ALL-IN
Here's why Texas should cash in on sports betting and gambling
Apr 19, 2021, 2:47 pm
The No. 1 sports gambling location isn't in Las Vegas. Photo via: NRG Park/Facebook.
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A multimillion-dollar ad campaign urging the Texas Legislature to approve casino and sports gambling in the Lone Star State has begun to air on local radio and television. The campaign is funded by the Las Vegas-based Sands Corporation.
Texas is considered the holy grail of states that currently don't allow casino and sports gambling. In fact, the Texas constitution specifically bans casino and sports gambling. That's very specific and weird.
Two bills currently filed in the legislature effectively would amend the state constitution. If the bills are passed by two-thirds majority in both the state House and Senate, voters would get to decide in November if casino and sports gambling come to Texas.
Don't bet on it.
Republicans currently have a majority in both the Texas House and Senate, and they are almost unanimously against legalizing casino gambling in Texas. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has promised that voters will not get to decide whether or not to legalize gambling in Texas. "It won't see the light of day," he said during a radio interview.
Polls, however, show that Texans overwhelmingly favor casino and sports gambling. A recent poll conducted by the Dallas Morning News and UT-Tyler found 57 percent of Texans support casino gambling with only 29 percent opposed. The remaining 14 percent of Texans said it didn't matter to them.
Sports gambling was supported by 43 percent with only 26 percent opposed. The remaining 31 percent may have been too busy filling out their March Madness brackets to respond.
It's understandable why the legislature is not addressing casino and sports gambling. Legislators are more focused on limiting access to the ballot box with measures that critics say are targeted at voters of color, the disabled, and older citizens. Proposed bills would ban overnight early voting and drive-through early voting, both of which boosted voter participation in recent elections in Harris County.
Supporters of the proposed bills say they're necessary to increase election security in Texas, although no widespread voter fraud was found in 2020. The House has approved a bill that would permit Texans to carry handguns without a permit. Our legislature has filed more bills considered anti-LGBTQ than any other state.
Texas is one of only five states that don't allow casino gambling. The others are: Utah, Tennessee, Hawaii, and Alaska. Meanwhile, the Sands Corporation reported that Texans annually spend $2.5 billion in nearby casinos in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.
The Sands Corporation has presented plans that would build large casino resort complexes (one each) in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. The resorts would include hotels, restaurants, retail stores and recreation facilities.
They say the resorts would create thousands of construction jobs and tens of thousands of operating jobs.
Texans who want to bet on sports currently have no shortage of online sites perfectly willing to take their money. The sites do not kick back any revenue to Texas coffers. It should be noted that no Texan has ever been brought up on charges for wagering on sports with online betting sites.
Professional leagues and governing bodies enthusiastically support sports betting. The NFL recently announced long-term deals with the three largest online gambling companies: DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars. DraftKings is the official fantasy site for the men's pro tennis tour. Televised tournaments showcase shifting odds while matches are being played. You can wager on which player will win the match, each set, each game, even the next point.
ESPN has a long-term partnership with DraftKings, including a daily betting show on the network. Online betting sites sponsor golf tournaments. The Washington Football Team recently received a sports betting license. Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. has a sports gambling parlor inside the building. Nationals Park and Wrigley Field have applied for on-premises sports books.
The NBA wants a piece of the action. Charles Barkley recently said a team owner told him that profits from gambling will exceed money from television, the life blood of pro sports, within a few years.
The No. 1 sports gambling location isn't in Las Vegas. It's a Starbucks in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the first exit off the George Washington Bridge from New York City.
We are a nation of bettors. Gambling is profitable, maybe not to the bettors, but the "house" makes a fortune. Those chandeliers in casinos weren't free.
If the legislature approves, and voters say yes, Texas would be the house. Twenty-one states and Washington D.C. have sports betting, with many more coming.
Not Texas, though. Somebody needs to clue our representatives who aren't representing us. We don't need the TV weatherman to know it's time to "make it rain" in Texas.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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