Louisiana Poker Laws

Louisiana is one of the top two or three states in terms of anti-online gambling laws, though The Pelican State does allow some forms of legal gambling. In Louisiana, you must follow a lengthy set of regulations in order to play a legal game of poker. Yes, you can play private poker games and even casino-based poker and other wagers, and in fact, Louisiana is generally a gambling-friendly state. It’s only when it comes to online gaming that Louisiana gets really strict.

Legal Laws in Louisiana for Online Poker?

The State of Louisiana includes explicit regulations against Internet wagering in its penal code. If you read line D of state bill 90.3, you’ll see that Louisiana believes that “Whoever commits the crime of gambling by computer shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.” Those are among the stiffest penalties for Internet gambling in the USA.

There are few loopholes in Louisiana’s tough anti-online gaming law, which includes very specific definitions of what constitutes “gambling by computer,” so you’re not going to get away with online gambling if you get caught. The question of whether or not Louisiana is able to monitor or even go after online gamblers is unclear, but obviously the state considers it a very serious crime.

Are Private Poker Games in Louisiana Legal?

Read through the Louisiana Penal Code’s sections on gambling, and it is clear that they approach home poker law from the perspective of making sure Louisiana citizens aren’t running an illegal gambling house. That means for the most part, only the business and operation of regular gambling is illegal in Louisiana. That basically means that as long as your social poker game isn’t run as a business, the game is legal. How do you do that? If the game’s host or operator doesn’t charge any entry or rental fees and doesn’t rake the pots, Louisiana doesn’t consider it an illegal business.

In Louisiana, private poker games must be as private as possible. Gambling in public is explicitly illegal by state law, so if you keep your private game behind closed doors and do not make a public nuisance of yourselves, you’ll be in the clear.

One final note on the legality of social poker games: unlike in most states, where the legal age for gambling is 18, you must be at least 21 to play in private games in Louisiana. The state takes underage gambling very seriously, so if you are playing at a private game and there are 18 or 19 year olds in the room, you could face a five hundred dollar fine and a prison sentence of no less than six months in state prison.

Louisiana Casino Poker - Are Casinos Legal in Louisiana?

Louisiana was one of the country’s first major areas for gambling. In the early history of the USA, Louisiana was the root for the popularity of gambling on the Mississippi River. Louisiana has a history of being friendly to casino gambling, and many citizens of Louisiana are regular casino gamblers, as well as people who live in nearby Texas, which does not offer as much opportunity to play casino games.

Louisiana has tons of legal casinos, from resort style properties to smaller more traditional riverboat casinos. At these state-licensed casinos, you can play just about any game you’d find in Vegas or Atlantic City, and poker is available at just about every gambling house in the state.

Read more about legal poker in Louisiana here [http://lgcb.dps.louisiana.gov/laws.html]