Is It Legal To Bet On Horse Racing Now in Texas?

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Horse Betting In Texas
Can't Bet Online
Must be at least 18

If you love to gamble, Texas is not the state you want to be in. There are very few things you can bet on here in the Lone Star State.

You couldn't even play the lottery until 1992 when the Texas Lottery Commission started the Texas Lotto. Strangely horse betting was approved in our state just a few years before in 1987 and is overseen by the Texas Racing Commission.

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According to playtexas.com horse betting is one of the few kinds of things you can bet on. Though there are so many rules and stipulations it has made it quite the endeavor.

Texans Can't Bet On Horse Races Online

As a citizen of Texas, you can only bet at four locations with regularly scheduled race dates. The catch is that you have to place those bets in person and not online.

They are all simulcast facilities, so you can bet on horse and dog races around the country year-round utilizing their off-track betting facilities or OTBs.

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These four tracks are only open on certain days of the year, and you have to be there during the race to get in on the action.

Sam Houston Race Park (Houston) - This is the only facility that offers race dates in January. It is also the only place that has both of its seasons back-to-back.

You can see live racing there between January and June every year.

Retama Park (San Antonio) - Retama Park is in Selma outside of San Antonio. They have quarter-horse races and only have 22 racing days a year.

Lone Star Park (Dallas) - Lone Star Park is in Grand Prairie outside of Dallas. They run thoroughbreds from April - July.

Gillespie County Fair (Austin) - The fair is in Fredericksburg and offers racing action only four weekends a year in July and August.

With no plans to ever open any other racetracks in the State of Texas, these will be the options for the foreseeable future. Horse betting is long past its heyday.

Many Texans would likely love to engage in other types of sports betting, but that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.