From August 1, 2026, Louisiana law treats dual-currency sweepstakes casinos as gambling by computer, the state’s crime for illegal online gambling. Act 182, which began as House Bill 883, also sets penalties for the businesses that support those sites, gives the attorney general takedown powers, and fines payment processors and hosts that ignore court orders.
Representative Laurie Schlegel sponsored the bill. It passed the House 99-0 and the Senate 35-0, and it was signed into law on May 15, 2026.
The main change is in subsection B of R.S. 14:90.3. A game, contest or promotion offered online or on a phone or similar device now counts as gambling by computer if two things are true. It uses a dual-currency payment system that lets the player turn that currency into a prize, cash or something worth cash, or into the chance to win one. And it simulates any form of gambling.
Penalties depend on your role. A player in Louisiana faces a fine of up to $500, up to six months in jail, or both. Operators, and anyone who builds or runs the service for them, face up to five years. Suppliers, platform and geolocation providers, game content suppliers, promoters, endorsers and media affiliates who knowingly help face up to $20,000 and five years, and the fines double when someone under 21 is involved. Every wager and every promotion counts as its own violation, and courts must order profits forfeited.
Under new R.S. 27:19.1, cease-and-desist notices can come from the attorney general, or from the chairman of the gaming board, and they give the recipient 10 days to stop. The attorney general must post a public list of everyone notified. Under R.S. 27:19.2, courts can order sites taken down and accounts frozen. A platform or payment processor that breaks such an order owes $50,000 for a first violation and $100,000 for each one after that, counted per day the site stays reachable in Louisiana or, for processors, per transaction.
Licensed casino gaming on premises, legal sports betting and fantasy sports are carved out.