One of two bills that would ban sweepstakes casinos in Maryland, Senate Bill 112, had a hearing Thursday before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
John Martin, Director at Maryland Lottery and Gaming, highlighted the relevance of this bill during the hearing.
“Maryland law assumes all gambling is illegal unless specified by statute,” Martin said. “Today, Maryland has 26 online entities that operate legally — 12 online mobile sports wagering licensees, and 14 registered online fantasy competition operators. Illegal online games are growing exponentially in Maryland because of ambiguity and loopholes in existing statute.”
SB112 is intended to eliminate ambiguity and close any loopholes. Currently, Maryland Lottery and Gaming sends cease-and-desist letters and refers what it deems illegal operators to the appropriate law enforcement entities. Martin said clarifying the language and statute to define illegal games as interactive games expressly covers online gaming activities.
“Prohibiting the operation of interactive games in Maryland and including criminal penalties provides an opportunity for the agency to collaborate with law enforcement partners,” Martin said. “Illegal operators do not register their businesses in Maryland. Therefore, taxes are not collected. State revenues are lost, and consumer protections are ignored.”
SB112’s twin bill, House Bill 295, will be heard by the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 5.
Rather than singling out “dual-currency” systems, the bills cast a wider net by covering any interactive game that “utilizes multiple currency systems of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any prize or award or cash or cash equivalents.”
That broader wording has drawn praise from parts of the iGaming industry. Sweepstakes operators would not be able to remain legal in Maryland simply by adding a third (or fourth) currency to their platforms.
75 cease-and-desists so far in Maryland
Jennifer Beske with the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency said anyone outside of those 26 is operating outside of regulation.
She provided sweepstakes casinos as an example.
“What’s happening is there are games that are being offered that look like casino playing,” Beske said. “You can play them without any investment of currency whatsoever. When there is an investment in that virtual currency, it converts to a real currency that you are able to cash out or otherwise play in any type of game that will generate currency.”
Sen. Paul Corderman said they are actively in pursuit of dozens of these operators through efforts in coordination with the Office of Attorney General and their own efforts to send cease-and-desist letters.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming has sent out 75 cease and desist letters, Corderman said.
“We’ve got about a 33% success rate in people acknowledging that and leaving the state of Maryland and on a national basis — that’s pretty good,” Corderman said. “That’s what we see in other jurisdictions, but there are significantly more bad actors out there that are in the marketplace.”
Live! Casino & Hotel supports SB112
Beske said today in Maryland you can put in “slots” as what you want to search for in your app, and you will get hundreds of different types of gaming operators and different opportunities to play within that response.
“You’ll also have hundreds of games that you can play within that operator,” she said. “Trying to determine where they are — we know they’re offshore, we know that they’re outside of the United States, but there are some that are also operating within the U.S.”
Ryan Eller, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Live! Casino & Hotel in Maryland, testified in favor of SB112. Live! Casino & Hotel employs about 2,700 team members and provides another 5,100 indirect jobs in Maryland.
“Data consistently shows that legalizing online gambling does not reduce the illegal market; it tends to grow it,” Eller said. “However, we believe that bills like Senate Bill 112 as well as Senator Quarterman’s sweepstakes legislation from 2025 which passed unanimously last year are better approaches to go after the illegal gaming market. We would also support any further legislation that may go a step further by seeking enforcement measures on those individuals or enterprises involved in marketing or facilitating iGaming transactions in our state.”
SGLA: ‘Illegal offshore copycats’ would fill void if sweeps get banned
Dwight Ramenaden, Head of Responsible Social Gameplay (RSG) at VGW, said they believe games at sweepstakes casinos — which a growing number within the sweeps industry are calling social plus platforms — should only be enjoyed by adults 21-plus and enforce that through multi-step age verification.
“We monitor player behavior using alerts and a customer risk score developed in-house that was informed by markers from adjacent regulated gaming industries and adapted that to the social plus model,” Ramenaden said, who also detailed VGW’s responsible gaming framework in an exclusive interview with Sweepsy. “We have also introduced gameplay affordability to the U.S., which is a tool that helps identify activity that may fall outside a player’s estimated spending power that is relevant to both RSG and financial crime prevention.”
Sean Ostrow, Managing Director of Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA), said they rise in opposition to this bill, “which would ban and criminalize the entire social plus industry, including law abiding businesses that have been operating in Maryland since 2012.”
Ostrow said SGLA companies have voluntarily established a regime of strong consumer protections, including mandatory age 21-plus identity verification, geolocation, responsible social gaming tools, advertising standards, and many other trust and safety provisions that go far beyond what comparable social games currently offer.
“If SB112 is passed, the law-abiding operators will exit the state, but illegal operators will stay and prey on unsuspecting consumers, including the approximately 120,000 Maryland adults that currently enjoy social plus games,” Ostrow said. “Social plus operators that offer real consumer protections will be replaced by illegal offshore copycats that use exploitative marketing techniques to trick Maryland consumers.”
An amendment would create more than $20M in revenue
SGLA is proposing an amendment that will bring industry-wide regulation to sweepstakes casinos and generate upwards of $20 million in annual revenue in Maryland through a combination of sales tax on purchases and operator registration fees.
“There’s never been a time like this in social gaming, and frankly, it’s exciting,” said Derek Brinkman, Executive Product Advisor at VGW. “The near constant pace of innovation in gaming and entertainment overall has created a healthy online arms race of market competition that will not cease any time soon and benefits players by giving them a range of new forms of fun, safe entertainment.”
By banning sweeps games, Brinkman said Maryland would be setting the precedent that any future innovative games interested in entering the state could be blocked.
“Instead, Maryland can now build its recent momentum as an enterprising and forward-thinking state where innovators, entrepreneurs, and industry disruptors compete in the free market,” Brinkman said. “That way the residents of Maryland win with more entertainment options and the state wins with more tax revenue opportunities.”
VGW — which received a cease-and-desist in Maryland in 2025 via Chumba Casino but is still operating in the state — would welcome working with legislators on a codified regulatory framework for their industry that could also provide additional revenue opportunities for the state, Brinkman said.
“Our games are ideal because they share the entertainment and mechanics of popular casino games without a player ever having to spend a dime,” Brinkman said. “The vast majority of our players — most of whom are aged 35 to 54 — never spend a penny and instead choose to play for free. For VGW, our player safety and security game integrity and player protection measures are the most important features we have developed to ensure long-term success and player retention.”
No decision regarding SB112 was made by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee on Thursday.
