Lawmakers in Wyoming are contemplating a ban on sweepstakes casinos. The transfer comes after a number of different states have positioned limits or outlawed the web gaming platforms.
Members of the state’s Select Committee on Gaming voted unanimously to advance legislation that may make working a web based sweepstakes on line casino within the Equality State a felony. The invoice would additionally set up which authorities physique is in command of regulating a lot of these gaming operations.
That regulatory panorama at present contains the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Unit and the Wyoming Gaming Commission. The former is tasked with defending customers, whereas the latter is targeted on unlawful playing. Wyoming Gaming Commission Executive Director Nicholas Larramendy advised the committee that the present construction may be complicated.
“They give it to us. We look at it. Then we get the argument that this is under consumer protection,” Larramendy stated. The gaming fee might then direct the difficulty again to shopper safety, making a “constant cycle,” he stated.
“So this bill definitely makes it very clear that this is illegal gambling.”
Critic Says Sweepstakes Mirror Online Casinos
Sweepstakes on line casino platforms permit customers to play casino-style slots, desk video games, and poker utilizing a dual-currency mannequin. That sometimes includes utilizing gold cash without cost play. Users who buy further gold cash additionally obtain a separate forex, usually often known as sweeps cash.
Sweeps cash can be utilized in separate video games and are redeemable for actual money and prizes. Operators argue that this dual-currency mannequin is authorized underneath sweepstakes legislation moderately than conventional gaming legislation. They contend that their choices don’t require anybody to pay something to play.
The trade favors taxation and regulation moderately than outright bans. Critics, nevertheless, declare the platforms skirt state gaming legal guidelines and lack shopper protections authorized on-line on line casino operators should observe.
Former Republican state Sen. Affie Ellis is a type of critics. The Cheyenne-based legal professional represents Bally’s Corp., which not too long ago bought a majority possession of Cheyenne Park horse observe and is in search of to open further gaming amenities within the metropolis.
“Online casinos and online sweepstakes can look almost identical when you play them online,” Ellis advised the committee. “They look like maybe the same slot machine, same blackjack table, same jackpot animations, but they are two fundamentally different products.”
Ban Would Limit Options For Online Poker Players
VGW Holdings is likely one of the largest sweeps operators. It runs websites like Global Poker and Chumba Casino. The firm has operated in Wyoming since 2017. VGW legal professional Bill Gantz advised the committee that enjoying on the positioning may be fully free for customers.
“This is over broad and it does conflict with the idea that a sweepstakes in connection with a purchase of a good or service is currently valid in Wyoming and should remain valid in Wyoming,” he stated.
Gantz added that federal legislation mandates an “alternative method of entry” for all sweepstakes, with out having to make a purchase order in any respect.
Wyoming has seen document gaming numbers in recent times, with a complete of $2.7 billion wagered in 2025. Along with casinos and horse racing, the state additionally legalized sports activities betting in 2021. Last yr, legislators thought of including on-line gaming, however laws didn’t advance.
Seeing websites like Global Poker and ClubWPT Gold probably exit the market might depart the state’s on-line poker gamers with out an possibility aside from utilizing an offshore platform. This comes as latest regulatory modifications have restricted poker video games in bars.
Wyoming Would Join A Growing List
If the laws is ultimately authorized, Wyoming would turn into the fifteenth state to ban sweeps websites. The listing contains:
- California
- Connecticut
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- Tennessee
- Washington
Oklahoma is about so as to add to that listing after legislators overrode Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) veto in May. That legislation is predicted to take impact Nov. 1.
California grew to become the most important state to enact a ban, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signing a invoice in September 2025. In New York, VGW agreed to pay New York $8 million to settle unlawful playing allegations after the Empire State handed a ban.
Other markets have additionally utilized rising stress to sweeps operators. Michigan regulators enforced a practical ban by way of cease-and-desist letters. Operators don’t serve Michigan gamers.
This rising stress impacts card gamers all through the nation. Most don’t stay in states with authorized real-money on-line poker.
States with authorized on-line poker which are members of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement embrace Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware, and West Virginia. Maine additionally legalized on-line gaming and poker this yr and often is the subsequent to affix that group.
