Fat Tuesday 2023 featured all the traditional revelry in New Orleans and appropriately, Louisiana gambling apps and facilities in February enjoyed some hefty winnings. Altogether, the various gaming channels in the state won over $212 million from players during the month.
While that’s a slight decline compared to the same number for February 2022, it was hardly the fault of online sportsbooks in the state. They not only won a respectable amount from bettors during the month but improved upon their past performance.
A brief look at Louisiana gambling numbers for February 2023
That $212 million, or more precisely $212.2 million, came from four separate gambling forms in the state last month.
- Online sportsbooks
- Physical sportsbooks at racetracks, on riverboats, and inside Harrah’s New Orleans
- Poker, slots, and table games on riverboats and at Harrah’s New Orleans
- Slots at racetracks
There was both good news and not-so-great news in terms of year-over-year comparisons for the state’s gaming industry. On the plus side, slots at racetracks like Delta Downs increased their revenue by 8.4% as compared to February 2022, topping $2.1 million in win for the month.
At the same time, the side-by-side numbers for the state’s most lucrative gambling opportunity don’t look so sterling. Riverboats saw their revenue fall from $151.6 million in February 2022 to $144.2 million last month.
That’s the main reason why overall revenue declined from February 2022’s $214.1 million. However, that is a downturn of less than a percentage point. It’s also a significant improvement on January’s $193 million. Sportsbooks in the state helped keep the overall drop minimal.
Super Bowl LVII helps Louisiana sportsbooks bite back
Super Bowl betting tends to be a mixed bag. While it’s usually the single largest betting day of the year in the United States, the action on the entirety of the NFL playoffs leading up to it tends to be bigger. That was seen in Louisiana this year.
In January, Louisiana’s sportsbooks, online and physical, took more than $282.2 million in bets and then made $27.9 million on that amount. Last month, the same collected $175 million in bets and won $17.7 million.
While the New Orleans Saints were only part of Super Bowl festivities as spectators this year, that lack of participation might have helped sportsbooks. In February 2022, Louisiana sportsbooks won about 7.9% of the money they took in to collect $16.6 million in revenue.
Those apps and books pushed their winning percentage up to 10.1 last month. That’s the highest hold percentage for a single month since December 2022. For that reason, Louisiana sportsbook operators were likely celebrating Fat Tuesday this year.
