Louisiana Poker Bill Generates Majority of Votes, Still Fails

Poker players in Louisiana received a setback this week to hopes of having a more widespread version of the game available in state establishments.

State Rep. Warren Triche (D-Thibodaux) has made repeated attempts in recent years to get a pro-poker bill into and through the legislature. This year, his most recent version of the bill (titled HB 484) made it out of committee and onto the main floor of the Louisiana House for a vote, where it received a narrow majority of the votes cast, 48 ayes to 47 nays, with 10 abstentions.

However, Louisiana House votes require a bill to receive a two-thirds majority of the votes cast to move on to the Senate for further consideration, and this measure fell well short of that standard. In any event, LA governor and gambling opponent Kathleen Blanco expressed her intent to veto the bill should it have passed both state legislative branches, so its odds were very long anyway. A motion to reconsider the bill remains pending but carries scant chance of success in the current state legislature.