Wow Vegas Casino has informed players in Louisiana that it will cease allowing them to access the games on its website as of July 11. Louisiana players are already facing limited access to the site’s amenities, as Wow Vegas was among the recipients of a swath of cease-and-desist letters that gaming regulators in Louisiana distributed on June 17.
That action followed the gubernatorial veto of a bill that would have placed new restrictions on sweepstakes casinos in Louisiana, but has nonetheless inspired an increase in enforcement moves from regulators. Wow Vegas may not be the only social casino brand to respond in this way.
Wow Vegas details Louisiana exit for customers
A June 23 email from Wow Vegas to registered players listed the dates for the phases of the cessation of its business dealings in Louisiana. As of that date, players in Louisiana were no longer able to purchase Wow Coins.
Wow Vegas also shared that it would no longer honor mail-in requests for Sweepstakes Coins after June 24. However, people in Louisiana will be able to use both currencies to play games on Wow Vegas until July 11.
Wow Vegas was one of 42 recipients of cease-and-desist letters from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) and the Louisiana Attorney General’s office. Other social or sweepstakes gaming recipients included VGW, Fliff, and Funzpoints.
In a press release announcing the distribution of the letters, LGCB Chair Christopher B. Herbert said that “Louisiana will not tolerate illegal operators who put our citizens at risk and undermine the fairness and integrity of our gaming industry.”
It’s the exact authority that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry cited in his veto of a bill to ban sweepstakes casinos.
Governor cites enforcement powers in veto decision
Although the Louisiana legislature approved a proposal to make casino-style, sweepstakes-based online games expressly illegal in the state, Landry rejected the legislation on June 12. To explain his decision, Landry said that the LGCB “is already taking active steps to combat illegal gambling in Louisiana,” and the Attorney General was also “monitoring this type of activity.” Essentially, Landry argued that the new language the bill presumed to add to the state code was redundant.
Actions similar to those that Wow Vegas has taken may prove Landry correct, even if more by default than jurisprudence. If the recipients of the cease-and-desist letters comply without testing the application of existing statutes in court, the suitability of those statutes for sweepstakes casino operations in Louisiana will be positively assumed.
With the involvement of the Louisiana Attorney General’s office, letter recipients can only assume that non-compliance will lead to further enforcement action. Even if those actions may have been disappointing for prosecutors under existing law, the cost of defending against such litigation might be more than some of these sweepstakes casino brands make in Louisiana.
As far as Wow Vegas’ operations go, the decision has already been made not to test the legal bounds. For Louisianans who play on the site, the time to use remaining coins draws short.
