Are real-money online casinos legal in Louisiana, and what can you actually play in a state with 24 in-person casinos but no licensed iGaming?
Every other mobile-betting state in the country licenses the entire state at once. Louisiana put the question on the November 2020 ballot in all 64 parishes and let each one vote yes or no. Fifty-five said yes. Nine, all clustered in the north-central piney woods, said no. Open the FanDuel app inside any of those nine and the geolocation chip blocks the wager. Cross the line and the same app turns on.
| Parish | Yes margin | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Orleans | 76% | Highest urban approval, paired with Jefferson. |
| Jefferson | 76% | New Orleans metro south of the lake. |
| Caddo | 70% | Shreveport, three riverboats in the parish. |
| East Baton Rouge | 68% | State capital, L'Auberge berth across the river. |
| St. Tammany | 67% | North shore suburb of New Orleans. |
| Bossier | 66% | Bossier City casino strip, future Live! site. |
| Lafayette | 63% | Acadiana population center. |
| Calcasieu | 61% | Lake Charles, four major riverboats. |
All nine sit between Shreveport and Monroe in north-central Louisiana. The pattern shows up in every set of statewide results, and the same nine parishes also opted out of the fantasy-sports vote two years earlier in 2018. Six operators went live the moment the geofence opened on January 28, 2022: FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, Barstool, and BetRivers.
On the same ballot as the presidential election, residents in 55 of Louisiana's 64 parishes approve sports wagering. Margins reach 76 percent in Orleans and Jefferson; nine northern parishes vote no, creating the geofence pattern that still defines the state's mobile market.
At 8 a.m. CT, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, Barstool, and BetRivers all go live, the first day of online wagering under the framework Gov. John Bel Edwards signed in SB 247.
Judiciary B and Revenue and Fiscal Affairs convene the joint hearing ordered by SR 149 (Talbot). The Cordish Companies and Light & Wonder give competing testimony on cannibalization risks, and the committee files no draft bill.
Despite unanimous House and Senate passage, Gov. Landry kills the dual-currency ban, writing that the Gaming Control Board already polices online sweepstakes and that the bill's language is overly broad.
Four days after the veto, LGCB Chairman Christopher Hebert and AG Liz Murrill jointly send letters to more than 40 sweepstakes and offshore operators. Murrill issues a formal opinion that dual-currency sweepstakes violate Louisiana gambling law.
The Senate passes Rep. Bryan Fontenot's HB 53 by 27-9, adding gambling by computer, electronic sweepstakes devices, and five other gambling offenses to the state's racketeering statute. Penalties reach 50 years and a $1 million fine.
Louisiana wrote one land-based casino into statute in 1992 and has never written a second. La. R.S. 27:201 et seq. authorized exactly one floor at the foot of Canal Street, sitting outside the 15-license riverboat cap that was passed a year earlier. Harrah's opened it in October 1999 after a bankruptcy reorganization. In December 2020 the state extended the license to 2054 in exchange for a $325 million renovation commitment, which Caesars finished in October 2024 at a final cost of $435 million.
La. R.S. 27:201 et seq. authorizes one and only one land-based casino in Louisiana, sited on the Rivergate parcel at the foot of Canal Street in New Orleans. The license is held outside the 15-license riverboat cap created the year before.
The first operator filed Chapter 11 in 1995 before the building was finished. Harrah's Entertainment took over and reopened the project as Harrah's New Orleans on Oct 28, 1999, four years late and with reworked financing terms.
In exchange for a multi-year extension of the land-based license, Caesars commits to a $325 million renovation, additional state payments, and a new hotel tower. The legislature approves the contract terms.
The new 340-room Caesars Tower welcomes its first guests while the casino floor and food halls remain mid-construction. The 54-room Nobu Hotel, Louisiana's first Nobu, opens inside the existing tower in 2024.
Caesars Entertainment cuts the ribbon on the finished project, $110 million above the original commitment. Emeril's Brasserie, the celebrity-chef food hall, Octavia's 13,500-square-foot center bar, and a 5,700-square-foot Caesars Sportsbook all open the same week.
The Canal Street property now runs 1,300 slot machines, 120 table games, a 5,700-square-foot Caesars Sportsbook, the 54-room Nobu Hotel (Louisiana's first), Emeril's Brasserie, and the 13,500-square-foot Octavia center bar. Caesars markets it as the first Caesars-branded resort in the South. The same statute that lets it sit on dry land also blocks any second land-based competitor from being licensed inside the city limits.
The 1991 Video Draw Poker Devices Control Law put terminals in three obvious places (bars, restaurants, racetracks) and one strange one: truck stops. The truck-stop category was inserted without a tight definition, and the loophole has scaled into a parallel casino economy. More than 13,000 machines run across the state. About 7,600 of them sit on roughly 200 truck-stop pads, where RS 27:416 and 27:417 tie the device count to monthly fuel sales: every 100,000 gallons buys up to 50 terminals.
| Venue | Count | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Truck stops | ~7,600 | About 200 qualified truck-stop facilities. Single largest pool by venue type. |
| Bars | ~2,900 | Class A and Class B alcoholic-beverage outlets licensed for video draw poker. |
| Restaurants | ~1,500 | On-premises consumption permits with food-sale share requirements. |
| Racetracks (OTBs) | ~1,000 | Off-track betting parlors operated by the four pari-mutuel licensees. |
The video-poker pool earned $757.7 million in net device revenue in fiscal 2025, a 1 percent gain over fiscal 2024 and roughly the same scale as Louisiana's entire commercial riverboat slot floor. A 2024 law also raised the maximum bill accepted at any single machine from $20 to $100, the first increase since the original statute. Critics inside the legislature still call the truck-stop rule the loosest land-based gaming permit in the country. Operators call it the reason Louisiana never had to legalize iGaming to chase convenience revenue.
Louisiana licenses no online casinos. This is a placeholder listing until our database is wired in. Sweepstakes sites are now under active state enforcement.
Casinos we play at. We earn a commission when you sign up through these.
Gov. Edwards signed SB 316 in May 2018. It lets any of the 15 riverboat licensees move 1,200 feet, about four football fields, from their existing berth onto dry land while keeping the same license. The rule sat largely unused through the pandemic. Then Cordish bought the closed Diamond Jacks parcel in April 2023, revived the dormant license, and built a 47,000-square-foot land casino at the same address. It opened on February 13, 2025 as Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana, the first true land-based casino in the Shreveport-Bossier market.
Gov. John Bel Edwards signs SB 316, replacing the 30,000-square-foot afloat cap with a 2,365-position cap and allowing each riverboat license to relocate up to 1,200 feet, about four football fields, from its existing berth onto dry land.
The Bossier City riverboat, originally Isle of Capri (May 1994) and rebranded Diamond Jacks in 2006, shuts with every other Louisiana casino on March 16, 2020. Its license stays inactive and the building sits vacant for three years.
Baltimore-based Cordish Companies announces a purchase of the property. The plan is to revive the dormant 15th riverboat license and build a 47,000-square-foot land-based casino under SB 316, the first true land casino in the Shreveport-Bossier market.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board votes unanimously to license Cordish as a casino operator in Bossier City. Construction begins shortly after.
Cordish marks structural completion of the casino and adjoining hotel tower. Projections cited at the event call for $35 million in city gaming taxes and more than $168 million in state gaming taxes within the first five years.
Doors open at the former Diamond Jacks site with fireworks, 1,000-plus slots, 40-plus live tables, a 549-room hotel, a Sports & Social sportsbook lounge, and a PBR Cowboy Bar. It is the first land-based casino in the Shreveport-Bossier market and the most visible single use of the 1,200-foot rule to date.
The Bossier opening matters beyond Caddo and Bossier counties. It is the proof-of-concept that the 1,200-foot rule can resurrect a dormant license rather than just renovate an existing one. Two of the other 14 riverboat licensees, L'Auberge Lake Charles and L'Auberge Baton Rouge, have publicly studied the same move. The Cordish argument against iGaming in the December 2024 hearing rested on the $700 million-plus the riverboat companies have already committed to similar onshore expansions.
Louisiana built its casino industry around brick-and-mortar statutes: the 1991 Riverboat Economic Development and Gaming Control Act, which capped riverboat licenses at 15, and the 1992 law at La. R.S. 27:201 that licensed Harrah's New Orleans as the state's sole land-based casino. Gov. John Bel Edwards added mobile sports betting when he signed SB 247 in 2021, and online wagering went live January 28, 2022 across the 55 of 64 parishes that voted yes on the 2020 ballot. None of those laws authorize online slots, table games, or live dealer casinos.
Online expansion has stalled. In 2024 the Senate passed SR 149 (Talbot), ordering Judiciary B and Revenue and Fiscal Affairs to study iGaming; the committees met December 11, 2024 but produced no bill. Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed SB 181, the 2025 anti-sweepstakes bill, on June 13, 2025, calling it unnecessary, and four days later the Louisiana Gaming Control Board sent more than 40 cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes and offshore operators. Attorney General Liz Murrill followed with a formal opinion that dual-currency sweepstakes violate state law. The 2026 session passed HB 53 (gambling racketeering, House 86-11, Senate 27-9) and HB 883 (dual-currency ban, House 99-0, Senate 35-0); both await Landry's signature or veto as of May 20, 2026. No bill authorizing real-money online casino play has been filed in 2026.
Days after the House v. NCAA settlement cleared direct NIL payments to college athletes, Rep. Neil Riser ran a bill through Baton Rouge that turned Louisiana's online sports tax into a college-sports subsidy. Act 298 took the mobile rate from 15 percent to 21.5 percent on August 1, 2025 and routed a quarter of the new collections into the new Supporting Programs, Opportunities, Resources, and Teams Fund. Eleven public universities with Division I football get an even slice. Retail sports betting stayed at the old 10 percent rate, untouched.
| State | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 51% | Mobile only. Highest in the country, tied with NH, OR, RI. |
| Pennsylvania | 36% | No graduated structure; one of the heaviest flat rates. |
| Illinois | 20–40% | Graduated schedule installed in 2024; top tier above $200M AGR. |
| Louisiana | 21.5% | Mobile only. Retail stayed at 10%. Increment routed to college sports. |
| Mississippi | 12% | Retail only. The Magnolia State has not legalized mobile. |
| New Jersey | 14.25% | Mobile rate. Retail at 8.5%. |
| Iowa | 6.75% | Tied with Nevada for the lowest sports-betting tax in the country. |
Money can pay for scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility upgrades, House v. NCAA settlement costs, and Alston awards. The first full quarter under the new rate produced $9.43 million in March 2026 tax receipts on $45.2 million in GGR, roughly double the same month a year earlier.
The forms of gambling Louisiana residents can legally use right now.
Legalized by SB 247 in 2021 and live since January 28, 2022. Six mobile sportsbooks launched on day one: FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, Barstool, and BetRivers. Geolocation locks wagering to the 55 parishes that approved the 2020 ballot. Regulated by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, 21 and older.
Fifteen riverboat casinos operate under the 1991 Riverboat Economic Development and Gaming Control Act, and SB 316 in 2018 lets them move up to 1,200 feet onshore from their berths. Harrah's New Orleans is the state's only true land-based casino, licensed under a separate 1992 statute. All players must be 21.
Four racetracks run slot floors alongside live racing: Delta Downs in Vinton, Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, Harrah's Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, and Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Pari-mutuel horse wagering is 18 and older, racino slot machines 21 and older.
Four federally recognized tribes run casinos under IGRA compacts: Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville (Tunica-Biloxi), Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel in Charenton (Chitimacha), and Jena Choctaw Pines Casino in Dry Prong.
The Louisiana Lottery Corporation sells Powerball, Mega Millions, scratchers, and in-state draw games at retail only. iLottery bills HB 643 and SB 119 are pending in the 2026 session. Licensed nonprofit bingo halls operate statewide for players 18 and older.
Sen. Kirk Talbot's SR 149 in 2024 ordered Judiciary B and Revenue and Fiscal Affairs to study iGaming and report by March 1, 2025. The joint hearing on December 11, 2024 produced sharp testimony on both sides, no draft bill, and a clear shift in legislative tone. By the time the 2026 session opened, no iGaming authorization bill had been filed. The energy went into HB 53, a racketeering bill attaching 50-year sentences to illegal online gambling, and HB 883, a clean dual-currency sweepstakes ban. Both passed with crossover-vote majorities.
Against iGaming
Over $700 million has been invested or committed to move casinos on shore. Bringing iGaming to Louisiana would pull the rug out from under these projects.
Cordish had just opened the $270 million Live! Casino in Bossier City and argued iGaming would cannibalize the on-shore investment SB 316 was meant to unlock.
For iGaming
There are well-documented connections between illegal online gaming taking place in the state and the money that comes from it for money laundering, for drug trafficking and for organized crime.
Light & Wonder pointed to offshore play already happening and framed regulated iGaming as the enforcement tool. The committee filed no draft bill.
The enforcement turn picked up speed in mid-2025. Gov. Landry vetoed the first sweepstakes ban, SB 181, on June 13, 2025, arguing the LGCB already had the tools it needed. Four days later the LGCB and AG Liz Murrill sent more than 40 cease-and desist letters to sweepstakes and offshore operators, and Murrill issued a formal opinion that dual-currency sweepstakes already violate state law. HB 53 (House 86-11, Senate 27-9) and HB 883 (House 99-0, Senate 35-0) passed in April 2026. Both bills sit on Landry's desk as of May 20, 2026.
No. Louisiana has not legalized real-money online casino games, and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board licenses no online slot or table-game operators. Sites advertising 'Louisiana online casino real money' run offshore without state oversight. HB 53, passed by both chambers in April 2026, would make running such a site racketeering with penalties up to 50 years and a $1 million fine.
Yes, if you are 21 and inside one of the 55 parishes that approved sports wagering on the November 2020 ballot. Mobile sportsbooks have been live since January 28, 2022. Six operators launched on day one, including FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and BetMGM.
AG Liz Murrill's June 2025 opinion deems dual-currency sweepstakes illegal under existing state law, and the LGCB has sent more than 40 cease-and-desist letters. HB 883 and HB 53 passed both chambers in April 2026 and would explicitly ban the model and reclassify it as racketeering. Both await Gov. Landry's action.
Twenty-four in total: 15 riverboat casinos, the land-based Harrah's New Orleans, 4 racinos, and 4 tribal casinos run by the Coushatta, Tunica-Biloxi, Chitimacha, and Jena Band of Choctaw tribes.
Twenty-one for casino games, slot machines, video poker, and sports wagering. Eighteen for the Louisiana Lottery, pari-mutuel horse racing, and charitable bingo.
No iGaming-authorization bill has been filed in 2026. SR 149 ordered a study in 2024, but the committee produced no draft legislation. The current legislature's focus is enforcement, not expansion: HB 53 (racketeering) and HB 883 (dual-currency ban) both passed and await Gov. Landry's signature.
