Several notable sweepstakes casinos have pulled out of Iowa in recent weeks, after a new law was passed allowing the state’s gaming regulator to send cease-and-desists to sweeps casino platforms operating in the state.
And it’s not just the operators leaving.
Sweepsy has become aware of a popular games vendor that has pulled its titles out of all Iowa sweepstakes casinos, as well.
It’s 3 Oaks Gaming, some of whose most popular slots games include Coin Up Hot Fire, Big Heist, Aztec Pyramid Megaways, Sun of Egypt 4, and 777 Coins Hold and Win.
‘Due to legal reasons, this game is not available’
On Thursday, Sweepsy attempted to play multiple games from 3 Oaks Gaming across multiple sweepstakes casinos. At some sites, such as McLuck and PlayFame, 3 Oaks titles aren’t even available. At other sites, such as Spree and Coin Wizard, the games are available, but you are presented with the following message when you click to play:
Dear visitor,
due to legal reasons, this game is not available for players residing in this jurisdiction.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
This same message pops up in both Sweeps Coin and Gold Coin gameplay.
So what exactly is happening in Iowa?
Dual-currency gaming at sweepstakes casinos is not formally outlawed in Iowa.
The bill that passed in this legislative session — Senate File 2289 — only grants the Iowa Racing and Gaming Authority the legal right to send cease-and-desist orders to sweepstakes casinos operating in the state, and it went into effect on July 1.
Consequently, most operators have not adjusted their offerings in Iowa. However, some have, including High 5 Casino, Baba Casino, Lucky Bunny Casino, and Sidepot Casino. Interestingly, Sidepot is the sister site of sweeps sportsbook Fliff, and Fliff remains active in Iowa.
(The fact that the number of sites leaving Iowa is still relatively small indicates there is not yet a significant amount of cease-and-desist letters being sent out by the IRGC, if any at all — especially because these sites announced their intentions to exit Iowa before SF2289 even officially became law on July 1.)
But note the language below is the section of SF2289 that applies to sweeps gaming:
It grants the IRGC the authority: “To take any other action as may be reasonable or appropriate to enforce this chapter and the commission rules, including but not limited to issuing cease and desist orders and obtaining injunctive relief against a person offering games of chance, gambling, sports wagering, or illegal sweepstakes in this state without holding an appropriate license issued by the commission or otherwise being specifically authorized by law.”
The wording here — a person offering games of chance, gambling, sports wagering, or illegal sweepstakes in this state — may be just vague enough that a games provider such as 3 Oaks Gaming may interpret that as targeting both sweeps casino operators and any entity providing the sweeps operators with the games deemed illegal.
We’ve seen other major games providers leave states where new bans have passed or cease-and-desist orders have been issued, such as Evolution leaving Illinois a month before that state sent out a mountain of cease-and-desists. Pragmatic Play took it a step further last September, announcing it would no longer provide its titles to any sweeps casinos.
