The Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) has issued cease and desist letters to more than 40 online gambling platforms, targeting a mix of sweepstakes casinos, offshore operators, and affiliates. The move signals an aggressive new phase in the state’s enforcement posture against unauthorized gaming.
The list of recipients includes the following sweepstakes/social gaming companies (grouped by operator):
- Golden Hearts Games
- Kickr
- Rolling Riches
- Stake.us
- Chumba, Luckyland Slots, and Global Poker
- Pulsz and Pulsz Bingo
- Fortune Coins, Zula, Sportzino, YayCasino.us, and YayCasino.com
- Fliff
- ZitoBox
- Clubs Poker
- WOW Vegas
- SweepSlots
- Chanced and Punt
A cease and desist order is a written demand from a regulator or other enforcement body demanding a company immediately halt activity, or face legal action.
The LGCB announced this round of letters on June 17 and stated that it was exercising its authority under state gaming law, removing operators who “jeopardize the integrity of the regulated market”. However, the recent announcement did not indicate whether recipients had already complied.
States are Drawing a Clear Line in the Sand
The Pelican State is currently home to land-based casinos and racetracks, and also permits sports betting, both retail and online. However, traditional online casinos are outlawed, and while sweepstakes casinos have been taking advantage of legal loopholes until now, it seems the LGCB is getting serious about picking them off.
“These actions send a clear message,” said Christopher B. Hebert, Chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. “Louisiana will not tolerate illegal operators who put our citizens at risk and undermine the fairness and integrity of our gaming industry. We will continue to use every enforcement tool available to protect the public and uphold the law.”
Sweepstakes casinos typically argue that they are not technically gambling due to their dual-currency format (Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins), which removes the element of ‘consideration’ usually required to fulfill the definition of gambling. It’s a grey area that has allowed the vertical to flourish in the US over the last few years, and analysts estimate the industry sold $8.5bn worth of Gold Coins in 2024.
However, regulators and attorney generals who don’t want these companies in their state are starting to target operators directly. For example, we’ve seen cease and desist orders issued to sweeps companies in New York too. AG Letitia James targeted 26 operators there earlier this month, and she stated all contacted companies had complied.
Anti-Sweeps Bill Was Vetoed in Louisiana Last Week
This news in Louisiana comes on the heels of State Governor Jeff Landry vetoing an anti-sweepstakes bill last week, one that naturally passed through both chambers of the legislature after much debate.
Many were surprised by this rejection at the final stage, but Landry accompanied the decision with a letter stating the bill was unnecessary since the LGCB was already “taking active steps to combat illegal gambling, especially against illegal offshore wagering and illegal online sweepstakes companies”.
Perhaps the bill gave the Board a nudge to spring into action, or maybe it has been working on this issue all along; the list of 42 operators in total is fairly long. And we often see sweepstakes operators comply with C&Ds. In fact, as of yet, we’ve not heard of a single sweeps operator challenging a cease and desist. This is in contrast to events contract platform Kalshi, which has been in the news for doing just that in New Jersey, Nevada, and Maryland recently.
So for now, it’s still unclear which operators decided to comply with the demands in Louisiana, plus the list is nowhere near containing every sweepstakes platform operating in the state. However, if you’re signed up for a sweepstakes platform in the Pelican State, it would be a good idea to monitor notifications for any announcements, and perhaps submit a redemption request for any funds you have in your wallet.
And, of course, we’ll keep you updated with any more developments as we hear them. You can count on SweepsKings with our comprehensive sweepstakes casino reviews that maintain a frequently updated list of restricted states for each platform.
Author: Joseph Allen
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