Louisiana's four Las Vegas-style casinos will soon be eligible to add more gambling devices

The four casinos that account for about half of Louisiana’s take can soon add more gambling machines under rules approved by a state board Thursday.

Once they clear a handful of administrative hurdles, such as public comment, the new regulations should go into effect in a few months. The procedures are aimed at allowing upgrades for recently built Las Vegas-style casino resorts that only technically followed the old riverboat law requiring gambling floors to sit over water on a navigable waterway.

For instance, the gambling area for L’Auberge Casino & Hotel complex in Baton Rouge, which opened in September 2012, hangs over a Mississippi River levee and has about 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games. Under the new rules the casino could add up to 6 percent more "gaming positions" – another 93 devices or tables – if the Louisiana Gaming Control Board approves.

Ronnie Jones, who chairs the board, said Thursday the proposals would better align the four casino resorts with state laws passed earlier this year.

Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_918d4d2e-0485-11e9-9a0b-e3a3671a5b5e.html