Louisiana is known across the country for its great food, music and festivals. Louisiana is also known for its slot pragmatic gaming. People come from across the South to enjoy the food in casino restaurants and to gamble on riverboats. While the Mississippi Gulf Shoreline has numerous casinos, almost all forms of gaming are illegal in neighboring Texas and Arkansas. This article is designed with a brief summary of gaming activities that are legal in Louisiana and those that are not.
Gaming in Louisiana is defined as “the intentional conducting, or directly assisting in the conducting, as a business of any game, context, lottery, or contrivance whereby a person risks the loss of anything of value in order to realize a profit. “
LEGAL GAMING IN LOUISIANA
Age constraints: To participate in the state lottery or horse track gambling on you must be 15 years old. To gamble in a casino or on a video poker machine, you must be twenty-one.
Casinos and Racetracks: Riverboat casinos are legal in Louisiana. “Riverboat” refers to anything hovering in the water, which results in many riverboats consisting of large structures on anchored barges near the shore. A land-based casino is licensed by the state in the City of New Orleans and on Indian tribal land. Gambling on on horse races are legal but dog racing is illegal.
State lottery: The Louisiana Lottery began in 1991 and lottery proceeds are legislatively earmarked for improving Louisiana’s educational system. The Louisiana lottery includes numbers drawing, Power-ball, and scratch off tickets.
Video poker: Casinos and racetracks in the state have video poker machines, as do a number of restaurants, gas stations, bars and truck stops. In Louisiana, if a business has a liquor licence, this licence allows you to have up to three video gaming machines. Truck stops can operate more video poker machines depending on the amount of fuel they sell.
Social Gaming and Non-profit Gaming: Social gaming (for recreational purposes and not for business purposes) such as pool games, personal proposition wagers or gambling on on sports is legal in Louisiana as long as nobody has a “cut” or fee from managing the transaction (other than awards to the rightful winner). Certain gaming activities such as raffles, bingo and keno which are directly associated with non-profit fund-raising for non-profit organizations is legal.
Commercial cruise ships in international waters: Gaming on commercial cruise ships that travel internationally (beyond 12 miles offshore) is legal.
Taxes: Any establishment that gives a one-time gaming award of $600 or more is required to report the winning, along with the recipient’s social security number, to the IRS and Louisiana Department of Revenue. Residents must report gaming revenue as taxable income on their federal and state tax statements.
ILLEGAL GAMING IN LOUISIANA
Dogfighting and gaming related to dogfighting: La. R. S. 14: 102. 5 makes it illegal to own, possess, keep or train fourteen weeks is the when it comes to dogfighting or to possess any paraphernalia used in training dogs to fight. Infringement for a first conviction results in a fine all the way to $1000 and/or not more than one year imprisonment. A subsequent conviction results in a fine all the way to $3000 and/or imprisonment of not more than three years.
Cockfighting and gaming related to cockfighting: La. R. S. 14: 102. 12 makes it unlawful for any person to organize or conduct any commercial or private cockfight where it is reasonably foreseeable that chickens would be injured. It is also unlawful to possess, train or purchase any chicken for cockfighting purposes. A first offense conviction results in a fine all the way to $1000 and/or a few months imprisonment. A second offense conviction results in a fine all the way to $2000 and/or one year imprisonment. One third offense conviction results in a fine all the way to $2000 and/or three years imprisonment.
State may take property connected with illegal gaming: The state may take any property connected with illegal gaming and upon conviction may sell the confiscated property at public auction.
Computer gaming: Gaming by computer is prohibited in Louisiana. Computer gaming is the conducting as a business of any game, context, lottery or other activity whereby a person risks the loss of anything of value in order to realize a profit when accessing the internet. A conviction results in a fine of $500 and/or up to a few months imprisonment.