The U.S. state of Louisiana has moved closer towards legalizing sports betting after securing the nod of the Senate committee members.

WWL AM 870 reported that members of the Louisiana Senate committee voted unanimously to send Senate Bill 266, authored by Sen. Danny Martiny, to the full Senate for consideration. In a nutshell, SB 266 will allow Louisiana residents to punt “on any type of sports event, including but not limited to football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing, tennis, wrestling, jai alai, or other sports contest or event.”

Under SB 266, betting on professional leagues will be allowed at Harrah’s New Orleans casino, the 15 floating casinos, the four racetrack casinos, the 200 video poker truck stop casinos and the more than 1,000 bars and restaurants with video poker machines in the state.

The members of the Senate committee believe that it is essential to pass SB 266 before the U.S. Supreme Court decides to lift the ban on sports betting in order not to fall behind its neighboring states, who are expected to pass similar legislations.