I burn through the cash in about three minutes, then watch the other customers – most of whom are elderly - feed bill after bill into the machines. I get 10 $1 bills from an employee sitting in a clear plastic booth on the far wall, and sit down at one of the machines. They look like old arcade games, but they’re actually electronic gambling machines called eight liners: video slot machines like what you’d find at a full-blown casino. The only light comes from a small heating lamp at the snack bar, and from the dozens of screens that sit along its walls. There’s a sign on each wall that says “NO CASH PAYOUTS.” Inside, it’s a single rectangular room with a low ceiling imbued with the smell of cigarettes.

A blinking neon arrow points to a converted trailer on Business 77. It’s a Friday night in the tiny south Texas community of Sebastian, and the gravel parking lot in front of the Silver Star game room is packed. It’s a headache for law enforcement, but a remedy could be on the way. It cuts through a rural area of the Rio Grande Valley, but bares a passing resemblance to Las Vegas. But you’d never know it driving down Business 77 in Willacy County.

In Texas, gambling is illegal in almost all forms.

Texas vfw gambling laws