Louisiana could argue that it is the home of gambling.
There are more than 40 state-licensed casinos, hundreds of truck-stop casinos and tons of restaurants and bars with video poker machines. Riverboat casinos, tribal casinos and more populate the entire state. And Louisiana sports betting launched in late 2021 with online sportsbooks opening in January 2022.
In the country as a whole, the online gambling market has skyrocketed with the rise of online sportsbooks. Over the past 12 months the total size of the online gambling market in the country was $8.9 billion, with just over half of that number coming from sportsbooks and iGaming contributing just under half of that number.
With the great success sports betting has had in Louisiana, combined with the state’s proclivity for gambling at casinos, LouisianaBets.com looked at which states love casinos and gambling the most, and where The Bayou State places on that list.
Method For Determining Rankings
LouisianaBets used four data points to develop the ranking of the 50 U.S. states from most to least casino-loving states. The numbers are derived from UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research report for 2022 Casino Revenue, Google Trends for most searches of “online casino” and “casinos near me,” and Wikipedia to determine the number of casinos per capita.
For the revenue and casinos per capita category, we gave 50 points for the top state in the category down to 1 point for the bottom state. The two Google Trends search rankings are combined into the “Most Searches” category so that column is on a scale up to 100 possible points.
With so many states legalizing online casinos and building new land-based casinos across the country — and Louisiana sports betting apps gaining in popularity too — this is the perfect time to look at which states are most interested in casino betting.
Here are the results, featuring the top 15 states that spark the most interest in gambling at casinos.
Ranking of Casino-Loving States
Louisiana No. 3 Among Casino-Loving States
To no surprise, Nevada was untouchable at the top of the ranking as it ranked first in both number of casinos per capita and casino revenue. Las Vegas alone is a casino lover's dream and anything other than the top spot for the state would have qualified as a massive upset.
Mississippi ranked second based on a strong showing in the “searches for casino” category, and Louisiana’s neighbor also ranked in the top 10 in number of casinos and revenue generated from them.
Louisiana proved its love for casinos and gambling by ranking third. In the January Louisiana casino revenue report alone, the state reported $255 million in casino gaming revenue and another $28 million on sports betting, from a handle (amount wagered) of more than $282 million.
The Bayou State scored high in every category of our rankings. With all of the options available, it is no surprise to see Louisiana score highly in the sheer number of casinos as well as revenue generated. If the state ever expands its gambling laws to include online casinos, we would see operators like BetRivers Louisiana drive revenue numbers even higher.
Many Options For Louisiana Gambling
With so many options it makes sense people are searching Google to decide which one to frequent for a night of gambling.
Regulated Louisiana online casinos have not yet come to the state, but Louisiana’s track record with legalizing sports betting suggests that iGaming could be on its way soon as well.
In a state that clearly loves to gamble and loves the casinos, this would provide another gaming option. Right now six states offer legal, regulated online casinos, also known as iGaming — New Jersey, Michigan, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
In the meantime, the Louisiana casino industry — including sports wagering operators that offer Louisiana sportsbook promos for signing up — will continue to thrive with tons of people enjoying a bet and bringing in revenue daily.
