People watch a horse race from the grandstand at Lone Star Park. Major tracks are still operating in Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Sam Houston Race Park in Houston and Retama Park just outside San Antonio. The constitutional amendment, which also legalized dog racing, passed by margin of about 2-to-1. Will Martin of Victoria, 71, testified on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, in favor of a bill to let charitable groups spend more hours hosting fundraising bingo events. But voters in each county had to decide whether to allow it in their communities at one time 226 of the state’s 254 counties had approved it.
1980: The Legislature approves allowing charitable organizations in Texas to hold Bingo games to raise money.1971: The Texas Legislature exempted charities from the state’s longstanding ban on lottery gambling, briefly legalizing it until it was struck down as unconstitutional in 1973.Related: Horse racing’s bumpy ride in Dallas, its successful early days and 50 years of stalled growth
