Maryland, West Virginia Join States Aiming to Ban Sweepstakes Casinos

States are pushing back against the online sweepstakes casino industry.

McLuck and Hello Millions Social Casinos added Maryland and West Virginia to their list of banned states. Jackpot, Spree and Bega Bonanza all exited Maryland on Friday, Feb. 21 as well.

This is reminiscent of when offshore sportsbooks, notably Bovada, began quietly adding states to their banned list after they received cease and desist letters from local governments. In that case, states quickly piled onto the effort and got Bovada banned from a significant number of jurisdictions.

Joining the resistance

Maryland Sen. Paul Corderman is one of the legislators leading the effort to hit back at social casinos. His proposal, known as Senate Bill 860, would implement an outright and total ban on sweepstakes casinos.

According to the details of the bill, dual-currency systems involving the use of both free and real money that mimics casino-style or lottery-style gaming would become illegal. It would also hold both the online operators and the suppliers criminally liable, making infractions more actionable than is the case for many offshore sportsbooks.

SB 860 will be heard by a committee on March 5. Its companion bill, House Bill 1140, will advance to a committee the day after.

The office of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency already sent a bevy of cease and desist orders to online gambling operators, including those that offered sweepstakes gaming. 

In West Virginia, Attorney General JB McCuskey reportedly issued subpoenas to several sweepstakes operators. 

A subpoena is essentially a formal order requiring the recipient to appear in court.

Following regulatory trends

One of the greatest indications of regulatory change was exemplified by High 5 Casino, which boasts the “world’s largest social slot game library.” 

High 5 shut down operations in six states as of Feb. 18. Those states include Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. It also recently left Canadian-regulated markets. 

The American gambling industry has often followed waves of evolution. As such, the recent swell of states rallying against sweepstakes casinos has had a spillover effect on other jurisdictions.

The Mississippi Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 2510 last week, thereby banning online gambling games and sweepstakes casinos, although the latter not by name.

Similar pieces of legislation are making their rounds in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.

Sweepstakes casinos bypass traditional legal rules by allowing customers to purchase tokens or credits, which are then used to gamble and win prizes. Depending on the platform, customers can exchange their winnings for items, gift cards, raffle tickets, or straight cash.