Maryland Lottery and Gaming has sent Cease & Desist letters to 11 casino operators, stating their sites offer illegal online gaming and insisting they block access within the State lines. Six operators are sweepstakes casinos, including industry giants Stake.US and McLuck

So far, six operators have responded to the legal demand, and none have agreed to cut their service to Maryland residents. The State lawyers are now preparing follow-up letters to all 11 operators and the payment processors that serve them, so Maryland is getting ready to go to war with a handful of operators. 

It’s unclear why the State has selected these specific casinos and ignored more than 100 sweepstakes casinos that are openly doing business in Maryland, but this could be the opening salvo and a message to the other sweepstakes casinos that are finding US regulators and courts increasingly hostile to their business model. 

Which Gambling Sites Has Maryland Targeted?

The 11 companies that Maryland has targeted with the Cease and Desist letters are:

  • Golden Hearts
  • Zula
  • McLuck
  • REBET
  • Fortune Coins
  • StakeUS
  • BETUS
  • BETNOW
  • SlotsAndCasino
  • Everygame Sportsbook
  • BetAnySports

BETUS, BETNOW, SlotsAndCasino, Everygame Sportsbook, and BetAnySports have not responded to the official legal notice, while the others have responded and refused to comply. 

Five of these companies are offshore sports betting sites or casinos, which often choose to block access to United States residents to avoid this kind of conflict. The other six are sweepstakes casinos, and their existence is becoming a serious bone of contention in the US.

Sweepstakes Casinos and Sweepstakes Laws

Online casinos are banned in all but seven states. The free-to-play model of sweepstakes casinos, with sweeps coins that can be redeemed for cash payouts awarded as bonuses, slips past the real money gambling regulations. These casinos fall under sweepstakes laws, which can trace their roots back to the Federal Lottery Act of 1890. The laws have evolved, but they were never intended to cover the best online casinos, and only the unique structure of sweepstakes casinos and the free play element mean they fall under sweepstakes laws.

Now, a number of States, regulatory bodies, and potentially Federal lawmakers are taking a stand against the entire business model. The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCGLS) recently revealed draft legislation recommending a blanket ban on sweeps casinos in the United States. Several States have taken matters into their own hands. 

States Take Action

In February 2023, Delaware issued a similar cease-and-desist order to Virtual Games Works, the parent company of Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker. Michigan took similar action against a string of sweepstakes casinos in the same year. 

In December last year, VGW faced a class action lawsuit that dragged payment processors Apple and Google into a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) case in the Southern District of New York. The tech giants, along with High 5 Casino, McLuck, Wow Vegas, and Crown Coins Casino, were dragged into another RICO case in New Jersey.

Of course, these are merely accusations at this point, and VGW has successfully defended another class action lawsuit in Georgia due to a lack of jurisdiction. So, there is no guarantee that the best sweeps casinos will lose this wave of cases, but the fact that laws designed to combat organized crime have been turned against them is a sign that the authorities are prepared to go to war with sweepstakes casinos. 

This could be Maryland’s opening salvo in a much bigger battle, and we’ll have to watch the news and see how it plays out.