Best Casino Hotels in Louisiana on Tripadvisor: Find 25,214 traveler reviews, 3,485 candid photos, and prices for 27 casino hotels in Louisiana, United States. BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A casino operator has reported plans to lay off nearly 1,150 workers at Louisiana locations next month, the latest job losses to hit casinos in the wake of coronavirus.

• Why Do Louisiana Casinos Have To Be On Water
• Do Louisiana Casinos Have To Be On Water

Louisiana casinos are required to be located on bodies of water. There are currently 15 Louisiana casino licenses for commercial operations. Five casinos in Shreveport. Four casinos in Lake Charles. There are three casinos in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Harrah’s New Orleans is the exception to this rule. Try your luck at some of the best Louisiana Casinos. Stay & play at one of 4821 casino hotels in Louisiana and let the games begin. The casino advantage is known as the 'vig' (short for vigorish) or the rake, depending on the game. The exact number can vary based on how the player plays the game and whether the casino has set different payouts for video poker or slot machines. As of 2007, only two U.S. States do not have legal gambling: Utah and Hawaii Source: Hawaii News.

• Year Louisiana Regulated Gambling: Lottery (1868-1893, 1990-present), Racing (1852-1868, 1971-present), Bingo (1987), Casinos (1991), Truck Stop/Tavern Video Poker (1991)
• Estimated Tax Revenue from Gambling: $670 million
• Estimated Gambling Revenue: $2.9 billion
• Louisiana Gambling Age: 18 for racing and charitable gambling, 21 for lotteries and casinos
• Smoking ban: Louisiana permits smoking in casinos. New Orleans bans smoking at Harrah’s through city ordinance.
• Louisiana Online gambling: Horse racing

Louisiana gambling has the deepest roots of any other state in the South. It was home to the first racing industry in the region. It also hosted the most infamous lottery racket in history.

Modern day Louisiana gambling is still among the most friendly in the South. It hosts a lottery, horse racing, off-track betting, charitable gaming and full-scale Louisiana casinos. About half of the parishes legalized video poker at bars, taverns and truck stops. These types of sin have become a part of the state’s history.

With a total of 21 Louisiana casinos, six of them being Native American casinos, there are plenty of locations to choose from. Depending on your location, you can check the Louisiana casinos map and find the nearest one.

Paying Gambling Taxes in Louisiana

Did you know that your gambling income is taxable? OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos has gathered everything you need to know about paying taxes on your gambling winnings straight from a Certified Public Accountant. For more information please visit our exclusive Gambling Taxes article.

November 2018 Update

After the midterm elections, Daily Fantasy Sports will be a reality in the state. Residents decided to approve an initiative to allow the contests. Out of the 64 parishes in the state, 47 were in favor of legalizing daily fantasy sports. Those who voted in approval will be able to offer the option.

Due to the state constitution prohibiting gambling, legislation implementing the initiative will state that participation in a fantasy sports contest will not be considered gambling.

Louisiana Casinos Map & Guide

• Harrah’s
• Golden Nugget
• Boomtown
• Horseshoe Casino
• Paragon Casino

• Number of B&M Casinos: 21
• Number of Poker Rooms: 13
• Number of Indian Casinos: 6

Types of Louisiana Online Gambling Allowed

The only form of legal Louisiana online gambling is off-track betting. Horses are the only types of races permitted.

Daily fantasy sports are illegal in Louisiana. The state forbids games of any chance, as well as all forms of online gambling not specifically legalized by statute. Louisiana takes a hard line against illegal online gambling operators. Most offshore poker, casino, and sports betting sites do not even attempt to take action from Louisianans.

Types of Live Louisiana Gambling

• Slots: Yes
• Blackjack: Yes
• Poker: Yes
• Craps/Roulette: Yes
• Horses: Yes
• Lottery: Yes

There are many forms of live gambling in Louisiana. No other state in the South compares to it.

Horseracing is one of the original forms of gambling in Louisiana. There are several tracks in the state that offer live and simulcast racing. There is a state lottery that sells scratch-off and lotto tickets.

Charities are permitted to sell bingo cards, raffle tickets, and pools that involve games of chance. These must be operated by nonprofit organizations that register with the state.

There are plenty of legal Louisiana casinos that offer all of the popular games. There are three types of casinos in Louisiana. There are riverboat casinos, which comprises all but one commercial Louisiana casino. Harrah’s New Orleans has a special arrangement that allows it to be on land. That is because it guarantees a minimum number of jobs. There are also Native American Louisiana casinos located on reservation land.

The most unusual form of live gambling in Louisiana is video poker. It is not legal everywhere. Local jurisdictions decide whether video poker should be permitted through referendums. As of February 2016, 31 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes legalized video poker in one form or another. Some allow it in taverns while others expand that right to racetracks and/or truck stops.

Louisiana Gambling Laws

There is unusual minimum gambling ages in Louisiana. Minimum Louisiana gambling age for Bingo and racing players is 18 years to get into action. The state lottery requires players to be at least 21 years old. Louisiana casinos and convenience-style video poker also have a minimum gambling age of 21 years.

Louisiana gambling laws specifically prohibit all forms of internet gambling. Online gamblers face a fine of up to $500 for participating. Louisiana is one of just two states with explicit penalties for players. While gambling online is a misdemeanor, site operators of unlicensed poker, casino, and sports betting sites face felonies if convicted of the crime.

Louisiana casinos are required to be located on bodies of water. There are currently 15 Louisiana casino licenses for commercial operations. Five casinos in Shreveport. Four casinos in Lake Charles. There are three casinos in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Harrah’s New Orleans is the exception to this rule. In exchange for this monopoly, Harrah’s must employ at least 2,400 people. These positions are not required to be full time. Harrah’s was required to pay a $100 million annual tax payment to the state. That was later lowered to $60 million.

The original agreement with the state did not permit Harrah’s to have a hotel. This was repealed in 2001. Harrah’s was also permitted to open a full-service restaurant at that time. These conditions were originally placed on the casino to prevent it from taking business away from other businesses in downtown New Orleans.

There are 31 parishes that permit video poker. Each local jurisdiction has the right to determine where these devices may be hosted or whether the games are outright illegal. The tax rate is 26% for games located in bars and restaurants. Racetracks get a discounted 22.5% tax rate. Truck stops must pay 32.5% in taxes. Local governments receive 20% of the taxes collected. Other funds go towards local law enforcement, problem gambling, and horsemen. Two-thirds of the taxes collected go to the general fund of the state.

List of Louisiana Casinos

There are four racetracks and 28 Louisiana casinos that currently operate within the state. There are 31 parishes where video poker is available in some capacity. There is also a state lottery and a wide range of charitable organizations that spread games of chance.

You can find all Louisiana casinos below, with details on their location, size, and website. For more detailed information on locating them, you can use our Louisiana casinos map to help guide you to the closest one.

• Louisiana Downs – Bossier City
• Evangeline Downs – Opelousas

• Delta Downs – Vinton
• Fairgrounds Race Course – New Orleans

History of Louisiana Gambling

The first form of organized gambling in Louisiana was a government-run casino in 1753. There were more places to gamble in Louisiana than nearly any other city in the early 1800’s. The federal government had enough of the rampant gambling in the territory and banned casinos in 1812. The law exempted New Orleans. The legality of casinos bounced back and forth until 1866.

The first version of the Louisiana Lotterystarted in 1866. The state outlawed all other forms of gambling at that time. A private company operated the lottery. It paid the state $40,000 a year. This early form of the Louisiana Lottery accepted action across state lines. It held a near-100% market share in the country. Tickets and transactions were handled by mail. This was legal at the time but Congress deemed it unlawful on 1890. The lottery became so despised that the state legislature repealed it in 1893.

Horseracing was legalized in 1929. The first track was at the New Orleans Fair Grounds. It was the only place in the state where gambling was regulated at the time. A state lottery was created in 1991 through a constitutional referendum.

Casinos in Louisiana were legalized the same year as the lottery. Fifteen casino licenses were created where all but one, are required to be located on bodies of water. The other is in downtown New Orleans. Harrah’s New Orleans agreed to several restrictions to bypass the water-based requirement. It must employ 2,400 people. It was not permitted a hotel in its early years. This Louisiana casino had trouble reopening after the destruction of New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. The casino was not damaged as it is built several feet above the streets and in an area not flooded due to its elevation. It was difficult to find the required number of employees.

Harrah’s New Orleans has another issue affecting its operation these days. The New Orleans City Council banned smoking at Harrah’s in 2015. This did not affect the other casinos in the metro area. Harrah’s saw an immediate drop in business of 20-25%.

Four Native American tribes negotiated gaming pacts with the state under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. There are six Native American casinos in Louisiana located on reservation lands.

Video poker started to appear in truck stops and bars in the 1980’s. The games were a problem and the state decided to legalize them in 1991 to generate tax revenue. This was met with opposition from conservative groups. The state permitted each parish to determine the legality of video poker in 1996. Voters approved video poker in 31 of the 66 parishes.

Louisiana Casinos & Gambling FAQ

Yes, there are currently 21 casinos in Louisiana.

The minimum Louisiana gambling age is 18 years for racing and charitable gambling, and 21 years for lotteries and casinos.

Slots, video poker, live poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Pai Gow Poker and baccarat are among the casino games available in the state.

No. There is one land-based casino in New Orleans and six reservation casinos.

Harrah’s agreed to keep 2,400 employees on the payroll in exchange for dropping the requirement of being on the Mississippi River. It also pays a $60 million per year licensing tax that does not apply to other casinos.

There is no statewide smoking ban in Louisiana. New Orleans passed a city ordinance banning smoking in all indoor areas, including casinos. Harrah’s is the only casino in the city limits.

Yes. It sells scratch-off and lotto tickets.

Yes. This includes live races, race books, and mobile betting.

State law expressly forbids online gambling. State residents can be fined up to $500, although no player has ever been convicted. Off-track racing is exempted.

Daily fantasy sports sites like DraftKings and FanDuel are illegal in the state.

Why casinos are on the water is a common question. The truth is, casino gambling in the United States has a complicated history, one that aims to balance morals with income. The central locations for gambling in the US are Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Lake Charles, and a multitude of casinos that exist on Native American tribal lands. There are also several riverboat casinos on the nation’s waterways that started appearing in the early 1990s.

So, why are casinos on water? Casinos in several states are located on water to limit their geographical and social impact while providing income for the state. For example, states along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast opted for water-based instead of land-based ones to help sway public opinion in their favor.

Thehistory of casinos being on riverboats is based on the laws of theland. Once the profitability of Nevada’s casinos and those based onNative American land was apparent, other states wanted to cash intoo. Consequently, riverboat gambling became a balanced solution tothe battle between social policy and money.

Early History of Gaming on Riverboats

The earliest steamboats quickly allowed gambling on board because there wasn’t much else to do. Passengers passed the time away playing cards. It was inevitable that money would be put on the table during these riverboats cruises. Gambling became rampant on Mississippi riverboats back in the 1800s. Although it wasn’t official, law enforcement-endorsed gambling, it did set the precedence of the concept.

Iowa was the first state to legalize riverboat gambling in the early 1990s, and several states such as Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, and Louisiana followed suit shortly after that. At the time, betting on the boats was designed to limit the economic and geographical scope of gambling. The aim was to receive a steady flow of income without increasing crime and encouraging illegal behavior.

Early riverboat casinos were highly restrictive, allowing gambling only to take place during a short cruise – usually lasting a couple of hours. Gambling was only allowed once the boat left the dock and was sailing. Usually, it had to be three miles away from shore before gambling could commence. Laws tried to keep these gambling cruises akin to the touring journeys that were already taking place on the waterways. As such, in Iowa at the time, a riverboat casino could only sail a maximum of 100 times per year.

To circumvent social decomposition, states also set limits on how much could be gambled during each cruise. They did so by setting modest loss limits for its patrons. Typically, it was set to a value between $200 to $500. The idea was that if you limited the money that could be gambled, it would keep profits small enough that the mob, which ran Las Vegas at the time, would not infiltrate these smaller gambling establishments.

However,as competition increased and the popularity and acceptance ofriverboat casinos increased, all these rules stated to relax.

Native American’s Landmark Case

Why Do Louisiana Casinos Have To Be On Water

There was an explosion of legalized gambling in the early 1990s following a Supreme Court Ruling allowing casinos on Native American tribal lands. As a result, several states wanted to open casinos while minimalizing organized crime and making a profit from legalized gambling.

The current gambling infrastructure in the United States owes a lot to the Native Americans and their pursuit of legalized gambling on their land. This was possible due to the fact that Native American land is sovereign and, therefore, not subject to the laws of the United Staes. Sovereign doesn’t mean that anything goes on Native American land, though. If actions on the area hurt the American public – US federal laws apply.

Thelegalization of gambling on Native American land started in the1980s. At the time, tribes with reservations had lost the vastmajority of their preexisting Federal aid under the Reaganadministration. The exception to this trend, however, was a fewCalifornian tribes that operated bingo parlors on their land.California, which outlawed gambling, sought to cease this activity asthey didn’t want their citizens gambling. While some wealthy peoplebet big, most gamblers are poor or become destitute through theirgambling habits. California wanted to prevent these bingo parlorsfrom negatively affecting their economy by creating a moresignificant gap to the lower class.

To fight back against the state, the leader of the Cabazon tribe, Arthur James Welmas took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1987 he won the ruling and sparked the creation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988. The implications of this law were that Native Americans could use their land for a casino if the state it was in allowed any form of gambling, including the lottery. It also gave the Federal government oversight to the gaming industry on these lands. The purpose of the ruling was to prevent these casinos from being infiltrated by organized crime.

Most Casinos on Boats Today

Do Louisiana Casinos Have To Be On Water

Casino Riverboats became increasingly popular, and competition grew. The limits on gambling relaxed, and the length of cruises increased. Quickly. Coast guards got frustrated with the casino evening cruises flooding the waterways.

Contemporaneously, the casino owners were searching for a way for gambling to be allowed on their boats over more extended hours. Likewise, casino customers didn’t like the cruise aspect of their casinos. They didn’t want to leave the dock for a set period of time. As a result, riverboats started to be moored on the edge of the river, and are termed boats in moats.

Today, most water-based casinos do not move. Some are now stationary buildings that float on water blocks and are not designed to float at all.

Final Thoughts

Many casinos exist on waterways in the United States as a workaround to local opposition to legalized gambling. It’s a practice that started in the early 1990s after the Supreme Court allowed gambling establishments on Native American lands in states that had any form of gambling, including the lottery. Riverboat casinos were seen as a compromise to allowing income without creating too much social decline.

Over time, restrictions on their operations were removed, meaning they no longer had to be away from the dock to function as a casino. Nowadays, casinos are on water due to history, rather than for the purpose of sailing.

Related Questions

In Which States is Gambling Legal?

Nevada and Louisiana are the only two states that allow state-wide casino-style gambling. Other states restrict gambling to specific geographical areas. For example, Atlantic City hosts New Jersey’s gambling fraction, whereas in Missippissi keeps most of its casinos to Tunica.

Several states restrict gambling to boats on the water, although they are often moored and no longer travel. You could argue that any state that has a lottery allows some form of gambling. That would mean only two states completely prohibit the act – Hawaii, and Utah.

Online gambling is far more regulated. You cannot partake in interstate gambling of sports (Federal Wire Act of 1961 prohibits it). However, no clear law exists banning online gambling; instead, it illegalizes the monetary transaction of funds to an online gambling provider. It gets a bit confusing, but California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia all allow some form of online gambling. It best to check current laws as legislation in this area is continuously evolving.

How Big is the Gambling Industry In the United States?

Gambling is a massive industry in the United States, and it is currently worth over $240 billion annually. In 2017 the gross revenue was over $158 billion, and the industry employed 1.7 million people across 40 states. In tax revenue, it generated $8.85 billion in local and state taxes. The vast majority of profit is made in commercial casinos ($41.2 billion) and tribal casinos ($32 billion). The rest is generated by card rooms, lotteries, bookmaking, pari-mutuel wagering, and charitable games and bingo.