Arizona Sends Cease-and-Desists to Social Sites

The Arizona Department of Gaming has sent cease-and-desist letters to four more sweepstakes casinos and social sportsbooks, including Pulsz Casino.

Fliff, Thrillzz and BettySweeps were also put on notice, according to a statement released by the ADG. “Each aforementioned operator has been directed to immediately cease all online (or other) gambling operations and activities in Arizona and take the necessary steps to immediately prevent and exclude Arizona residents and visitors from gambling on their websites.”

Arizona has laid down the law in no uncertain terms, alleging that all four potentially face charges including:

• Promotion of Gambling – Felony
• Illegal Control of an Enterprise – Felony
• Money Laundering – Felony

These are serious charges, and may well be enough to convince the casinos to block all access to Arizona with immediate effect. Land-based casinos and sports betting are legal in Arizona, but online gambling is prohibited. Sweepstakes casinos operate with virtual currencies that seemed to thread the needle of the gambling regulations when it comes to real-money gambling.

Arizona is no longer buying that line, though, and is using the existing gambling laws to go after the sweepstakes industry. In April it issued cease-and-desist orders to Modo.us and Epic Hunts, and earlier in the year issued a public service announcement to warn Arizona residents about the dangers of this new breed of online casino.

Stake.us has pulled out of Arizona, but for now the likes of McLuck, RealPrize and WOW Vegas are all operating in the state. So, the ADG could send out more cease-and-desist letters in the near future, and we’ll keep a close eye on Arizona in the months ahead. It looks like the state has joined the likes of New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Montana, Washington and more in taking a firm stance against the sweepstakes casino model, although for now it is using existing laws rather than drafting new legislation.