Louisiana Is Running Two Sweepstakes Casino Kill Bills Simultaneously — and Both Are Moving

Louisiana’s 2026 legislative session opened on March 9, and within weeks it was clear the state had not abandoned its effort to eliminate sweepstakes casinos. What is unusual — and what distinguishes Louisiana from every other state pursuing similar legislation — is that lawmakers are running two different bills aimed at the same industry at the same time, using two entirely different legal theories. Both are advancing. The dual-track strategy represents one of the most aggressive and potentially precedent-setting legislative approaches to sweepstakes casino regulation in the country.

HB 883: The Direct Ban on Dual-Currency Gaming

House Bill 883 takes the most straightforward approach. It does not use the word “sweepstakes” anywhere in its text. Instead, it redefines illegal online gambling by focusing on the structural mechanism that sweepstakes casinos depend on: the dual-currency system. Under HB 883, any casino-style online game, contest, or promotion that uses two forms of currency — where either currency can be redeemed for cash, prizes, or similar rewards — would be classified as illegal gambling.

That definition maps almost perfectly onto how sweepstakes casinos actually operate. These platforms typically offer two currencies: Gold Coins, which are purchased and have no real-world redemption value, and Sweeps Coins, which cannot be purchased directly but can be redeemed for cash prizes. HB 883 advanced unanimously, 8-0, through the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice and was fast-tracked through its first and second readings to reach its third reading — the step immediately before a full chamber vote. The speed of its movement reflects both the appetite for action in Baton Rouge and the absence of meaningful organized opposition at the committee stage.

HB 53: The Racketeering Approach

House Bill 53, filed by Rep. Bryan Fontenot on January 30, takes a different angle entirely. Rather than creating a new prohibition, it adds a list of existing gambling offenses — including “gambling by computer” and “gambling by electronic sweepstakes device” — to Louisiana’s racketeering statutes as predicate offenses. This means that conduct already illegal under enumerated gambling statutes could now support a broader racketeering case if the pattern-of-enterprise requirements are met.

The practical effect is a dramatic escalation of potential penalties. Louisiana’s racketeering statute currently carries fines of up to one million dollars and prison terms of up to 50 years at hard labor. When violations involve racketeering activity valued above ten thousand dollars, offenders must serve at least five years without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension. Compare that to the existing standalone gambling penalties — up to $20,000 and five years — which several sweepstakes operators apparently concluded were an acceptable business risk worth taking. HB 53 passed the full House on March 31 and received its first Senate committee assignment shortly after.

Why the Dual-Track Strategy Matters

Louisiana tried this before and failed. In 2025, the legislature passed Senate Bill 181, a direct ban on sweepstakes casinos, only to have Governor Jeff Landry veto it. His reasoning was that existing law already gave regulators sufficient authority to act, and that a new statute was unnecessary and redundant. He was not entirely wrong — the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and the Attorney General’s office subsequently sent cease-and-desist letters to more than 40 sweepstakes operators, and Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a formal legal opinion concluding the platforms violate Louisiana law under multiple existing provisions. More than 40 major sweepstakes brands either exited Louisiana or dropped their Sweeps Coin offerings following that enforcement push.

The dual-track approach in 2026 is a direct response to the veto. HB 883 effectively codifies what Landry and Murrill have already said is true — that dual-currency gaming is illegal — by writing it explicitly into statute, making any future enforcement or interpretation dispute more difficult. HB 53 provides a penalty escalation that avoids creating a new category of crime, instead amplifying the consequences of violating laws Landry himself has acknowledged already exist. Taken together, the two bills are designed to be harder to veto than a single direct prohibition, even if each individually might draw the same objection.

The Veto Question

The key unknown remains whether Landry would sign either bill. His 2025 veto message emphasized that current law was sufficient and enforcement was already underway. Both HB 883 and HB 53 were architected with that reasoning in mind, but there is no guarantee Landry reads them as meaningfully different from what he rejected last year. The legislative session runs through June 1, with a crossover deadline of May 29, giving both bills substantial runway to clear all necessary steps. If either or both reach Landry’s desk, the decision he makes will define Louisiana’s regulatory posture on sweepstakes gaming for years.