NEW ORLEANS — If you bet on the Saints on Sunday, you came away with a nice chunk of cash in your pocket.
Better still, you were able to do so without running afoul of Louisiana law.
We caught up with Josh Robertson from San Antonio as he was cashing in his ticket.
“We put a couple thousand on the Saints money line and it hit, so we had a pretty good cash out,” Robertson said.
Harrah’s in downtown New Orleans was the first casino in the metro area to open its sportsbook.
“We had a great day,” Harrah’s GM Samir Mowad said. “Quite honestly the line throughout the afternoon was tremendous. Over an hour plus wait, really until the Saints game got rolling.”
For now, sports betting will only be allowed in state-regulated casinos.
The goal is to launch mobile betting by the first of the year.
“They need another couple of months to work with the geofencing and the compliance,” Senator Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge said. “You’ve got to be able to have the security on your phone so an underaged child doesn’t grab your phone and start making bets.”
Voters in 55 of the states 64 parishes approved sports wagering last fall.
Only people in those parishes will be allowed to place a bet online.
Talbot co-authored the bill that set up the framework to regulate and tax sports betting.
“I would have liked it to be a little quicker,” Talbot said. “I would have loved to of had it before the football season started, but I’m glad that the two casinos came online before the Tampa Bay-Saints game.”
There is also a third option for sports wagering in Louisiana. Eventually, you’ll be able to place your bets at kiosks at state-approved restaurants and bars. Those kiosks will be run by the Louisiana Lottery Corporation. They’re also expected to come online in January.
So far, 14 of the state’s 20 casinos and racetrack casinos have applied for a state license to allow sports betting.
They are expected to be approved by the end of the year.