Was one of the early states to follow the trend of legalizing a lot of online betting options, including online casino games. A lot of people saw this coming from a mile away, but now, this raises another question – will Texas follow suit?
Sure, the trend of online casino and sports betting legalization is growing, which is why casino enthusiasts look forward to every new state embracing this trend. In their minds, with each state, a legalization avalanche seems more and more inevitable.
What’s going on in New Jersey?
Every resident of New Jersey who is older than 21 has the freedom to engage in online betting or engage with online casinos. This has been the law since 2013, and since then, the country has collected so much tax revenue, which has allowed local officials to fix many issues and improve their communities by quite a margin.
Online sports betting has been legal since 2018, which means that people from New Jersey have a wide selection of betting apps and sites to choose from. With more regulation, the security of these activities is higher, and it’s easier for players to relax and embrace their hobby even further.
What about Texas?
As of today, online betting still remains illegal in Texas, and there are not many indicators that things will change anytime soon. Sure, betting and casino enthusiasts still have many options in Texas; they just have to be smart about how they navigate this activity.
It’s not like there are no attempts to push this legislation through in Texas, either. For instance, one senator pre-filled a sports betting bill ahead of the 2023 legislative season.
The biggest hurdle to legislating online casinos and betting in Texas is still the Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Still, he’s not alone here since the bill would require a two-thirds vote in order to pass.
Now, while Texas still isn’t likely to legalize online betting and casinos in 2024, it’s not in the same category as states like Utah, where this won’t happen in the foreseeable future. Like in California, when it comes to Texas, it’s only a question of when, not if.
Why is the legalization of online casinos spreading so rapidly?
Online casinos will be a huge economic power in 2024, and one of the truths that governments around the globe are starting to realize is that they’re not preventing the local populace from playing at them by keeping them illegal.
You see, there are a lot of areas around the world where online casinos are illegal; however, their residents still play in online casinos hosted in other parts of the world. In fact, some of the countries with the largest populations that partake in betting are areas where betting is completely illegal. This legal grey zone will allow players to bypass restrictions, which have two nasty side effects.
The first one is that the state/country that the player is from gets no tax money. We’re talking about billions upon billions of lost income. Second, these rules and regulations exist for a reason, and by denying the local populace a chance to play in casinos with local supervision, you’re leaving them to the mercy of foreign (or at least distant) regulators.
After all, regulation is there to protect players, and if they’re going to bet either way, this is the best way to extend this protection.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, legalizing online casinos seems to be inevitable. Even if some states fail to legalize online casinos, the concept of online betting will become so overwhelmingly all-present that their residents will have an easy way of accessing it. They won’t even have to physically leave the state. Online betting is already a favorite pastime for so many people, it’s only a question of who reaps the benefits.