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HOUSTON, Texas — March Madness is setting in but in the next few days, thousands of brackets will be busted.
While the tournament is about school spirit and bragging rights, for some it’s also about winning cash. While it’s not legal in some states, including Texas, the tournament could fuel new conversation around the legalization of sports betting.
Currently, Texans typically travel to places where there are casinos and sports betting is an option, which is a strong reason why leaders have pushed to legalize this in the state.
State leaders like State Senator Carol Alvarado are pushing for casinos and sports betting to become legal. Alvarado has been working to do this by filing bills since 2009.
This legislative session, she filed a senate joint resolution that would allow Texans to vote to legalize gambling.
RELATED: Sports betting bill filed in Texas House
According to a University of Houston survey, there’s a lot of bi-partisan support around this.
One sports betting analyst who has helped lobby in other states to legalize sports betting said a big argument against the legalization of sports betting is that it could lead to an increase in game fixing, but he said it actually does the opposite.
“It actually works against game fixing. When you have legalized and legislated and regulated and monitored gaming, this is where they catch the match fixing, this is where they catch these guys that are shaving points,” said Senior Betting Analyst Jason Logan.
Logan believes states where conversations have sparked but sports betting still isn’t legal could feel like they’re missing out on a big profit at the end of March Madness.
“The numbers that are going to come out at the end of the tournament, you know how much these legislated and legalized states are making off of sports betting, especially those busy times like March Madness and you’ll see states that are still on the wall about legalization,” said Logan.
That resolution filed by Alvarado is currently in committee. It’s still unclear if this will happen, but with March Madness in full swing, there’s no telling what could happen.
RELATED: Texas lawmakers push to legalize sports betting — will it finally happen?
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