Texas is America’s BBQ state, the place of crude oil, chili, the longhorns, and the Alamo. As a region populated by cowboy wannabes, one would think that various card gambling options are widespread in the Long Star state. However, that is not the case. Traditional casino table games and poker at commercial venues are illegal in the second-largest territory in the US. Legal gambling forms in Texas are parimutuel horse/dog wagering, raffles, charitable bingo, pull tabs, and Indian Class II gaming establishments. From the latter, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino allows poker entertainment but no blackjack.
Concerning the world’s most popular table game, aside from live dealer blackjack, Texans have no other option to enjoy real money play within their borders. Hence, to experience this pleasure, residents of one of the seven US states with no income tax must travel beyond their perimeter lines into neighboring territories.
The top reasons many opt to do this is because blackjack is easy and convenient to play, has elementary rules that are virtually static everywhere, boasting a low house edge that can get even lowered using a strategy chart. And unlike in many other casino games, decision-making here plays a massive role in round outcomes. Thus, it is no surprise that many Texans seek to test their luck on it, and below, we present a few places near the super-American land of beef.
Comanche Red River Hotel Casino
Located in Devol, Oklahoma, the Comanche Red River Hotel Casino is a fairly new gaming property just off US Highway 70 on Oklahoma Highway 36. It has a full-service restaurant named the Countryville Bar and Grill and a café and bar offering quick bites and light drinks. Gambling-wise, the floor here sprawls some 53,000 square feet and features around one thousand electronic machines paired with eight gaming tables. In the latter group, visitors can find five twenty-one picks with limits running from $2 to $200 per hand. Note that their working periods differ, with these tables opening at 12 PM on most days and closing at either 2 AM or 4 AM, depending if it is a weekend or a weekday.
Horseshoe Casino & Hotel Lake Charles
Here is a Louisiana property situated in Westlake. It is a 60,000-square-foot land-based casino that houses around forty table games. Naturally, amongst these are multiple high-stakes blackjack ones. Though, the Horseshoe in Lake Charles chiefly has built its reputation as a meeting ground for poker fanatics thanks to its WSOP room. The resort also has a sports betting kiosk and Gordon Ramsay Stake restaurant. It is not a shabby place to visit, as it offers various entertainment choices and premium lodging in its smoke-free hotel tower with 253 rooms.
Choctaw Casino & Resort-Grant
Here is another Oklahoma casino, one found in the city of Grant, just a short drive from Texas. It is a venue open 24/7, delivering gambling fun on a 60,000 square feet area that is home to more than one thousand slots and eight blackjack tables. The Choctaw Casino also has a small poker room featuring daily no-limit Texas Holdem cash games. Without question, this is not a super robust property that is on par with the previously mentioned Horseshoe, but it is more than decent for gamblers of all bankroll sizes.
Route 66 Casino Hotel
How about a trip to New Mexico to enjoy some twenty-one betting? If that is something worth considering, then the Route 66 Casino on 14500 Central Ave SW near Albuquerque is a fine choice. It is a 154-room hotel that supplies a comfortable atmosphere plus gaming. Accessed through Interstate 40 at Exit 140, this is one of two facilities that the tribe of Laguna Pueblo owns/operates, and it is one with twenty-six gambling tables, a 500-seat bingo ball, and ten poker rooms. Know that the Route 66 Casino Hotel features all the modern amenities, and its thirteen hundred electronic machines deliver video poker tension and reel-spinning action, including the ability for gamblers to chase after progressive prizes.
Online Blackjack in Texas
As mentioned in the intro, online blackjack in Texas is a possibility. It has been one for years, with top-end sites like Bovada accepting Texans for over a decade. Offshore platforms have been catering to American gamblers since the mid-1990s, and most of these hubs host random number generator-powered (software) blackjack picks and live dealer ones. The streaming games at most US-facing gaming websites come from providers like Fresh Deck Studios and Visionary iGaming, and some of them accept wager maximums of up to $5,000 per hand. They also present gaming enjoyment in an ambiance that is comparable in authenticity to the one found at top-shelf Vegas spots. Though, for fast low-roller gameplay, citizens of Texas on a budget may want to stick to RNG games, as they allow dozens of hands to get played per hour with super low bets.
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