Polymarket US vs sportsbooks in Texas
Why Polymarket US is legal in Texas when sportsbooks are not
Texans looking for legal action on games have almost no options — the state has never licensed an online sportsbook, and legalization keeps failing in a legislature that only convenes every other year. Polymarket US fills part of that gap: a CFTC-regulated, dollar-denominated exchange with a sports-led contract catalog, available to Texas residents under federal derivatives law rather than the state's gambling ban.
Current status and notes: prediction markets in Texas.
What the fees look like
Polymarket US charges a disclosed, price-dependent taker fee per contract instead of embedding a margin in the odds. Against the offshore books that target Texas bettors — unregulated, with counterparty risk on every deposit — a federally regulated exchange with transparent fees is a different category of product entirely.
| Venue | Fee per contract | Total taker fee |
|---|---|---|
| Kalshi | 1.75¢ | $1.75 |
| Polymarket US | 1.50¢ | $1.50 |
Exchange-side taker fees per each venue's published formula (rate × contracts × price × (1 − price), Kalshi rounds the order total up to the next cent). Fees peak at 50¢ and shrink toward the extremes. Most quoted cross-venue “arbs” are negative-EV after these fees — the taker-fee breakeven on a Kalshi/Polymarket pair is roughly 3.5–4¢.
Try Polymarket US in Texas
Code YOURPOLYMARKETCODE: $25 signup credit ($350 lifetime referral cap per account; expires 2026-12-31)
Claim this offer on Polymarket USFull Polymarket US promo terms
Disclosure: promo codes on this page are referral offers. If you sign up through them, the operator may pay this site a referral credit at no extra cost to you. Terms and eligibility are set by the venue and can change.