Video poker is permitted at Louisiana truck stops, racetracks/OTB's and bars/taverns in 31 of the state's 64 parishes (counties). There is no limit to the number of machines permitted at racetracks and off-track betting locations, however, truck stops are allowed no more than 50, while bars and taverns are permitted a maximum of three. Louisiana was the fourth state to approve riverboat casino gambling and its 1991 gambling law allows a maximum of 15 boats statewide with a limit of six in any one parish. In 1992 a provision was added for one land-based casino in New Orleans. The state also has three land-based Indian casinos.
The law requires that all boats must be paddle-wheel driven and replicas of old-fashioned turn-of-the-century models. All of the boats are also required to cruise, except those located along the Red River which are exempt because those waters were deemed too dangerous to continually navigate. A section of the state's law, however, allows the captain to order any boat to remain dockside if he believes that the sailing conditions present any kind of danger to the vessel, passengers or crew. Until early 1995 many of the riverboats used this loophole to avoid cruising and almost all of them offered 24-hour dockside gaming. This eventually led to a more stringent enforcement by gaming authorities and now all riverboats (except those on the Red River) must go on 90-minute cruises. All cruises are free and boarding is scheduled 45 minutes before each cruise. Passengers can, however, actually begin boarding as soon as the boat returns from its previous cruise which is about an hour-and-a-half before the next scheduled cruise.
Casino gambling has been fairly successful everywhere in Louisiana except for New Orleans. There was a major failure in that city in June 1995 when the River City casino complex closed after only two months of operation. That complex contained two riverboats (Grand Palais and Crescent City) and couldn't generate enough business to remain open. Also, another riverboat in downtown New Orleans - the Flamingo Casino - ceased operating in 1998. The state's only, non-Indian, land-based casino, Harrah's New Orleans, originally declared bankruptcy and closed its temporary casino in November 1995. There were lengthy negotiations between Harrah's and the state to allow the casino to re-open, however, and the casino did re-open again in 1999.
As of August 2000 there were 13 riverboat casinos in operation in 11 different locations (the two Lake Charles locations each have two boats). A 14th casino - Hollywood Casino in Shreveport - was expected to open by early 2001. Additionallly, the state's Gaming Control Board was reviewing applications from three different companies to award the 15th license and they were expected to announce their decision by early 2001. Louisiana's gaming regulations require that gaming machines in casinos be programmed to pay back no less than 80% and no more than 99.9%. For video gaming machines at locations other than casinos the law requires a minimum return of 80% and a maximum return of 94%. Louisiana gaming statistics are not broken down by individual properties. Rather, they are classified by region: Baton Rouge (BR) , Lake Charles (LC), New Orleans (NO) and Shreveport/Bossier City (SB).
The Baton Rouge casinos consist of the Argosy and Casino Rouge. The Lake Charles casinos include: Grand Palais, Isle of Capri, Players and Star. New Orleans area casinos are: Bally's, Boomtown, Harrah's (landbased) and Treasure Chest. The Shreveport/Bossier city casinos include: Casino Magic, Isle of Capri Harrah's and Horseshoe. Here's information, as supplied by the Louisiana State Police - Riverboat Gaming Section, showing the average electronic machine payback percentages for each area's casinos for the five-month period from January through May, 2000:
These numbers reflect the percentage of money returned on each denomination of machine and encompass all electronic machines including video poker and video keno. The best returns for each category are highlighted in bold print and you can see that the Baton Rouge area casinos offered the best returns in almost every category. All riverboat casinos are open 24 hours and the games offered are: blackjack, craps, roulette, slots and video poker. Optional games include: baccarat (B), mini-baccarat (MB), poker (P), Caribbean Stud Poker (CSP), Pai Gow Poker (PGP), let it ride (LIR), casino war (CW), big 6 wheel (B6), keno (K) and bingo (BG). The minimum gambling age is 21. For more information on visiting Louisiana call the state's tourism department at (800) 633-6970.
www.ballysno.com Toll-Free Number: (800) 57-BALLY Restaurants: 1 (Snack bar on boat) Buffets: B-$5.95(Sat/Sun) L-$8.95 D-$11.95/$15.95 (Fri) Departures: 6am/pm, 9am/pm, 12am/pm, 3am/pm Casino Size: 30,000 Square Feet Other Games: B, MB, P, CSP, PGP, LIR Senior Discount: 15% discount on buffets & logo shop purchases on Mon/Thu, if 55, or older Special Features: 1,200-passenger paddle wheeler that cruises Lake Pontchartrain. Buffets, restaurant and sports bar are located in land-based terminal.
Get Map
Driving Directions
