Texas Gambling Laws

Texas Statutes and Codes:

Gambling Chapter 47 of the Texas Penal Code is the primary gambling law in Texas.  

Certain Charitable Bingo and Raffles have been exempted from the gambling prohibition. Those laws can be found at the following links:

Charitable Raffles          Charitable Bingo 

Texas Attorney General Opinions are also a good source to answer those "Is this legal?" questions.  The "Amusements" section of the Cumulative Subject Index AG Opinions 1990-Present includes all opinions on gambling, racing, lotteries, bingo and sports.

Texas Case Law:

Gaudio v. State No. 05-91-01862-CR, (Tex.App.--Dallas, 1994)(unpublished opinion). A group of friends rented an apartment to use for playing poker. They did not derive a profit, however, they did have a rake that ran until the house recouped all of the expenses of renting the apartment, electricity, phone, chips and supplies. The Dallas Court of Appeals 5th District held that because the operator's name was on the apartment lease, he had an individual legal obligation to pay the lease.  The rake he received to pay the rent relieved him of his legal debt obligation and thus, he did in fact receive a financial benefit from the game.  Thus, the game violated the Texas Gambling Law.

Miller v. State 67 Tex.Crim. 654,  150 S.W. 635 (1912). Held that gambling is not a crime involving moral turpitude.  (Case was cited as authority in Hardeman v. State 868 S.W.2d 404, 405 (Tex.App.--Austin, 1993).

Texas Legislative Research:

 Texas Online has a Government section with links to County, City, State and Federal Government offices, departments, branches, agencies and authorities.

Texas Legislature Online allows people to search bills in the House and Senate by number or text. You can also obtain information on how legislators voted on a particular bill.

Heritage Alliance Bill Analysis Page  -- although the commentary is skewed to the right, they have a bill search engine that is very helpful in obtaining summaries of the bills introduced in the Texas Legislature.

The Texas House Research Organization is a nonpartisan source of impartial information on legislation and issues considered by the Texas Legislature. The HRO is an independent administrative department of the Texas House of Representatives. It is governed by a broadly representative steering committee of 15 House members elected by the House membership to set policy for the organization, approve its budget, and ensure that its reports are objective.  There are numerous gambling-related Focus Reports on their site including:

        Betting on Video Lottery Terminals to Raise Revenue March 5, 2004.

       Native American Gambling Operations: Are They Legal? February 12, 2002.

       A Fuzzy Issue: Are Eight-Liners Gambling or Amusement? Feb 2, 1999.

Texas State Departmental Research:

The Texas Department of State Health Services is another resource. In the spring of 1992, the Texas Legislature mandated that TCADA conduct studies to identify adults and adolescents in the state who are or who are at risk of becoming problem or compulsive gamblers. The first studies were conducted in the few months before the Texas Lottery began. These studies include:

    1992 Texas Survey of Adolescent Gambling Behavior (September 1993)

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan research institute. The have done several research papers and written articles about gambling in Texas.  They claim to be "unbiased" but their papers and reports show a strong bias against gambling.  They seem to put more weight in the "studies" that throw in those "social costs" that really are not a cost to the Texas Government but rather, are "costs" borne by a few individuals. (Such as: an increase in bankruptcy filings in places where casino gambling is legal. This not really a cost to the state and, in fact, creates law jobs to do the legal work required if you think about it. However, these studies still assess significant dollar amounts to it in their cost/benefit analyses of gambling.)  See their research report of March 2005: VLT's-What Are The Odds of Winning?

Other States Statutes:

State Gambling Statute Database of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

Federal Resources:

A good collection of Federal Government documents on gambling has been compiled by the Purdue University Library and can be viewed here:  Government Documents on Gambling.

 Federal Internet Gambling Prohibition Act   Two senators from Virginia are trying to pass a law to put people in jail for 5 years for playing on the internet.  Another resource is the following  website dedicated to defeating the IGPA.

National Gambling Impact Study Commission This organization was created to study the social and economic impact of gambling and internet gambling in the U.S.  The site contains several research reports as well as a state gambling statute database that lists all of the state statutes regarding gambling.

United States House of Representatives - Find and email your United States Representative here. 

Other Resources:

Center For Gaming Research The UNLV center for gaming research has numerous studies, research publications and articles on gambling and it's social and economic impacts.

The Social Impacts of Legalized Gambling by William R. Kelley, Ph.D.

Gambling Industry Opponents Disproven by the Facts A comparison of the position of pro and anti gambling groups measured against the findings of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

The Benefits of VLT Legalization An article by Texans for Economic Development. 

Frontline's Easy Money: A Report on America's Booming Gamling Industry and It's Economic and Political Clout.  A look at the gambling issue including video interviews, articles, odds, history and statistics.