Three more anti-sweeps bills have passed the house and senate in Connecticut, Nevada and Louisiana. All that remains is for the respective state governors to rubber stamp the legislation and they will join Montana in banning sweepstakes casinos this year.

Nevada’s Senate Bill 256 is now on Governor Joe Lombardo’s desk. The bill tightens penalties for illegal gambling, and while it doesn’t name sweepstakes casinos directly, they were brought up during debate. Most sweeps operators already avoid Nevada, but this cements the state’s zero-tolerance stance.

Connecticut’s Senate Bill 1235 also passed both chambers and heads to Governor Ned Lamont. The bill criminalizes unlicensed platforms offering “simulated online casino gaming.” Louisiana’s SB181 passed with teeth. It gives enforcement powers to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and State Police, not just the Attorney General. Penalties go up to $100,000 per offense and five years in prison. That should be enough to convince sweeps casino operators to exit the state.

States Taking a Stand

That’s three major bills, and 12 states in total have now taken a shot at regulating or banning sweeps casinos in 2025. Only a few have passed. Washington, Idaho, and Michigan were already off-limits, and now it looks like Nevada, Connecticut, and Louisiana are lining up to join them and Montana.

New Jersey, Ohio and New York are still debating bills, while legislation has failed in Illinois, Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi and Florida.

The rest of the US. remains mostly safe, for now, and most legislative sessions are wrapping up for the year. It has been a huge year for sweeps casinos, both in terms of growth and the attempts to ban them, and we expect more legislation to be ready to go when next year’s administrative sessions start up.

The newly formed Social Gaming Leadership Alliance, formed by the leading social casinos, has its work cut out between now and then.