Pari-Mutuel Betting 1940
Lottery/Commercial Casinos 1991
Charity Gaming 1987
Tribal Casinos 1993
Fantasy Games 2020
Video Poker/Casinos/Fantasy Games/Lottery/Pari-Mutuel Betting 21+
Charity Gaming (electronic video) 18+
Commercial Casinos 13
Racinos 4
Tribal Casinos 5
Since the colonial era, legalized gambling has been woven into Louisiana’s economic, political and cultural fabric. It has been a tumultuous ride, with several attempts to ban the activity, proving ultimately fruitless.
Video poker is available in truck stops, restaurants, and bars in the southern part of the state. There are also riverboat casinos, a land-based casino, racinos, and tribal casinos.
Fantasy sports betting is expected to go live in Spring 2021. Businesses will be able to apply for licenses to start operating fantasy sports games only in the 47 of 64 parishes that approved it.
55 parishes have agreed to the legalization of sports gambling. However, it is expected that bettors won’t be able to make legal sports bets until 2022.
The Louisiana Lottery is overseen by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, Governor of Louisiana, Senate Judiciary B Committee, Office of the Legislative Auditor, and House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
It offers instant games consisting of instant play scratch-off tickets, and tickets to draws. It also sells tickets for multi-state games, including Powerball and Mega Millions.
Tickets can be purchased at authorized retailers. Louisiana does allow the buying of tickets over mobile.
Charitable gaming is regulated by the Office of Charitable Gaming. Legal forms of gaming include pull tabs, electronic video bingo, Las Vegas nights, charitable raffles, keno, and bingo. Organizations must hold a license unless meeting the following conditions.
Horse racing and pari-mutuel gaming are regulated by the Louisiana Racing Commission. Dog racing is prohibited in the state. The state has 4 racetrack casinos (racinos) where players can participate in live racing and simulcast off-track betting. These racinos also offer hundreds of slot machines.
Louisiana has over 1,700 video poker outlets on over 13,000 devices in 31 approved parishes. Outlets are authorized in restaurants, bars, off-track betting parlors, truck stops, and hotels.
Louisiana law requires that local voters first pass a local ballot referendum to allow commercial gambling in the region (‘parish’).
Louisiana presently has 13 riverboat/land-based casinos licensed to operate. Gambling on international commercial cruise ships to parish ports with a population of 475,000 or more is permitted.
The state also permits tribal gaming operated by three tribes: Chitimacha, Coushatta, and Tunica-Biloxi.
Casinos in Louisiana offer table game variants of blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette, and poker. They also offer slot machines, electronic table games, and video poker.
Riverboat/Land-Based Casinos | Address | Website |
Amelia Belle Casino | 500 Lake Palourde Rd, Amelia, LA, 70380 | ameliabellecasino.com |
Belle of Baton Rouge | 103 France St, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 | belleofbatonrouge.com/gaming |
Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport | Eldorado Casino, 451 Clyde Fant Pkwy, Shreveport, LA 71101 | eldoradoshreveport.com/gaming |
Horseshoe Bossier City | 711 Horseshoe Boulevard Bossier City, LA 71111 | caesars.com/horseshoe-bossier-city/casino |
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge | 1717 River Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 | hollywoodbr.com/casino |
Boomtown New Orleans | 4132 Peters Rd, Harvey, LA 70058 | boomtownneworleans.com/casino |
Golden Nugget Lake Charles | 2550 Golden Nugget Boulevard Lake Charles, LA 70601 | goldennugget.com/lake-charles/casino/ |
L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge | 777 L’Auberge Ave, Baton Rouge, LA 70820 | lbatonrouge.com/casino |
Boomtown Bossier City | 300 Riverside Dr, Bossier City, LA 71111 | boomtownbossier.com/casino |
L’Auberge Lake Charles | 777 Ave L’Auberge, Lake Charles, LA 70601 | llakecharles.com/casino |
Sam’s Town Hotel & Ca and casino | 315 Clyde Fant Pkwy, Shreveport, LA 71101 | samstownshreveport.com/play |
Treasure Chest Casino | 5050 Williams Boulevard, Kenner, LA 70065 | treasurechest.com/play |
Margaritaville Resort Casino | 777 MargaritaVille Way Bossier City, LA 71111 | margaritavillebossiercity.com/casino |
Tribal Casinos | Address | Website |
Cypress Bayou Casino and Hotel | 823 Martin Luther King Road Charenton, LA 70523 | cypressbayou.casino/Play/play |
Coushatta Casino Resort | 777 Coushatta Drive Kinder, Louisiana 70648 | coushattacasinoresort.com/gaming/ |
Jena Choctaw Pines Casino | 149 Chahta Trails Dry Prong, LA 71423 | choctawpines.com/gaming/ |
Margaritaville Resort Casino | 777 Margaritaville Way Bossier City, LA 71111 | margaritavillebossiercity.com/casino |
Paragon Casino Resort | 711 Grand Blvd. Marksville, LA 71351 | paragoncasinoresort.com |
Racinos | Address | Website |
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots | 1751 Gentilly Blvd, New Orleans 70119 | fairgroundsracecourse.com |
Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino | 2235 Creswell Lane Extension, Opelousas 70570 | evangelinedowns.com/play |
Delta Downs | 2717 Delta Downs Drive, Vinton , LA 70668 | deltadowns.com/play |
Harrah’s Louisiana Downs | 8000 East Texas Street, Bossier City, LA 71111 | caesars.com/harrahs-louisiana-downs/casino |
In 1886 the Louisiana lottery was created, which Democrats attempted but failed to abolish in 1879 due to rampant corruption. In 1895, the Louisiana legislature prohibited a renewal of the lottery’s Charter, effectively sealing its fate.
During the 1920s, New Orleans Fair Grounds pari-mutuel betting was the only form of sanctioned gambling. This didn’t stop illegal casinos from sprouting up. Louisiana’s oil-based economy collapsed early in the 1980s, serving as a catalyst for promoting legalized gambling by Gov Edwin Edwards, whose efforts failed.
In 1940, The Louisiana State Racing Commission was created to regulate the practice. Nearly half a century later, in 1987, Louisiana approved charitable bingo, keno, and raffles in the state. Charity machines would later be approved in 1991.
On January 15, 1991, the Louisiana Lottery Corporation began operating. That same year (1991), commercial casinos were legalized and regulated, with the Louisiana Gaming Control Board created in 1996.
1993 saw the state negotiate three tribal casinos compacts with the Tunica-Biloxi, Coushatta, and Chitimacha tribes, leading to casinos on tribal land.
In the 1997 Regular Session, slot machine gaming at live horse racing facilities was authorized in Calcasieu, Bossier, St. Landry Parishes by Act 721. Act 352 in 2003 authorized limited slot machines in Orleans Parish. Then came Act 591 in 2006, authorizing up to 700 slot machines at the facility in Orleans Parish. This was followed by several other parishes.
In November 2020, voters in 55 of 64 Louisiana parishes approved sports betting in their counties.
In December 2020, fantasy sports regulations were agreed by lawmakers in 47 parishes that had approved fantasy sports in November 2018.
Louisiana allows pari-mutuel horse racing, lottery, charitable gaming, video poker, commercial casinos, and tribal casinos. The state will soon offer fantasy sports and sports betting.
Yes, The Louisiana Lottery offers state and multi-state lottery products.
Yes, 47 of 64 Louisiana parishes approved fantasy sports. It is expected to go live in the spring of 2021.
Sports betting was approved in 55 of Louisiana’s parishes and is expected to go live in 2022.
Yes, Louisiana has riverboat casinos, a land-based casino, and tribal casinos.
Video poker is available at truck stops, restaurants, bars, off-track betting parlors, and hotels in Southern Louisiana.