Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Over the years attempts to legalize casino gambling has repeatedly been blocked in the Texas Legislature, so casinos across the border have welcomed Texas gamblers. Gambling interests are making a renewed push for casinos and they're betting on the 2007 Texas legislature to make it happen. Take a short drive up to Durant, Oklahoma and you'll find that an overwhelming majority of the vehicles in the Choctaw Casino parking lot have Texas plates. Millions of Texas dollars are spent each year just across the border at Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico casinos. The Texas Gaming Association argues that gambling is already in Texas - in the form of the state lottery and race tracks, so what's wrong with adding one more venue to help provide money for education and other services. Terri Capshaw, a Texas resident and local convenience store clerk who sells lotto tickets, says "People will gamble, our tax dollars are going across the river. If they want to keep it in Texas then Texas does need to step it up. But it does need to be investigated on what the crime rate does." Texas Democrat Senator Rodney Ellis is proposing licensing up to 12 casinos across the state, mainly in major cities and on tourist islands along the gulf coast. Voters would then have to approve this proposal - by approving a state constitutional amendment. Then local voters would have to take a vote before a casino could be built in their cities. Governor Rick Perry says the odds of legalizing gambling in the state of Texas aren't bad. There are plenty of people who say they will continue to work toward making it legal.