Lorcan Palaca 
A March 17, 2026 Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals ruling has triggered a statewide crackdown on eight-liner game rooms, including police raids in Galveston and Bexar counties and the arrest of a sitting Hitchcock mayor. Small Texas cities are scrambling to ban the machines outright before losing the permit-fee revenue some have come to depend on.
Gary Grief was indicted again on May 13, 2026 over the 2023 Lotto Texas drawing an offshore syndicate gamed for $95 million. The former Texas Lottery Commission chief is due in the 167th District Court the morning of June 26. The reindictment came two weeks after the first one was dismissed within a day.
Kalshi has continued to take sports wagers from Texas residents despite a cease-and-desist letter from the state attorney general, in a federal-state preemption fight that has effectively legalized online sports betting in a state whose Legislature has rejected every attempt to authorize it. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to close the loophole. He cannot.
A Lubbock judge is set to decide within days whether Brendan Sorsby suits up for Texas Tech this season, after the quarterback admitted to a four-year, $90,000 betting habit that touched his own former team.