Sweeps Casinos Pull Out of New York
B2 Services OU is pulling all of its sweepstakes casinos from New York as legislation goes through the state legislature. New York residents will lose access to McLuck, Hello Millions and Jackpota on April 30th, and the full stable of sites is set to follow.
They’re not the only ones. Pulsz Casino, Pulsz Bingo, NoLimit Coins and High 5 Casino will restrict access for the state, together with 3 Oaks Gaming, Rolling Riches and Lucky Hands.
State Bill SB5935 has targeted sweepstakes casinos with a full ban, and is now on its third reading in the senate. It is an amendment to the existing Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law, and looks likely to pass into law.
When it does, then all Sweeps casinos will be required to ban access to New York residents using geofencing tech. B2 Services, along with several other operators, have read the room and decided to take action now.
Major Exodus With B2
Estonia-based B2 Services OU has informed customers that they will not be able to buy coin packages from April 3rd and the services will slowly wind down until New York residents’ accounts are closed on April 30th. B2 owns a number of casinos, including:
- McLuck
- Hello Millions
- SpinBlitz
- Jackpota
- Mega Bonanza
- PlayFame
- SportsMillions
This is a major loss for B2 Services, but the entire sweeps casino sector has had to adapt to evolving legislation in a number of states and this mass pullout from New York is unlikely to be the last. Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, Connecticut, New Jersey and Nevada all have new legislation in the works. Other states have used existing laws and aggressive cease-and-desist letters and legal action to attack the sweepstakes industry.
The best sweepstakes casinos have largely blocked hostile states and focused their efforts elsewhere, but the landscape is changing constantly and more and more states are turning against the sweepstakes model that threads the needle of the existing real money gambling laws. New York is the latest, and losing access to one of the most populous states is a bitter pill for the sweeps casino sector to swallow, but there are more to come.
