Wearing a red, white and blue uniform, the Gamblers played their first regular season game on May 15, 1993 against the Birmingham Grasshoppers.
The Gamblers spent their first season in the Southern Challenge Cup (Provisional), a group of four teams which played an eight-game schedule separate from the rest of the USISL.
In July 1994, Patrick Olalere, the teams's leading scorer became the first New Orleans' player to move up when he signed with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
In November 1997, Rob Couhig, owner of the New Orleans Zephyrs baseball team, purchased the Gamblers from Donnie Pate.
Couhig renamed the team the New Orleans Storm and moved it to Zephyr Field which seated only 10,000 but had natural grass as compared to the artificial turf of Tad Gormley Stadium.