The second-in-command in Texas is putting his foot down. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has decided that, as long as he’s around, there won’t be any serious talk about sports gambling or casinos in the Lone Star State. Both activities have been brought to the forefront recently as methods of securing more revenue and have even found support from professional sports teams. Patrick is apparently willing to forego any attempt to allow Texans to decide their future, which is what the government is supposed to do, and told a local radio station in Lubbock, Texas, that sports gambling is “not even an issue that’s going to see the light of day” anytime soon.

Patrick seems to be unaware that politicians are given their positions to help support and form policies that are created by the wishes of the people they represent. They’re not in positions of power to assert their own will or desires. However, he admits that he’s not in favor of any type of gambling and there’s little chance he will start dancing to a different beat in the near future.

Patrick isn’t alone in his distaste for generating more revenue for Texas and asserts that many state senators are against gambling expansion, as well. With Republicans outweighing Democrats 18-13 in the Senate, they, along with Patrick, can control what happens, even if public support for gambling were to be found. Mark P. Jones, a political science expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute seconds that notion, telling Casino.org, “As the undisputed leader of the Texas Senate who controls its agenda with an iron hand, Patrick is better positioned than anyone in Texas to ensure that gambling legislation does not see the light of day in 2021.”

According to some reviews, up to $2.5 billion could currently be leaving Texas each year to be spent on gambling activity outside the state. Simple math at a 10% tax rate shows how much additional revenue could be given to the Texas government, which could be used to improve education, roadways and much more. As things go right now, Texas lawmakers are essentially throwing away perfectly good money, the same way they would if they took a $10 bill out of their wallet and threw it into the gutter. Gamblers are going to gamble and there are plenty of options available to Texans outside the state.

Sometimes, it doesn’t necessarily pay to be right. The Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics asserted last month that Germany’s proposed tax structure for online gambling activity could lead to more gamblers turning to illegal or offshore sites and it seems that’s already happening in a big way. Sports gambling, in particular, is watching a transitional move toward the alternative options, propelled by new, controversial regulations and a massive halt in sports last year because of COVID-19.

Germany’s legal sports gambling market saw revenues last year of €7.8 billion ($9.45 billion), according to the country’s Federal Ministry of Finance. This was 16% below what had been seen a year earlier, when the market recorded €9.3 billion ($11.27 billion). The period from March to May was the worst, corresponding to the time that the world essentially shut down sports activity everywhere, but began to pick up in June. Since September, sports gambling revenue in the country has continued to perform better, but it is still much lower than it was a year earlier.

As a result of the downturn, sports gambling operators couldn’t contribute as much to the government’s coffers as they had a year earlier. In 2019, they gave €464 million ($562.7 million), but this dropped to €389 million ($471.78 million) last year. However, despite the drop, some believe the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV, for its German acronym) profited from the pandemic, an assertion the organization emphatically denies.

According to DSWV President Mathias Dahms, “The exact opposite is true. During the first lockdown in spring 2020, when all European leagues had ceased their gaming operations, the German sports betting market collapsed completely: in April by 90 percent compared to the previous year, in May by 75 percent. Without sport there can be no sports bet, of course.”