Pennsylvania, Wyoming Push Bills to Ban Sweepstakes Casinos
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Wyoming are each advancing legislation that would outlaw sweepstakes casinos — the dual-currency sites that let players exchange sweeps coins for real prizes — though the two states are reaching for very different penalties to do it.
Pennsylvania: fines up to $500,000 per violation
Rep. Russ Diamond has introduced sweepstakes-ban language as part of a broader gaming bill, HB 2801, which would make it unlawful for any person or entity to operate, conduct, or promote online sweepstakes games in Pennsylvania. The bill defines a covered game as one that uses a dual-currency system redeemable for cash or cash equivalents while simulating casino-style play — slots, table games like blackjack and roulette, or lottery-style formats such as keno and bingo. Violators would face fines of $50,000 to $500,000 per violation and the loss of, or a bar from obtaining, a state gaming license. The bill would give the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board authority to investigate, hold hearings, and issue subpoenas and cease-and-desist orders, with the state Attorney General's office able to investigate independently or alongside the board.
HB 2801 currently sits in the House Gaming Oversight Committee and hasn't received a hearing. Pennsylvania's 2026 session runs through November 30, and bills don't carry over into the next session — so the clock is a real factor for whether it advances this year at all.
Wyoming: a felony-level approach
Wyoming's Legislature's Select Committee on Gaming has gone further, advancing a draft bill (27LSO-0098) that would classify operating or knowingly supporting a sweepstakes casino as "professional gambling" — a felony under Wyoming law carrying up to three years in prison. The draft's language is notably broad: it would cover not just operators but anyone knowingly providing geolocation services, payment processing, server hosting, platform services, data services, or advertising to a sweepstakes-casino operation, while explicitly exempting ordinary players. A competing draft that would have legalized and regulated sweepstakes casinos instead — with age verification, geolocation, and self-exclusion requirements — failed to advance at the same round of meetings.
The felony-track draft now heads to the Legislature's Management Council, which decides whether to formally sponsor it for the 2027 session; that council isn't expected to meet again until mid-to-late November or early December.
Why it matters
Neither bill is law yet, and neither has a clear timeline to passage this year. But they add Pennsylvania and Wyoming to a growing list of states — several of which have acted since 2025 — treating sweepstakes casinos as unlicensed gambling rather than a legal gray area, following enforcement actions and lawsuits already underway elsewhere. For players, the throughline is the same one we flag every time a sweepstakes platform's legal status is in dispute: operating in contested legal territory carries real risk to account balances and access, with little advance notice if enforcement lands.