Legal online — but only in the 55 of 64 parishes that voted yes in 2020. Apps use geolocation, so a bet placed in one of the 9 holdout parishes won’t go through. Online books launched January 2022; about eight operate, including FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM.
Legal and everywhere. Louisiana has around two dozen casinos — 15 riverboats, the land-based Caesars New Orleans, four racinos, and four tribal resorts — many with live poker rooms.
Legal, and also decided parish-by-parish: voters approved DFS in 47 parishes back in 2018. Regulated contests from DraftKings and FanDuel launched in July 2021.
Legal, including online advance-deposit wagering (18+). Louisiana has a deep racing tradition — Fair Grounds, Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs — and apps like TwinSpires accept residents.
Legal and state-run since 1991. There are no online ticket sales, though — the official app is for checking numbers, not buying.
Banned. After vetoing a 2025 ban, the state reversed course in 2026: new laws make dual-currency sweepstakes illegal — and even a racketeering crime — effective August 1, 2026, among the toughest stances in the country.
Not legal. Louisiana protects its large land-based casino industry, and there’s no regulated online casino. Offshore sites operate in a grey area — one the state’s new 2026 laws take direct aim at.
Not legal online — though live poker is legal and widely available at Louisiana casinos. Offshore sites serve residents in a grey area with no state oversight.
After vetoing a 2025 ban, Governor Landry signed 2026 laws making dual-currency online sweepstakes illegal — and a racketeering offense — effective August 1, 2026. Louisiana became one of the most aggressive anti-sweepstakes states.
Louisiana raised its online sports-betting tax from 15% to 21.5%, routing a quarter of the revenue to a new fund for public-university athletic departments.
Mobile sportsbooks went live on January 28, 2022 — but only for bettors physically inside the 55 opt-in parishes.
The first in-person sportsbooks opened at Louisiana casinos and racetracks in late October 2021.
Regulated daily fantasy sports launched in July 2021, roughly three years after voters approved it parish-by-parish.
In the November 2020 election, 55 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes voted to allow sports betting; nine mostly rural parishes voted no and remain betting-free.
Louisiana authorized riverboat casinos and a land-based New Orleans casino in the early 1990s, added racinos, and in 2018 let riverboats move their gaming floors onto land.
Louisiana is one of the country’s true casino states — around two dozen riverboat, land-based, racino, and tribal casinos, most with live poker. Yet online casino and online poker remain illegal. Like Maryland, Louisiana pairs a big land-based casino scene with no legal online version; its western neighbor Texas, by contrast, bans almost all gambling. As with several big casino states, the land-based industry is powerful and wary of being cannibalized, so there’s little appetite in Baton Rouge for iGaming.
Sports betting shows how cautious Louisiana is even when it does expand: it legalized betting parish by parish, so the map is a patchwork — legal in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport, but not in the nine parishes that voted no. Online casino would likely require the same slow, local-consent path, and no serious legalization bill has advanced. Full-iGaming states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and neighboring West Virginia run regulated online casinos; Louisiana has stayed out — and in 2026 it went the other direction, banning sweepstakes casinos outright.
So Louisianans who want to play online casino games or poker use offshore sites like Ignition, Bovada, and ACR Poker, which sit outside state oversight — and which the state’s new 2026 anti-online-gambling laws are designed to discourage. For a regulated game, players simply visit a casino: the live poker rooms at Caesars New Orleans, L’Auberge Lake Charles, and Coushatta are among the biggest in the South.
The practical reality: If you’re in one of the 55 opt-in parishes, Louisiana’s legal sportsbooks work well, and casinos across the state offer live poker and table games. For online casino or poker there’s no legal route — residents use offshore sites, which the state is actively moving against.
Sports betting is legal online in 55 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes, and casinos statewide offer live poker. But there’s no legal online casino or online poker — for those, offshore sites are the only option, and Louisiana is cracking down on them.
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Solid all-rounder — poker + sports + casino with the best card deposit rates
Good — Best US poker site, solid casino, crypto-first
Strong casino library with 500+ games, fast crypto, but no poker room
Ignition’s sister casino — great for slots and blackjack, fast crypto payouts
Good casino, no poker — best for slots and blackjack variety
Ignition family casino — strong table games, fast crypto, slots-focused branding
Solid all-rounder — poker + sports + casino with the best card deposit rates
Good — Best US poker site, solid casino, crypto-first
Solid all-rounder — poker + sports + casino with the best card deposit rates
The biggest regulated US name with casino, poker, and sportsbook under one login.
Polished app and strong brand, but thin video poker, no 24/7 support, and state-variable game counts hold it back from the top tier.
1x playthrough on the welcome bonus is genuinely rare and iRush Rewards is transparent — but the ~400-game library is small and player-reported support issues drag the experience down.
Slickest casino app in US regulated gaming on the surface — but Trustpilot sits at 1.2/5 on consistent complaints about slow withdrawals, poor support, and bet-grading disputes.
Few states have a casino scene as deep as Louisiana’s. There are around two dozen casinos: 15 riverboat casinos, the land-based Caesars New Orleans (formerly Harrah’s, rebranded in 2024), four racinos tied to horse tracks, and four tribal resorts.
The tribal casinos are run by the Coushatta, Chitimacha, Tunica-Biloxi, and Jena Band of Choctaw — Coushatta Casino Resort and Paragon (Tunica-Biloxi) are among the largest. A 2018 law also let the old riverboats move their gaming floors onto land, modernizing properties that had been ‘boats’ only for legal reasons dating to 1991.
For poker players, Louisiana is a genuine destination: live poker is legal and easy to find. The WSOP-branded room at Caesars New Orleans, the big rooms at L’Auberge Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, and tribal rooms like Coushatta and Paragon mean residents can play regulated live poker even though the online game isn’t offered.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board licenses and oversees the state's sportsbooks and casinos, with responsible-gaming rules and a statewide self-exclusion program (minimum five years).
DFS is regulated by the Gaming Control Board and online horse-race wagering by the State Racing Commission. Consumer protections apply to these licensed products.
No Louisiana protection. Offshore casino and poker sites are unlicensed here — no fund segregation, no dispute recourse — and 2026 laws make offering them a serious crime. If a site refuses to pay, you have no recourse.
Our guidance: If you’re in an opt-in parish, use the LGCB-licensed sports apps. For casino games and poker, Louisiana’s casinos offer regulated in-person play, including live poker. Online casino and poker aren’t legal — the state is actively cracking down on offshore and sweepstakes sites, so weigh that before playing. Louisiana does not prosecute individual recreational players.
If gambling stops being fun — or you're chasing losses — free, confidential help is available 24/7. Louisiana's Problem Gamblers Helpline connects residents to treatment and support.
Primary sources cited throughout this guide.
