Sweepstakes Casinos Cease and Desist, Says State of Maryland
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Sweepstakes Casinos Cease and Desist, Says State of Maryland

The State of Maryland’s Lottery and Gaming Control Agency has issued a cease and desist letter to 12 online casinos and sportsbooks that are operating in the state.

The letter doesn’t specifically target sweepstakes casinos, however, more than half of the companies are casinos that have been reviewed by SweepsKings and have scored high on the rating scale.

Maryland Gaming Control

Notably, the letter contains the wording “illegal operators,” even though half of the companies have been operating without legal challenges in other US states: McLuck, Zula, Fortune Coins, StakeUS, Golden Hearts Games and Rebet.

The remaining operators cited in the letter are overseas companies that are not recommended as safe by SweepsKings’ casino and betting experts: BETNOW, BETUS, BetAnySports, Everygame Sportsbook and SlotsAndCasino.

The state agency doesn’t cite specific parts of the legal code according to which sweepstakes casinos can be deemed illegal. Interestingly, the list has left out all of the remaining US-based sweepstakes casinos and sportsbooks that are also operating in Maryland.

US Sweepstakes Casinos Answer the Call

On the 2024 Overview presentation from January 15, under the heading “Problems Raised by Illegal Online Gaming,” three out of six points are in reference to the sweepstakes casinos’ legality in addition to state revenue, competition and taxing: Lack of age/identity verification, thus susceptible to fraud; Weak responsible gaming measures; and Lack of consumer protection measures.

Presently, only the US-based operators have responded to the letter, however, according to the Agency’s Overview, neither has agreed to block access to Maryland residents. SweepsKings’ news desk could not confirm at the time of writing whether Maryland will proceed towards a legal proceeding against the operators cited in the document. This will surely be the case if the Maryland bill seeking to outlaw sweeps casinos passes.

Possible Reasons for C&D Letter

By offering a unique business model founded on the concept of sweepstakes drawings,  sweepstakes casinos and social sportsbooks have made their presence known in states that don’t issue licenses to standard online casinos. Unlike sweepstakes casinos, online casino operators accept cash deposits and enable their patrons to play with actual money.

We see an underlying issue in that most of the casinos that appear on SweepsKings offer games of the same quality as online casinos, except they provide a free gaming experience on a daily basis. Even though the two casino gaming concepts are marked by fundamental differences, well-placed online casinos of the Caesars and Borgata and BetMGM fame may feel threatened from sweepstakes casinos in the states where they operate.

Michigan is a good example of protectionism against sweepstakes casinos. The state has become one of the stalwarts where no sweepstakes gaming is allowed, alongside Washington, Idaho and in many cases, Nevada. Availability across the remaining states varies and depends on the casinos’ effort to comply with state-specific requirements or whether they want to enter that market.

Most recently, Nevada took measures to prevent Global Poker from offering its services to residents in the state. The free poker platform operated by Virtual Gaming Worlds has agreed to include Nevada on the list of geofenced states.

It remains to be seen whether Maryland’s Gaming Control Agency C&D letter is a harbinger of an impending shakeup of legal, US sweepstakes casinos and whether other states are going to follow suit and disrupt what has proven to be an ingenious response to stringent legal attitude towards online casino gaming.

Mike F.

Author: Mike F.

Updated:

Mike is SweepsKings’ SEO wizard and uses his skills to produce content that answers questions you haven’t even thought of yet! He personally fact-checks all articles posted on SweepsKings and leverages his vast iGaming marketing experience to keep the site feeling fresh.
Mike is SweepsKings’ SEO wizard and uses his skills to produce content that answers questions you haven’t even thought of yet! He personally fact-checks all articles posted on SweepsKings and leverages his vast iGaming marketing experience to keep the site feeling fresh.