Louisiana State on the Map Next to an American Football Player

Casinos in Louisiana Start Offering Sports Betting Sports Betting

Four Casinos in Louisiana Start Offering Sports Betting Facilities

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 10 November 2021

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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At the end of last month, Louisiana joined many other states across the country when it started issuing sports betting licenses for commercial sportsbooks. The new sports betting market in the state is getting off to a good start, with more casinos now launching sports betting within their venues.

The news will be welcomed by both state officials and sports fans in Louisiana, many of whom have been eager to place bets, particularly given the timing in the midst of football season.

Sports betting in the state was actually approved by voters last year in the majority of parishes. However, due to the need to put regulatory framework into place coupled with other issues, there were some delays.

Four More Casinos Now Offering Sports Betting

There are now four casinos that are actively offering retail sports betting to sports fans in Louisiana. These are Harrah’s New Orleans, L’Auberge Casino in Baton Rouge, Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City, and Boomtown Casino in Harvey.

Two of these are Caesar’s properties, and they opened their doors for sports betting on the very day that it became legal at 7.00 am. The other two casinos started taking bets shortly after the date of going live, and many commented on how eager patrons were to get started with sports betting at the venues.

Samir Mowad, the senior vice president and general manager at Caesars Entertainment, spoke about how eager patrons at Harrah’s were to start placing their bets in the run-up to opening. He said:

The number of times is relentless, right. I came up here just to see what’s going on the games and catch some scores on the TVs. It was just a steady stream of guests coming up and saying ‘Is this open? Can we bet now?’

According to reports, another couple of licenses should be issued over the coming days and this will give sports fans in the state more choice in where they place their bets.

A Variety of Reasons Behind Delays

The journey to finally launching commercial sports betting in the state has not been a smooth one, as there have been a number of delays for various reasons. One of the delays was down to the time it took for regulatory framework to be put into place after voters initially approved sports betting in 55 of the 64 parishes.

Another issue that caused delays for the launch of sports betting was the impact of Hurricane Ida, which resulted in troopers having to deal with responses to the hurricane. The legislation to regulate and authorize sports betting was actually signed back in June by Governor John Bel Edwards, after which license applications were being checked by regulators and state police.

In total, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board will be issuing 20 licenses, and these will go to racetracks and casinos. At present, sports betting will only be allowed in person at licensed retail establishments, and the gaming control board will carry on issuing licenses as the application checks are completed.