A bill that would ban Sweeps Coins gameplay at sweepstakes casinos in Maryland secured approval from the full House on Monday, fulfilling the requirement to remain active past the crossover deadline.
In Maryland’s 2026 legislative session, bills had until March 23 to pass out of their originating chamber. If they failed to do so, they would stall out and not be considered any further.
House Bill 1226, which adds sweepstakes gaming to Maryland’s definition of illegal online gambling, nearly missed that deadline, entering March 23 without having passed out of the House yet. But it ultimately did pass out of the House at the proverbial 11th hour, receiving an overwhelming 134 yay votes to just two nay votes.
Another bill that would outlaw sweeps casinos, House Bill 295, also received its required passage out of the House close to the March 23 crossover deadline.
After being dormant since Feb. 5, HB295 got a favorable recommendation from the House Ways and Means Committee on March 19 before ultimately passing out of the House via a 105-24 vote on March 20. In fact, it was already assigned to its Senate committee — the Budget and Taxation Committee — on Monday.
That means sweeps operators can’t breathe a sigh of relief yet in Maryland, as lawmakers still have a chance to outlaw sweepstakes casinos in the 2026 session.
Maryland’s 2026 legislative session ends on April 13
Lawmakers don’t have much time for either bill.
Maryland’s 2026 session ends on April 13, which is three weeks from now. In those three weeks, HB1226 must get a first reading in the Senate, get referred to a Senate committee, pass through that committee, and go through a second and third reading on the full Senate floor before it can pass in the Senate. If it is amended at any point in that process, the House would need to approve any changes before the bill could ultimately pass. HB295, meanwhile, has to do all those steps except get referred to a committee.
Whether HB1226 or HB295 can pass through all those steps over the next three weeks largely depends on how much of a priority the legislation is seen as by lawmakers. Truly, if decision-makers in the legislature view either as a priority bill, it can be fast-tracked.
How HB1226 and HB295 compare
Both bills would outlaw Sweeps Coin gameplay at sweeps casinos.
But they do so in different ways.
HB1226 specifically targets “sweepstakes games” and folds them into a modified definition of illegal online gambling:
“‘Online gambling’ means the business of offering or accepting wagers, through an online gaming system on a computer, mobile device, tablet, or any other interactive device, on any game, contest, lottery, promotion, or contrivance thereof, including table games, slot machines, video poker, sweepstakes games, games of chance, and any other game typically offered in a casino.”
The language then defines a sweepstakes game as a casino-style game that “utilizes a dual–currency system of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any prize, award, cash or cash equivalents, or chance to win any prize, award, cash or cash equivalents.”
HB295, meanwhile, doesn’t ever mention sweepstakes gaming by title. It does, however, target the gameplay model used by sweepstakes casinos. This bill would include any casino-style game that “utilizes multiple currency systems of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any reward” in the category of “interactive game” — which amounts to the same effect, essentially, as online gambling.
HB295 goes on to define “reward” as “any award, cash, cash equivalent, prize, or an item convertible to cash that a player may receive from playing an interactive game.”
Here, the bill is targeting Sweeps Coins, which cannot be purchased but can be redeemed for cash once players accumulate a certain amount. The dual currency and multiple currency language in either bill would work to target the gameplay model used by sweeps casinos, where Gold Coins can be bought but can’t be redeemed and Sweeps Coins are the opposite.
2026 bills taking different route than 2025 bill
Interestingly, things went in reverse last year when Maryland’s bill banning sweeps casinos failed.
Senate Bill 860 passed through the Senate unanimously before stalling out in the House, where the House Ways and Means Committee elected to not hold a vote on the bill.
Now, in the 2026 session, the two sweeps ban bills have already cleared the “more difficult” chamber. If the Senate was willing to pass a sweeps ban bill in 2025, logic dictates they’d likely be similarly willing in 2026.
Again, much of that depends on where these bills fall in the hierarchy of importance right now.
Current status of sweeps gaming in Maryland
Even though Maryland hasn’t passed any legislation banning sweepstakes casinos, it is still seen as a sweeps-restrictive market where many notable operators — including Funzpoints, McLuck, Hello Millions, Jackpota, Spree, and Mega Bonanza — have either completely exited the state or at least shut down Sweeps Coin gameplay.
That’s likely thanks in part to the presence of cease-and-desists sent from the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, including to operators such as Golden Hearts, Zula Casino, McLuck, ReBet, Fortune Coins, Stake.us, and VGW, which owns Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, Global Poker, recently launched LuckyLand Casino, and soon-to-launch United Slots.
