Louisiana Acts 182 and 48 took effect August 1, 2026, expanding online-gambling definitions, enforcement tools and racketeering predicates.
Two Louisiana laws expanding the state's existing gambling-enforcement framework took effect on August 1, 2026: Act 182, previously HB 883, and Act 48, previously HB 53.
Act 182 amended Louisiana's gambling-by-computer law to expressly include covered online simulated gambling that uses dual currencies and can make a participant eligible for prizes, cash or cash equivalents. Its chaptered text also addresses knowing support or facilitation of the prohibited activity.
The act authorizes cease-and-desist notices that allow no more than 10 days after receipt to stop the specified illegal activity. It also provides a route to seek a court injunction. Federally insured financial institutions, their subsidiaries and affiliates, and payment card networks are excluded from this section, so the support provisions do not apply identically to every financial intermediary.
Act 48 made a separate change. It added listed gambling crimes, including gambling by computer and gambling by electronic sweepstakes device, to Louisiana's racketeering predicate offenses. That classification expands the conduct that can support a racketeering case; it does not automatically make every player or operator guilty of racketeering.