Louisiana is poised to become the tenth state in the United States to allow telephone account wagering after the Louisiana House of Representatives on Monday approved amendments to the bill passed earlier by the state Senate.The bill was signed by the speaker of the House and president of the Senate on Tuesday and sent to Governor Mike Foster's office on Wednesday. Foster has ten days to either sign or veto the bill, or let it pass into law without his signature.

The bill, which passed the Senate by a 22-to-13 vote and then was approved 87-to-14 in the House, is specifically written to allow only tracks located in cities with a population of more than 450,000 to offer account wagering. Therefore, the Fair Grounds in New Orleans would get a green light to develop a wagering platform.

Fair Grounds President and General Manager Bryan Krantz said in late March that lobbying efforts were underway to show legislators the importance of having account wagering to keep gaming revenue from leaving the state.

Under the terms of the bill, the Fair Grounds will be able to accept telephone wagering accounts from anywhere in the state, but has to compensate other tracks for accounts located within 55 miles of that track.

Krantz said in late March he was optimistic that a telephone wagering platform would be in place by the start of the New Orleans track's 2000-2001 meeting in November.