The gambling landscape in the state of Louisiana is to see some major changes brought to life, as the local Legislature and the State Governor John Bell Edwards gave the green light to a number of new gambling laws in 2018.
The truth is that some of the changes brought to the legislative and regulatory framework of the state were historic, such as the new ballot initiative which could see the legalization of mobile gambling as well as a piece of legislation which could see riverboat casinos move some of their operations on land.
Some of the main changes that have been considered by Louisiana legislators included riverboats, daily fantasy sports, video poker and slot machines at racetracks. The new laws added to the gambling legislation and regulatory framework of the state are hoped to make the state’s gambling industry more competitive to its neighboring states and the gambling options offered by them.
Louisiana Gambling Legislation Set to Become More Competitive
As mentioned above, Louisiana riverboat casinos will be given the chance to move on land within 1,200 feet of their current location. In case that they do not move their operation ashore, the riverboat casinos will be able to expand their gambling operations under the new piece of legislation. Currently, there are 15 riverboat casinos in the state, with them expected to comply with the new law which has imposed a 30,000-square-foot limitation on where gambling operations will be permitted to take place.
On the other hand, the state of Louisiana has seen some major changes in terms of daily fantasy sports games offered online and on mobile devices. The DFS games have been made legal for the first time ever in the history of the state, with the new piece of legislation set to allow each parish to individually decide whether to greenlight fantasy sports gambling on the upcoming November ballot or not. In case that local voters decide to reject the DFS expansion, parish residents will not be able to legally place bets on daily fantasy sports.
Another new law brought to the gambling landscape of Louisiana will see a change brought to the definition of what games are regarded to as video poker and is to clear some restrictions regarding the look of video poker games and video poker machines. What is more, some additional requirements have been added in terms of truck stop video poker outlets in order to feature a certain number of machines and to keep them operating.
Last, but not least, some new rules concerning Louisiana’s four horse racetracks will provide the latter with an official permission to install larger slot machines. Under the current state law, there is a certain restriction imposed on gambling space at local racetracks to 15,000 square feet. Under the new piece of legislation, Louisiana racetracks will be given the right to offer a total of 1,632 machine and gambling seats.
