Gambling

‘Action’ Producer Bradley Jackson on the Odds of Texas Legalizing Sports Gambling

The documentary filmmaker spent six months investigating the world of gambling from all sides.

By Dan Solomon

Federal Judges Side With Texas in Fight Over Native American Gambling

The Tigua and Alabama-Coushatta tribes may soon be forced to shutter their gaming operations after courts again rule them illegal.

By Robert Moore

El Paso Native American Tribe Suffers Major Defeat In Quarter-Century Battle With Texas

A federal judge is the latest to rule the tribe's popular casino violates state gaming laws.

By Robert Moore

Low Stakes on the High Seas

Gambling on a ride aboard the Aransas Queen.

By David Courtney

Will Texas Be A Swing State In November? You Can Bet On It (Literally)

The odds aren't great, but according to booking sites they're there.

By Dan Solomon

Ken Paxton Says That Daily Sports Fantasy Sites Are Illegal Gambling In Texas

He’s not wrong about that, but is this an opportunity to reconsider gambling laws?

By Dan Solomon

Nobody In The Betting World Believes In The Texans

The team is a 3.5 underdog at home to a team quarterbacked by Alex Smith, and the big picture is even worse.

By Dan Solomon

Ted Cruz’s Headlines May Be Mundane, But He’s Still Rising In The Polls

His headlines might not be as incendiary as Trump's, but Ted Cruz is still making a splash.

By Dan Solomon

How Would a Bookie Handicap the Election Results?

After a year of campaigning, the first gubernatorial race in a generation not to feature an incumbent governor comes to a conclusion. Wendy Davis has been a clear underdog since the race started—so how would you set the spread? 

By Dan Solomon

What Do the Betting Odds Tell Us About the Cowboys and the Texans?

Spoiler: They tell us that the bookmakers think that the Cowboys are even less likely to be good than the Texans.

By Dan Solomon

The Gambling Odds Favor the Spurs

America loves the Spurs these days, but so do the offshore bookies that put their money where their love is.

By Dan Solomon

You Can Bet on Who the Next Longhorns Football Coach Is Going to Be

Well, you can if you live in Nevada, because Internet gambling is illegal. (Wink, wink.) But the betting odds can tell us that holding out hope for Jim Harbaugh is probably a sucker's game. 

By Dan Solomon

Breaking: Johnny Football is a College Student

A&M QB Johnny Manziel has a little fun post-Cotton Bowl, to the delight of TMZ, and the distress of some prigs in the media.

By Texas Monthly and Jason Cohen

Breaking: Johnny Football is a College Student

A&M QB Johnny Manziel has a little fun post-Cotton Bowl, to the delight of TMZ, and the distress of some prigs in the media.

By Jason Cohen

Let There Be Lightnin’

Twenty-five years after his death, Sam Hopkins is still one of the most influential bluesmen in history—that much we know. But we don’t know nearly enough about who he was.

By Michael Hall

Breaking: Johnny Football is a College Student

A&M QB Johnny Manziel has a little fun post-Cotton Bowl, to the delight of TMZ, and the distress of some prigs in the media.

By Texas Monthly and Jason Cohen

No chance

I had a conversation yesterday with a knowledgeable and well informed Capitol figure about the prospects for gambling legislation. The headline of this post pretty much sums up the situation. Here are the reasons: 1. The industry can’t get agree on what it wants. It’s split between Vegas interests, racetrack

By Paul Burka

The fight from the right againt Straus

An anonymous commenter posted a list of Straus’s votes that did not sit well with social conservatives as a response to my article of Friday night, “Can Straus hold the votes?” I have researched the issues that Anonymous mentioned and will discuss them below. The comment begins: Unfortunately, Rep. Straus

By Paul Burka

Ich bin ein Speaker!

Burka and Eileen discuss probable Speaker Joe Straus, Craddick’s exit, horse racing, and whether bridge qualifies as gambling. Honorably mentioned: John Smithee, Burt Solomons, Dan Gattis, Jim Keffer, and playing the ponies. (And yes, I am wearing a scarf over my turtleneck. My space heater gave out, and I can’t

By Eileen Smith

The Blood of the Tigua

Officially, the issue tearing apart the West Texas' largest native American tribe is one of lineage. Who is and is not a member. But the real dispute is over money—earned in unimaginable amounts at the casino on their reservation and coveted by rival factions willing to risk everything.

By Pamela Colloff

A Good Bet

There are no showgirls or musical revues, but the four casinos in and around Lake Charles, Louisiana, do a nice job approximating the Vegas experience. Deal yourself in.

By Brad Tyer

Games of Chance

By Paul Burka

Charles Hurwitz

A true post-boom-and-burst CEO.

By Robert Draper

Bingo Nation

The Choctaw Nation’s cavernous hall accommodates a weekly flood of fanatical game players.

By Helen Thompson

Floating Crap Game

EVEN AS CHARGES FLY OVER the awarding of state lottery contracts, the next battle over gambling is taking shape for the 1993 legislative session. This time the issue will be casinos—on riverboats and on land. Lloyd Criss, a former legislator from La Marque, in Galveston County, who is now the

By Paul Burka

Benny and the Boys

Sure, they were gangsters, but they were our gangsters.

By Gary Cartwright

Chip Ahoy

A new gambling-cruise-ship enterprise out of Port Isabel makes it possible to spend an evening in a casino while going nowhere in the Gulf.

By Joe Nick Patoski

Minnesota Fats, Where Are You?

There’s more at stake than money when two hustlers cue up.

By Gregory Curtis

The Best Gamblers in Texas

Not all Texans make lousy gamblers.

By Texas Monthly

Why Texans Make Lousy Gamblers

This information may come as news to you, but casino owners have been banking on it for years.

By Gregory Curtis

The Wizards of Odds

In Texas the bookies go where the action is and in Texas the action is with football.

By Gregory Curtis

Inside the World Series of Poker

Big-time poker players don't worry about luck; they don't need it.

By Al Reinert