Later, there came to be a law allowing a local vote on gaming, this was called local option. There were a limited number of river-boat gaming licenses to be awarded.

Likewise, if gaming was unprofitable in an area, the company could seek to move to where it might be better. One reason behind this idea was that if a parish found that “gaming” was a problem or they no longer wanted it, the river-boat casino could cruise off to a new dock in a parish where it was wanted. All other casinos would be based on river-boats that would have to leave their docks and cruise a significant portion of the time.

The original law passed in the 1990s during the Edwin Edwards Administration envisioned one and only one land-based casino in New Orleans.