• Minnesota’s AG has ordered sweepstakes casinos to exit the state by December 1
• Utah’s federal court has fielded two dozen class-action lawsuits against sweepstakes platforms

Sweepstakes casinos continue to be dealt losing hands, as state attorneys general, gaming regulators, and the public at large take action against the controversial online platforms.

Minnesota is the latest state to order online sweepstakes casinos to stop doing business within its borders. Meanwhile, at least two dozen proposed class-action lawsuits against sweepstakes operators have been filed in plaintiff-friendly Utah federal court. (Image: Shutterstock)

Sweepstakes casinos bill their operations as social gaming, or free-to-play apps and websites. Because they offer a secondary currency called sweeps coins, which can be purchased to play the online slots and table games, and sweeps coins can be redeemed for cash, critics say sweepstakes operators are violating state gambling laws and regulations.

Last week, Google declassified sweepstakes as social gaming, prohibiting them from advertising through the company’s Search and on YouTube. More setbacks came this week. 

Minnesota Sweeps Out Sweepstakes

On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) said 14 sweepstakes casinos that are running “illegal gambling websites” have been ordered to remove access to anyone located inside the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Ellison’s warning comes five months after the Minnesota Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement agency notified sweepstakes operators that the “sweepstakes-based model of gambling is illegal” in Minnesota.

Online platforms offering sportsbooks and casino games run by out-of-state and overseas operators may make it look as though online gambling is legal and safe in Minnesota, but let me be clear: it is not. Trying to rebrand poker chips as virtual currencies does not change the fact that these online gambling operations are unlawful,” said Ellison. 

“By continuing to operate online gambling sites in Minnesota, these operators are likely openly defying our state’s laws, and I will not stand for it,” Ellison added.

Ellison gave the following operators until December 1 to cease their operations in Minnesota: VG LuckyLand, Zula Casino, Fortune Coins, BetAnySports, BetUS, XBet, BetNow, BetWhale, EveryGame, BetOnline, Slotsandcasino, Bovada, MyBookie, and Sportsbetting.

Strangely, Ellison didn’t name sweeps leaders Modo, Stake, and MyPrize. Casino.org can confirm that those sweepstakes platforms continue to operate in Minnesota.

Utah Litigation

In Utah, more than two dozen proposed class-action lawsuits against sweepstakes leaders were filed this week in federal court. The litigation named various sweepstakes operators as defendants, including Modo, Stake, VGW, and McLuck.

Utah is among the most restrictive states when it comes to gaming. The home of the Mormon Church, Utah has no legal form of gambling.

Utah is an attractive jurisdiction for the sweeps lawsuits because the state’s law provides opportunities for a plaintiff to be compensated twice the amount of their determined damages.

An individual who suffers an economic loss as a result of a … gambling device may bring a cause of action against a person who operates or receives revenue from the … gambling device to recover damages, costs, and attorney fees,” the Utah Code reads. “An individual who brings suit … may recover twice the amount of the economic loss.”

Utah and Hawaii are the only two states with no form of legal gambling.

The post Minnesota Orders Sweepstakes Casinos to Cease, Utah Fields Class-Action Suits appeared first on Casino.org.