When people bring up the Texas betting fight, it's clear that things have not been going to plan. And later this year, Governor Greg Abbott is looking to get reelected, which could end up delaying things further. However, before the worries arrive on that happening, the fact of the matter right now is that Texas Politician Dan Patrick Has Joined the fight against prediction markets, letting everyone know he is tired of what's going on.

That's right, Patrick recently brought up this issue to the State Affairs Committee in the Lone Star State, voicing his displeasure with how the prediction markets have been able to operate freely in Texas. This has provided sort of a cheat code for people to take advantage of the federal sports betting regulations, despite things not being legal in Texas. Because of this Patrick wants to make sure those markets aren't allowed to continue, with his hope being they're banned soon.

“Study the sudden inundation of prediction market gambling and exploitation of federal law to circumvent Texas gambling prohibitions by allowing users to place bets on the outcome of elections and other events,” Patrick said in a statement. “Examine the relationship between federally regulated derivative markets and state-prohibited gambling.”

Patrick brought up political gambling too, which isn't just an issue in Texas. We've seen that also take place in other states, which is being fought against too. Recently, a ban was put in place for Senators to place any kind of a wager on the prediction markets, which seems like a positive first step. However, Patrick wants all betting banned in Texas through Kalshi and others. It will be interesting to see how things go down there.

Could Texas take legal action in the near future against the prediction markets?

The question naturally begs, could Texas take legal action in the near future against the prediction markets? As things stand, there are several federal lawsuits that have been filed, including ones in California and New York. While sports betting is legal in New York State and the numbers have been fantastic, the same can't be said for California, as legal sports betting won't make its way there until 2028 at the earliest.

What does this mean for Texas? Well, California and Texas are in the same fight here a bit, as both states simply do not want to see the prediction markets be in operation in their states that both don't have legal betting permitted online. With California being a part of the lawsuit, this could incline Texas to get involved as well, as Patrick has made it quite clear that he is not happy with the way things are going.

With the current rules, anyone in the USA can use prediction markets like Kalshi because they are regulated at the federal level. That's why despite there being 39 states with legal betting, the other 11 states without it can still take advantage of the prediction markets because they are not technically banned there. This is the case in Texas, so until the rules do change, local citizens can keep placing their bets and do so in peace because they're not going against anything that's not allowed.

Dan Patrick has made his feelings clear on the legal sports betting push

With all of that said, people know that Dan Patrick has made his feelings clear on the legal sports betting push. It wasn't long ago that Patrick said he'd be open to things if they were done the right way and people were able to get on the same page, but he has also voiced a ton of concerns, particularly with addiction being a major topic of conversation. People checking the NFL sportsbooks consistently for wagers? Not so fast.

This is something Republicans keep bringing up, while local tribes are hoping to get the right kind of sports betting bill on the table for people to agree on. That's of course not going to be easy, as there has been nothing but division in recent years on trying to get people to agree on the same thing. If anything, there's worry that it's only going to keep delaying things.

Later this year, people will vote for the next Texas Governor and Abbott (Patrick is under him) will either get yet another term, or someone new will come in and hopefully help out with the sports betting efforts. Sports fans want Patrick out to see if it will help with those betting efforts, but right now it's totally unknown how things will shape out. If Patrick does get another term, it truly could result in sports betting getting pushed back and not prioritized once again.