Louisiana Online Sports Betting

Louisiana gambling law is an odd mix of permissive and restrictive statutes. The crystal-clear written regulations outline what is and isn’t legal across a wide variety of gambling options, including table games, the lottery and video poker.

With its warm climate, Louisiana is home to a variety of legal casino gambling options, from slot machines at race tracks to full-fledged commercial casinos, riverboat casinos, and tribal resorts, making it one of the nation’s prime locations for a gambling vacation․ Louisiana’s 14 riverboat casinos and dozens of other commercial and tribal properties draw in millions of tourists to the state each and every year.

The state offers the gambler a healthy mix of legal options in casinos, horse racing, live poker, advanced video poker laws, charitable gambling and legal sports betting.

Louisiana has a 5% state tax on gambling winnings.

Large gambling wins over $600 in Louisiana may possibly attract an additional Federal Tax.

Contact your tax attorney to assess your potential Federal tax liability if you have a big win in Louisiana.

Just like its available and prohibited forms of gaming, minimum gambling ages in Louisiana are a little of a mixed bag. The State Lottery and Casino Gaming legal ages are both 21, while horse racing and charitable gaming legal ages lower to 18 in Louisiana.

Louisiana has successful and long-established (however, quite separate) sports and gambling industries. On the sports side, Louisiana is home to NFL and NBA franchises in addition to one of the biggest college football programs in the nation.

The strength of sports and gambling has led to Louisiana entering the legal world environment of betting on sports fray in March of 2018 with the introduction of a bill into the State Legislature. The bill proposed legalizing sports betting at four of the state’s live horse racing facilities. It also called for a referendum in each of the parishes in which sports betting would take place, as required by the Louisiana Constitution for any expansion of gambling. If the voters of each parish approve, race courses in all four parishes would be permitted to begin taking wagers on all manner of sports.

Only 55 of the state’s 64 parishes approved of sports betting, meaning the geolocation filters within the apps will bar those in the other nine parishes from submitting bets. In addition to the horse racing tracks, tribal casinos as well as commercial casinos began taking in-person bets in October 2021.

Online sports betting launced in Louisiana in January 2022, two months after the first retail location opened to the public. In the style of NJ online sports betting sites, there are a plethora of options now for betting on sports in the state both in person and online.

Lawmakers in the federal judiciary have administered that Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) are exempt from federal jurisdiction, as they have legally assessed DFS to be contest of skill, rather than a gambling game of chance.

At the state level in Louisiana, however, DFS participation is considered a form of gambling, which the state banned. The residents of 47 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes voted to legalize DFS in 2018, but it took two years for the state to craft and pass the necessary legislation. In February 2021, the state began accepting operators for DFS, and the contests began in July.

Despite sports betting being legalized, eSports betting is still unavailable in Louisiana. Once eSports betting becomes available in Louisiana, it should become very popular in the state with its rise in popularity worldwide in the last five years.

The ‘eSports’ Phenomenon Explained

‘eSports’ is effectively video game play at the highest level possible, most often played in a team format (rather than individually) in leagues and tournaments worldwide. Software game development companies have launched their own pro leagues, and as live streaming technology has continued to improve, eSports competitions have been transformed into global betting events.

High-profile eSports such as Fortnite, Dota 2, League of Legends, Overwatch, CS:GO, and Call of Duty have their own league competitions with big global followings.

Developed sports betting markets such as Australia, Canada, and Britain, offer a range of betting markets across all major eSports tournaments.

Once sports betting is legalized in Louisiana, watch for eSports betting to be offered at your favorite sportsbook in the state.

Horse racing betting is completely legal (both online and on course/track side) for all visitors to, and residents of the state of Louisiana. Each state has been granted the right to rule on the legality of horse racing betting by federal authorities. Consequently, many states permit their residents and visitors to bet on horse races both trackside, off-track betting and online. Many of the largest horse betting websites across the United States have a presence in the state of Louisiana.

Trackside

Louisiana currently has four live horse racing track facilities. Louisiana is one of the many states of the union where no greyhound racing track facilities exist, due to greyhound racing being illegal.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Louisiana

Off track betting bureaus (OTBs) are widespread throughout Louisiana. Full betting on horse racing and simulcast racing are offered at the extensive network of more than 15 OTB bureaus across the state. Betting on races in Louisiana, most major racing locations worldwide and of course, across the United States and are all available in Louisiana’s OTB’s.

Online Horse Racing

Major U.S. online horse racing betting sites all accept customers from the state of Louisiana and offer real money bets on horse racing (Triple Crown, Breeder’s Cup, etc.) for Louisiana residents and visitors to the state.

Visit our page on Louisiana’s gambling laws for our list of the top online casinos in the state