The owner of Golden Nugget Casino asked a state gambling task force Tuesday to consider several changes, such as updating state laws and letting casino operators expand gambling on their properties.

During a Riverboat Economic Development and Gaming Task Force meeting in Baton Rouge, Tilman Fertitta, president and CEO of Fertitta Entertainment Inc., said that updating the laws would help Louisiana compete with out-of-state casinos and become a leading force in gambling over the next 25 years.

“It doesn’t just benefit us,” he said. “It benefits everybody else in the gaming industry.”

There’s no reason not to allow poolside gambling, and Golden Nugget’s grand event center — now used only 100 days a year — could host ballroom poker tournaments and bingo events, Fertitta said.

Additionally, state officials should embrace online gambling, which will likely be in 20 to 25 states within five years, he said. Louisiana could generate $70 million in gambling revenue in the first year of operation, Fertitta said.

Tribal casinos

He said the state should allow casino companies to compete on an equal footing with tribal casinos and should permit them to allow unlimited space for slots, tables, poker and other games — a feature of tribal casinos.

“It is shocking to me how much business we lose to tribal gaming here in the state of Louisiana,” Fertitta said. “What in the world is the difference in me having 1,600 slot machines or 1,700 slot machines when they can have 2,500?”

Fertitta said tribal casinos pay no sales tax and that state income tax isn’t withheld from jackpots won at them.

Tribal casinos — along with competing casinos in other states — aren’t charged a fee for using promotional play, he said. He said a tax cap on promotional play would let casino operators market more aggressively and produce additional gambling revenue.

“Don’t tax me to death on that,” he said. “We’re trying to bring people in from everywhere. We didn’t build that resort for locals.”

Laws

Fertitta said state laws on riverboats are outdated. For the Golden Nugget, he said, he spent $10 million to comply with laws that require a casino to operate on a moored barge with a paddle wheel. An additional $100,000 is spent annually for barge inspections, Fertitta said.

“Let’s not kid ourselves; that barge is concrete,” he said. “It’s not going anywhere.”

Fertitta said the purchasing process for vendors should be simplified. He said the 21-page document that vendors costing over $200,000 must fill out is overwhelming and has resulted in lost business. 

“It just scares them,” he said. “They feel like it’s an invasion of privacy. You can do a simple background check on one page.”

Minors accompanied by adults should be allowed to use the casino floor to go from one side of the property to the other, and the state needs to loosen its regulations on slot machines to boost revenue, Fertitta said.

For example, he said, a slot machine is inactive for at least 10 minutes to allow for verification after a $10,000 jackpot is won. Mississippi and Nevada don’t require that verification until a $100,000 jackpot is won, he said.

Comments

Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Sulphur and a task force member, said riverboat laws have been largely unchanged since the early 1990s and should be updated.

“Times have changed,” he said. “And the time has come to address a lot of issues that are hindering their ability to grow their market.”

Johns said Golden Nugget has exceeded its commitment to being a “first-rate property” and that the gambling industry is “the key player” in the state’s budget, generating more revenue than oil and gas.

Since opening in December 2014, Fertitta said, the Golden Nugget has helped expand gambling revenue in the area. He said Lake Charles’ gambling revenue has gone from $684 million in 2014 to about $898 million this year. 

Fertitta said Golden Nugget and L’Auberge Casino Resort have worked well together to help grow the casino market in Lake Charles and statewide.

“We are still growing our gaming base while not really hurting other people that much,” Fertitta said. “We know that we have something special.”

Johns said he foresees Lake Charles officials considering a ban on smoking in bars and casinos. The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council approved a similar ban Aug. 9. Fertitta said a ban in Lake Charles would result in people going to casinos in Las Vegas. Because Golden Nugget is not land-based, he said, it would be difficult to create a gambling area exclusively for smokers.

The task force is holding monthly meetings to hear from casino operators throughout the state. Johns said the intent is for state lawmakers to revisit and possibly modernize state riverboat gambling laws. He said a legislative package could be ready in time for next year’s session.