The Louisiana Gaming Control Board reported $40.4 million in gross sports betting revenue for April as operators again pummeled bettors in the Pelican State.

Sportsbooks in the Bayou and parishes throughout the state had a collective 14.3% hold on gross revenue, the 11th time in 30 months of commercial wagering that the win rate has exceeded 14% — double the 7% industry standard. It was also the 23rd time the hold reached double digits as Louisiana’s all-time gross revenue for operators surpassed $750 million.

April’s handle of $283.1 million represented a 35% increase compared to last year and was down 19.1% from March’s $350 million. Revenue surged 72.4% year-over-year as April’s hold was 3.1 percentage points higher. For the first four months of 2024, the $161.9 million in gross revenue is up 41.1% versus the same span in 2023.

The state was eligible to tax $36.4 million in adjusted gross revenue, resulting in an inflow of $5.4 million into tax coffers. Operators deducted $3.9 million in promotional credits and bonuses — more than triple the $1.2 million reported in April 2023 and up less than 1% from March.

The $19.7 million collected in taxes year-to-date is more than $7.3 million ahead of last year’s pace through four months.

#10%+ WR = 45 (41.4%)
#9%-9.99% = 15
#8%-8.99% = 15
#7%-7.99% = 20
≥ 7% industry standard = 96/111 (86.5%)
# 5%-6.99% = 11
# 0%-4.99% = 3
# <0% = 1
Mean: 9.65%/Median: 9.31%#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) May 21, 2024

The LGCB only provides revenue by sport category, making it impossible to determine exactly how well or poorly operators fared. But parlays and same-game parlays have been a consistent source of success for Louisiana sportsbooks, and April was no different as they reaped $27.8 million in winnings. It is likely the win rate on parlay bets topped 20% considering the $139 million handle needed to reach that percentage would be nearly half the state’s wagering for April.

It was the fifth straight month parlay revenue surpassed $20 million, with operators collecting $147.2 million in that span. The house has already cleared $100 million in winnings from the multi-leg wagers this year.

Basketball wagering provided the biggest chunk of sport-specific revenue at $5.8 million despite the state’s 18 retail venues posting a collective loss of $48,700 and NCAA Tournament champions UConn and South Carolina being odds-on favorites to win. The New Orleans Pelicans took bettors on a wild ride in April with a late surge to reach the Western Conference Play-In Tournament and advance to the NBA postseason before being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening round.

Operators collected close to $2.5 million in revenue from baseball, while soccer ranked third with $667,300. The catch-all “other” category, which includes golf, tennis, auto racing, hockey, boxing, and mixed martial arts in Louisiana, contributed $489,700 to operators’ bottom lines. The public did claim a small win with football wagers, collecting $51,900 in winnings above their bets placed.

Wagering through the nine sports betting apps available in Louisiana resulted in a collective 14.8% hold for April as they claimed $39 million from $263.2 million worth of bets placed. Their retail counterparts had a more modest 6.7% win rate, collecting $1.3 million in winnings from $19.8 million in handle.

Louisiana’s bumper April pushed the U.S. year-to-date sportsbook gross revenue above $4 billion, with the national hold currently near 9.2% from $43.7 billion worth of wagers. The totals do not include handle from Tennessee and revenue from Nebraska as the former does not collect operator revenue data since it taxes handle and the latter does not disclose sportsbook handle from its casino venues.