Anyone outside the United States who happily enjoys the ability to partake in online gambling, be that at an online casino, sportsbook or poker room, must look upon the way in which the market runs in the country and shake their head in confusion.
Due to the way the market operates in the US, a user may be able to walk across a border and take part in the pastime while not being able to in their own home, such is the fluidity of the situation in the country.
The number of states where online casino action is legal reached seven earlier this year when Rhode Island joined the party, while there are, at the most recent count, 30 states where some form of online or mobile sports betting is allowed.
For a long while now, there has been a sense that if another big player gets on board, following the footsteps of New York, which legalized online sports betting early in 2023, then a domino effect may occur. The ‘big’ states in question now are very much California, Florida and Texas.
As far as the case of Texas online casinos and sports betting activity, this is a topic that is constantly being discussed at the highest levels be that in terms of those involved in legislature or those who back the providers seeking to move into the region.
Among those looking for a change in the law with regard to legalized gambling in the state are the Adelson and Dumont family, who own the NBA franchise, the Dallas Mavericks. The former owner of the Mavericks, billionaire Mark Cuban, has stated that the sale was part of the group’s push for new arena and casino resort options in the area.
In addition to those efforts, The Texas Destination Resort Alliance is also seeking to bring casino activity to the state and has filed a petition to make it happen. That has been backed by the owner of the NFL team, Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, who stated,
“It will give Texans the ability to decide for themselves if they want this activity safely regulated or continue to be conducted in the shadows by out-of-state betting platforms,”
Indeed, this is one of the main arguments for legalizing casino and sports avenues in Texas and other states where it is illegal. In other words, those who want to partake in either pastime are now forced to look for other routes to doing so. This may mean, in some cases, simply crossing the border of a specific state in order to do so or, in other instances, using services like offshore online casino enterprises, which are problematic in many ways, not least because they are not regulated and in some cases criminal endeavours.
One big tick in the box for this reform is the sheer level of tax dollars that can be brought into state coffers from any legalization move, which could amount to billions of dollars in tax revenue for the Lone Star State.
The path to legalization in Texas is hampered somewhat by the fact that in order to change the state constitution, the bill needs to win two-thirds of both the House and Senate and then would need voters to back it in an election.
