Best Texas Sportsbooks

Several states have legalized sports betting sites online and in person, but Texas isn’t one of those states. The state’s conservative nature makes it challenging to get around the current gambling laws.

These laws disallow any sports betting companies from working within Texas, so residents either go to a nearby state where it’s legal or use offshore sportsbooks to place their bets.

Online Sportsbooks in Texas

Texans are passionate sports fans, but the state’s sports betting history is complex. It’s essential to understand the history Texas has with gambling so you can understand why.

The 1900s

Over a century ago, in the 1900s, the government passed several laws to prevent gambling. Jai alai, prize drawings, poker, sweepstakes, keno, gifting operations, and roulette were all outlawed.

The 1970s

In 1977 the Texas Attorney General offered his legal opinion and concluded that sports betting was illegal even if workers were involved in office pools.

The 1990s

The 1993 State Government Code was passed, which meant it was illegal to bet on any games played between state universities, including collegiate events.

The 2010s

The Supreme Court made a ruling in October 2018 that individual states are allowed to legalize sports betting without facing prosecution from the federal government. Texas was one of the states that didn’t change its laws despite this ruling.

The 2020s

Several big sports teams in Texas, including the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Dallas Mavericks, worked together to legalize sports betting in the state. The governing bodies never reached a decision, and it can’t be brought up again until 2023.

Gambling Tax

Taxes take 24% of all winnings, and any winnings above $5,000 will then go into income tax withholding. So the sportsbook then has the responsibility of paying the taxes and not the bettor.

Physical Casinos

The law is stringent on physical betting locations, but a few legal options are available to Texans. Native American tribes run two casinos, so they fall outside Texas law – Naskila Gaming Casino and Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino.

State lotteries and raffles are also allowed, including the famous Mega Millions and Lotto Texas.

Social Casinos

Social betting means that friends can have poker games in their homes as long as there are no wagers and the play is just for fun. No money must exchange hands to play, and prizes can be small.

Any organizations holding tournaments, however, are banned. So many residents opt to use mobile social casino apps to play. It’s free to play, and many sites have a pretty large variety of games.

How We Found the Best Texas Sportsbooks?

You won’t face any legal prosecution for signing up and using an offshore sportsbook, but you should sign up for more than just one. This way, you’ll get better market value and more benefits in the long term.

Also, some sites may be required to report your winnings to the IRS, so don’t be surprised if you receive any notifications.

There are a few things to consider when deciding on a sportsbook, so we’ve put together a few things that will help you in selecting the best sportsbook for your needs.

Safety and Security

When evaluating platforms, we only look at those with the latest secure socket layer (also known as SSL) encryption to keep data safe. There must also be a Know Your Customer (also known as KYC) procedure in place so that player verification is compliant with all regulations and current laws. If a sportsbook abides by these, it’s a thumbs up from our team, because it’s the first step to showing us they care about player safety and security.

Customer Service

Having excellent customer service is key to being one of the top online Texan sportsbooks. Before putting the operator’s customer service team to the test, we consider player reviews online. These help us know to what level of satisfaction current and previous players have and are an overall indication of the customer service experienced. 

Next, we prioritize sites with 24/7 service you can contact at any time with well-trained personnel to help players correctly and with a (virtual) smile.

Additionally, we keep a lookout for the range of contact options available because any online betting sites that only have an email address are almost guaranteed to have bad customer service. We want the ability to call in or use the chat, in addition to email, options to get queries handled quickly.

Betting Odds

Only the best platforms have a variety of odds that are also competitive enough to attract bettors and keep the site interesting for them. It also shows us that the sportsbook monitors events, the circumstances around each one, and maintains the competition from its rival bookmakers. It’s also a good indication that players are using a reputable sportsbook.

Functionality and Design

Every site we come across has a unique design, but it’s essential that we’re able to navigate the site to the different types of sports and events with ease.

The platform must function well and not crash or get stuck when we try placing a bet, making a withdrawal, depositing funds, or redeeming a bonus.

Deposit and Withdrawal Options

Many fast payment options are a good sign that the real money sportsbook has met our specific criteria. The companies that run these services don’t want to be associated with a dodgy sportsbook or company.

Many of these betting sites allow for the use of cryptocurrency but not all of them. However, you’ll find that we do have operators with Bitcoin, and maybe Ethereum and Litecoin options.

Good platforms will have credit and debit card options and payment systems like Paypal, which are crucial to our team while conducting our research.

Noteworthy Details

Some sites will offer very different features from their competitors, giving bettors a better experience. These aren’t common, but our experts keep a lookout for any that are available, especially those similar to Request A Bet.

With this unique feature, players can contact bookmakers using Twitter, who then give information like special event prices. This feature makes the betting experience more immersive and engaging.

In the modern age of social media, it’s an added benefit that players can communicate and stay updated on the sportsbook’s happenings.

Market Range

Top sportsbooks need to have a wide market range to offer more exciting play and more chances of winning. This variety will benefit bettors with various offerings alongside exciting gameplay.

In-Game Betting

An in-game bet lets you make bets as the game occurs, and the odds get updated in real-time.

Correct Score Betting

To win with correct score bets, you must wager the exact score you think your team will have by the end of the game.

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline bets are less complicated than the rest and involve betting on which team you think will win the game.

Parlay Betting

You can join even more bets as part of your wager by placing a parlay bet. With this feature, you can bet on the outcome of more than one game but can only win if all your predictions come true.

Prop Betting

Prop bets are made on specific occurrences within a game, for example, who scores the highest at halftime. It doesn’t matter who wins the game; it only matters that the events you wagered had occurred.

Future Betting

Future bets are complex, involve a prediction of future events, and are not constrained to specific games. You can place these bets for a particular season, like predicting who the top player will be at the end of a league.

Over/Under Betting

The online betting site will set a specific starting point for over/under, and you place your bet based on whether you think your team will score under those points or go above.

Promotions and Bonuses 

All online betting sites offer promotions and betting site bonuses to attract new customers and keep loyal customers from straying from their platforms. We take this into consideration and constantly monitor the promotions on offer and whether the wagering requirements and Tcs and Cs are fair. We like to see lucrative welcome bonuses to set you on your way, as well as existing customer offers such as free bets and reload bonuses.

Live Betting

Allowing live betting is a sign of a good sportsbook because this type of betting is action-packed. Bettors are able to watch live and place exciting bets while their favorite teams or players are in competition.

Texan Sports Teams

The state is the home base for 12 professional sports teams, so it makes sense to enable sports betting.

Unfortunately, even though almost three dozen collegiate teams are in Texas, betting on college sports isn’t legal. Still, you can use an offshore sportsbook to bet on college teams from other states. There are a number of popular sports/leagues that you can bet on as a Texan with our sportsbooks including the following:

• NFL Betting Sites
• NHL Betting Sites
• NBA Betting Sites
• MLB Betting Sites
• Soccer Betting Sites
• Tennis Betting Sites
• Boxing Betting Sites
• UFC Betting Sites
• March Madness Betting Sites
• NCAA Betting Sites
• Golf Bettng Sites

Horse Racing

Horse racing in Texas came in at about the same time as chariot racing – in the 19th century. Even though there aren’t any more chariot races, horse racing betting is still prevalent in the state.

There are three significant racecourses – Retama Park, Lone Star Park, and Sam Houston Race Park.

Betting must take place online, but there are many races and events to choose from at most Texan sportsbooks. You can expect to see the following:

• The Breeders Cup
• Harness Racing
• Thoroughbred Racing
• The Belmont Stakes
• Quarter Horse Racing
• Kentucky Derby

Esports

Esports or electronic sports are multiplayer video game contests that have gained popularity over the years. Even though many esports teams hail from Texas, the sport is still illegal for now.

Motor Sports

Motorsports are incredibly popular in Texas, mainly because the state hosts several events every year, including Formula One races, NASCAR races, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Texas owns and runs four NASCAR tracks – Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway.

All these motorsports and more can be found in any top Texan sportsbooks.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily fantasy sports were not allowed in Texas until the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act took place in 2006. So, daily fantasy sports are allowed online, but only if there are no underage users on the platform.

Getting Started With an Offshore Sports Betting Site

We have step-by-step instructions for you to follow to help you understand how easy the process is:

• Choose an offshore sportsbook – use the guidance provided to research and find the best sportsbook for you.
• Create an account – Go to your chosen site’s web page and select the Join Now or Sign Up button.
• Fill in the information requested – you’ll need to fill in a form with your full name, date of birth, username, email address, a strong password, and phone number. You must fill in the correct details because these will be verified when you need to make a withdrawal.
• Verification – once you fill in all the requested details, you’ll get an email confirmation with a link. Click on this, and you’ll come back to the webpage.
• Make a deposit – Before you can start playing, you need to deposit funds into your account by using any of the payment options offered.
• You’re ready to play – once the offshore sportsbook confirms that your deposit is confirmed, you can start betting.

How to Keep Safe When Betting Online

Most offshore sportsbooks are safe to use, but Texas doesn’t have a regulating authority over online sports betting, so you need to ensure you are keeping safe.

We provided a few things to help you with this:

Check the Details for Every Promotion

Bonuses and promotions will have their own terms and conditions on the platforms’ page. Make sure that you read these carefully and know how they set their criteria.

Never Bet More Than You Can Afford

Sports betting sites are fun and exciting to use, so it’s possible for you to get caught up quite quickly. Just make sure that you can afford to place bets by tracking your spending and setting a limit for yourself.

Use Reputable Platforms

Ensure that the sites you’re keen to sign up with have been established for a while. Scam sites have strange interfaces and bad spelling. You would rarely come across one of these but stick to a sportsbook we have recommended that all have an excellent reputation.

Only Bet On Sports You Know

Knowing the rules of a game makes for safe betting because you know what to expect in each game. Betting on games unknown to you will very rarely give you a big payout.

Texas Sports Betting FAQs

Is it legal to use an online sports betting platform in Texas?

Yes, as long as it’s an offshore sportsbook. It’s only illegal to use an online sports betting site if it’s based within the state’s borders.

Will I be able to bet on who wins the Super Bowl in Texas?

Yes, as long as you’re using an offshore online sports betting site.

How old do I need to be to place a bet in Texas?

You must be at least 21 years old to gamble legally without facing prosecution.