Louisiana Aiming to Update its Antiquated Casino Laws

Over the past few years, Louisiana’s casino market has fallen behind its rivals in neighboring states, thanks in no small part to antiquated laws which makes it difficult to gain a competitive edge in an increasingly saturated market.

That may all be about to change, though, as currently there are five gambling bills being discussed in the state Senate that, according to The Advocate newspaper, “represents the biggest effort to expand the state’s gambling laws since the modern creation of the industry in Louisiana in the early 1990s.”

Historical Background

In 1991, Louisiana passed its gambling laws and issued its first casino licenses after Governor Buddy Roemer argued for the industry being a powerful economic tool capable of generating much-needed tax revenues for the state. Nevertheless, all gambling activity was required to take place onboard river boats in motion, until an amendment introduced in 2001 allowed them to offer gambling services while docked in designated berth spaces.

With the exception of Harrah’s land-based casino in New Orleans, all the state’s 15 other casinos are currently docked riverboats which are still required by law to maintain a maritime crew. Not only has this added extra unnecessary expenses to their operations, but these venues also suffer from a lack of space onboard and rely upon the surrounding amenities on land to compliment their businesses, such as restaurants, hotel rooms, and retail shops.

In 2016, The Riverboat Economic Development and Gaming Task Force was subsequently set up, headed by Senator Johns, with the aim of making recommendations as to how Louisiana’s casinos could remain competitive with their bigger land based counterparts in neighboring states, such as Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

Moving Onto Land

During his investigation, Senator Johns spent months holding consultations and hearings with regulators and stakeholders from both inside and outside of the state, with the eventual result being the five new gambling bills currently in the Legislature.

Needless to say, they all deal with introducing legislation to update the state’s antiquated casino laws, with two of the bills proposing that casinos should be allowed to be based on land, and the others dealing with a range of amendments, including the size of properties.

According to the pieces of legislation, riverboat casinos should be permitted to shift their operations on land within 1,200 feet of their current locations, necessitating an increase in the 30,000-square-foot limitations currently imposed upon all casinos. Not only would Louisiana’s casinos then be able to make significant savings by doing away with their maritime crews, but the extra space would also allow room to add more slot machines and other gaming services, as well as general amenities for customers.

Poker Tournaments

Senator Johns has tried to allay the concerns of those parties opposed to the state’s casino industry by pointing out that the bills do not represent a gambling expansion as such because no new licenses will be issued, and there are no provisions dealing with internet gambling or sports-betting.
In the meantime, the legislation could have a hugely positive impact on Louisiana’s poker market as it would allow casinos to be better equipped to host large poker tournaments and series. Currently, a casino’s poker room area is limited to just 14 tables, severely restricting a casino’s options, and while the RunGood Poker Series USA recently took place at the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City from March 6-11, before then the previous major tour to hit the state was the WSOP Circuit back in 2013.

Commenting upon the present poker situation in Louisiana, the Horseshoe’s poker room manager Chad Disante explained: “I could have put five more tables out there, but don’t have the space. We got everybody seated, but I had to have 50 people wait for hours as alternates. Everybody wants it here. We’ve got to get the legislation through.”