote, it seems Abott is linking the two together when speaking about potential harms. On the sports end, he directly brought up athletes “on the take” as evidence that gambling expansion can bleed into competitive integrity. A recent NBA betting scandal has certainly brought potential harm to the forefront in the last few months.
Of course, we’re talking about the arrests of NBA figures like Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups. One is being accused of “throwing” his in-game performance, and the other of cheating poker players in rigged set-ups. It’s the biggest scandal since sports betting went mainstream, but far from the only one.
In conservative Texas, this moral argument lands harder than in most places. Sports — especially football — are culturally untouchable in the state. Once gambling is framed as a threat to the integrity of the games themselves, the topic gets much more touchy.
The Adelson Factor And The Senate Wall
Even if Abbott softened his stance tomorrow, gambling expansion would still face brutal odds in Austin (the capital) — and that reality runs straight through the Senate.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick controls the agenda and has long opposed both casinos and sports betting. He’s openly said so and acted upon it. In 2023, a House resolution that would have sent sports betting to voters barely passed — the furthest gambling legislation has advanced in decades. Patrick shut it down immediately once it entered the Senate.
Things fared even worse during the 2025 legislative session. This failure mattered even more because it came after year-long lobbying from casino magnates Miriam Adelson and Las Vegas Sands. Adelson has pumped millions of dollars into the pockets of Texas politicians, trying to buy influence to create a destination-casino that would also serve as the arena of the NBA Dallas Mavericks (a team her family now owns, not Mark Cuban anymore).
The bet was clear: build political capital, align with a flagship sports franchise, and make casino legalization feel inevitable. Instead, the effort stalled. Adelson-backed candidates lost key races, and Senate resistance hardened rather than loosened.
Where That Leaves Texas Gambling
The irony is that public opinion isn’t the problem. Polling consistently shows the majority of Texans support some form of gambling expansion, including casinos. Industry groups argue Texans already spend billions gambling in Oklahoma and Louisiana, two neighboring states that allow it.
But politics — not polling — runs Texas. Sure, Abbott isn’t outright rejecting the issue, but he did sort of pause it with his comments. And with the legislature not meeting again until 2027, a “pause” effectively means years of nothing. Again!
For now, Texas remains the second-largest untapped gambling market in the country behind only California. And after Abbott’s comments, it’s clear why. Integrity concerns, cultural resistance, and Senate-level opposition are overpowering the promise of tax revenue and investment.
Until one of those three pillars moves — Abbott, Patrick, or the broader gambling narrative — Texas is staying in no man’s land on the issue.
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