Gambling

The Texas House Voted to Advance Sports Gambling. It’s Still Unlikely to Become Law.

Legal sports gambling in the state still faces a long and complicated path that would require a constitutional amendment.

A Regulatory Feud Threatens to End Thoroughbred Racing in Texas

While the state racing commission jousts with a new federal oversight body, business is cratering at Texas racetracks.

At 88, Poker Legend Doyle Brunson Is Still Bluffing. Or Is He?

The Texas gambler has been winning at poker for seventy years—long enough to become an icon and watch an outlaw’s game become an industry.

How Mattress Mack Pays For His Sports-Related Mega Giveaways

If the Astros win the World Series, buyers win free mattresses—and Mattress Mack cashes the biggest winning ticket in sports-betting history.

‘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.

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.

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.

Low Stakes on the High Seas

Gambling on a ride aboard the Aransas Queen.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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? 

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

The Skinny on Slim

Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.—a.k.a. Amarillo Slim—has cut cards with LBJ and hustled all manner of sharpies at pool and Ping-Pong. But at 74, his greatest success continues to be at the poker table, as my $100 and I found out.

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.

The Bingo King Is Dead. Long Live the Bingo King.

When Fast Eddie Garcia was shot to death, San Antonio mourned the loss of not only a man but also a behind-the-scenes power broker at the center of the city’s good ol’ amigo network.

The Player

Richardson’s poker pasha says, “Viva Las Vegas.”

Life of Wiley

At his pool hall near White Rock Lake, on bar tables across the country, and at professional tournaments around the world, Carson “CJ” Wiley earns his keep by ramming balls into pockets. It’s that simple.

The Bookmaker’s Wife

She had a secret life, and so did her husband. For a while they seemed to have a pleasant existence in the affluent Houston neighborhood of River Oaks. But then she turned up dead.

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.

Games of Chance

Charles Hurwitz

A true post-boom-and-burst CEO.

A Piece of the Action

If casino gambling comes to Texas, it’s a safe bet that the Pratt family of Dallas will be in on the jackpot.

Bingo Nation

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

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

Benny and the Boys

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

The World’s Greatest Poker Player

Johnny Chan became a champion through nerve and dedication—and every now and then a few good hands.

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.

Minnesota Fats, Where Are You?

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

Why Texans Make Lousy Gamblers

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

The Best Gamblers in Texas

Not all Texans make lousy gamblers.

The Wizards of Odds

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

Inside the World Series of Poker

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