Gambling Boat Texas
The idea of gambling boats, or casino cruises, sheds light on how the legal environment in Texas has led to strange occurrences in the gambling industry, and how stringent Texas gambling laws have affected gambling enthusiasts. It is very difficult to open a casino on land in Texas. Each gaming device falls into a certain category of license, and the licenses restrict what kind of games a casino can offer. Getting the higher level licenses is essentially impossible. The one surviving casino, Lucky Eagle in Eagle Pass, fought legal battles to ensure that all of its gaming machines fell under the license it holds. However, the laws do not restrict having a casino at sea. A ship full of table games and slot machines can take on passengers in a Texan port, sail out to international waters, allow the passengers to play anything they want, and then return. In international waters, there is no legal authority that regulates gambling. While this would be a great option for Texas residents who enjoy casino gambling, things have not really gone to well with this venue, once again leaving Texas online casinos as the best option for players in the Lone Star State.
Long before the online gambling revolution and even before the boost of tribal casinos, a casino cruise was the only legal way to gamble in the US besides Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos. Nowadays, gambling on a riverboat casino is only one of the many options that the recreational gambler faces when he feels like shooting dice. Gambling starved East Texas now has Class II slot machines and a new place to play them. The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas has re-purposed a special events center lodge on their reservation near Livingston. Texas Treasure II will be the second gambling boat to operate out of Freeport. The Sunrise Princess sails daily from a site on the Old Brazos River, near downtown.
Gambling Boat In Port Aransas Texas
Texas historically required that gambling boats had to land at a foreign port of call on any cruise they made. Eventually, this legal requirement was overturned. Subsequently, several gambling boats attempted to open up the industry in Texas via ports in Galveston, Freeport, and Aransas. However, each of these in turn closed down due to a lack of business, moved to other states along the Gulf Coast, or ran into legal trouble. Texas began to enforce an old law that any ship dedicated to gambling had to either land at a foreign port or sail for more than 24 hours. These additional restrictions made it even tougher for gambling boats to make money.
Port Aransas Gambling Boat Texas Treasure
Today, no casino cruises survive in Texas. Part of the reason for this is economic- gambling boats are very expensive to run, and they are not much more convenient than a land casino. But Texas was later than other states in allowing gambling boats to operate freely, and then it began to close them down with old laws. One ship did manage to avoid the regulators by demonstrating that casino machines and gambling made up less than half of its onboard space, and that it offered numerous other entertainment options. However, that made it even harder for the boat to turn a profit. It only stayed in Texas for a year before transferring its business to Florida. The combination of the fact that gambling boats are difficult to run profitably with the tough legal environment means that today, casino cruises have disappeared from the ports of Texas.
Texas Gambling Boat Corpus Christi
That is not to say that there will never be another casino cruise in Texas. There is still no law that actually prevents anyone from running one. But the fact that regulators target casino cruises means that business investors are reluctant to try again: the uncertain legal environment is simply too risky. There is little doubt that harassment by regulators played a significant role in the fall of gambling boats and the current lack of any such ships in Texas. No casino cruise has sailed from Texas since the recession of 2008 affected people and businesses, making gambling an expensive hobby.