Stake.us Pulls Out of Louisiana, Montana & Arizona

Popular sweepstakes casino, Stake.us is withdrawing from three more states: Louisiana, Montana, and Arizona.

Louisiana and Montana were added to the Stake.us Terms & Conditions as ‘Excluded Territories’ on July 14, meaning players from these states are already banned. Then we’ve heard that users in Arizona will be unable to play at the site from August 12, taking the total number of excluded states to 17. We’ve added the full list at the end of this article.

Legal Challenges Driving Stake’s Withdrawal from Montana and Louisiana

Louisiana and Montana are not surprising additions to the list of restricted states on Stake.us – we’ve seen many sweeps platforms pull out of these jurisdictions due to important legal developments this year.

Montana became the first state to enact an anti-sweepstakes proposal in May when Governor Greg Gianforte signed off on Senate Bill 555. We expect that bill to come into effect on October 1, but many big names from the sweeps world have already withdrawn in anticipation.

On the other hand, the Louisiana legislature passed its own anti-sweeps bill in June, but Governor Jeff Landry vetoed SB181, arguing that the sweeps format was already illegal under Louisiana law. Then the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) issued cease and desist letters to 40+ gaming operators, including some sweepstakes casinos, as if to prove Landry’s point.

More recently, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill declared sweepstakes casinos illegal in a comprehensive legal opinion. It’s clear that the Pelican State is getting serious with sweeps, and so we’ve seen a good number of withdrawals from there. Stake.us is just another addition to the pile.

ADG Serves Stake.us a Cease & Desist Order

A casino withdrawing from Arizona is a little more surprising, but in the case of Stake.us, there’s certainly a reason behind it.

In February, the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) issued an educational flyer titled ‘Sweepstakes in Arizona’, warning its citizens of the dangers of signing up at illegal sweeps platforms.

Then in April, the same body announced it had sent cease and desist letters to a handful of gaming operators it deemed illegal, including sweeps casinos, Modo.us and Epic Hunts. This subsequently led to Modo.us acquiescing and withdrawing from the Grand Canyon State.

More recently, we learnt the reason for Stake.us’ withdrawal from AZ: the popular operator was targeted in another wave of C&Ds by the ADG last month. It seems 7 gaming operators were served letters, with Stake.us being the only sweepstakes casino in this group.

Jackie Johnson, Director of the ADG stated in the press release:

Arizona is one of many US states where gambling is regulated through a combination of tribal compacts and state oversight. Most legal gambling is conducted under agreements with tribal nations, and any operation outside of this is typically regarded as unauthorized.

Unlike states such as Montana that have passed explicit anti-sweeps legislation, Arizona is behaving like Louisiana and using its regulatory authority to target operators it deems illegal – issuing cease and desist orders and warning consumers directly. The C&D to Stake.us marks the clearest indication yet that Arizona views sweepstakes casinos as incompatible with its legal structure, and more enforcement could follow.

Interestingly, High 5 also withdrew from AZ in June, but the vast majority of sweepstakes casinos still remain.

For now, if you’re an Arizonan who’s signed up for Stake.us, we recommend submitting any Stake Cash for redemption ASAP to avoid disappointment.

Finally, here’s the full list of states that Stake.us has withdrawn from:

• Washington
• New York
• Nevada
• Idaho
• Kentucky
• Michigan
• Vermont
• New Jersey
• Delaware
• West Virginia
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut
• Maryland
• Louisiana
• Montana
• Arizona (August 12)