{"id":10645,"date":"2026-04-21T04:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T04:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/maryland-lets-sweepstakes-ban-die-as-session-ends\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T04:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T04:43:17","slug":"maryland-lets-sweepstakes-ban-die-as-session-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/maryland-lets-sweepstakes-ban-die-as-session-ends\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Lets Sweepstakes Ban Die As Session Ends"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>Maryland closed the 2026 session without banning sweepstakes casinos<\/strong>. House lawmakers backed two bills targeting dual-currency casino-style games, but the Senate never took them up. That left the measures dead when the session ended.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong><em>Good to Know<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Maryland House lawmakers approved two anti-sweepstakes bills<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Senate never voted, so both bills failed<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Real-money online casino legislation also got nowhere<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p>Sweepstakes operators got a break in Maryland, but not because the fight went away.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers ran out the clock. Two bills aimed at online dual-currency casino games cleared the House with broad bipartisan support, yet neither reached a Senate vote before adjournment in April. So despite clear backing in one chamber, no ban became law.<\/p>\n<p>Regulators wanted those bills badly. State gaming officials said they needed stronger tools against hundreds of unlicensed sites operating in Maryland. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission had already sent dozens of cease-and-desist letters, but officials said only about 25% of operators complied.<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-items box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"box-100 space-org-3-item relative border-tb mt-1 \">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-logo-title-box box-100 text-left relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-box box-25 relative img-radius\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/katsubet-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t<amp-img alt=\"Katsubet\" src=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Katsubet.png.webp\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" layout=\"fixed\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/amp-img><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-title box-25 relative py-10\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/katsubet-casino\/\" title=\"Katsubet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Katsubet<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t<strong>5BTC or 111% + 111 Free Spins!<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"pt-1\">New players only. Exclusive 111% Welcome Bonus  + 111 Free Spins<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating box-25 relative mb-10\">\n<div class=\"rating-box text-center box-100  relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating-box relative\">\n<div class=\"stars\"><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-rating-notice relative\">Casino<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/katsubet-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\tVisit Site<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Industry groups pushed back and won for now. The Social Gaming Leadership Alliance argued the sweepstakes model does not break Maryland law because users can play for free or buy a separate currency tied to sweepstakes play. Operators compared that structure to McDonald\u2019s Monopoly Sweepstakes rather than illegal gambling.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cSGLA is pleased that neither (bill) became law in Maryland,\u201d<\/em> wrote Sean Ostrow, SGLA managing director, in a statement provided to iGaming.org.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhile efforts to stamp out illegal gambling are commendable, these two bills went far beyond illegal operators and would have penalized responsible Social Plus companies that offer strong consumer protections and contribute to the Maryland economy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cUltimately, our goal is to work with Maryland lawmakers and agencies to regulate Social Plus, protect consumers, and generate tax revenue, and we look forward to these productive conversations heading into the 2027 Maryland legislative session.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"main-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-items box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"box-100 space-org-3-item relative border-tb mt-1 \">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-logo-title-box box-100 text-left relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-box box-25 relative img-radius\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/7-bit-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t<amp-img alt=\"7Bit Casino\" src=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7BitCasino.png.webp\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" layout=\"fixed\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/amp-img><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-title box-25 relative py-10\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/7-bit-casino\/\" title=\"7Bit Casino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">7Bit Casino<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t<strong>177% up to 5BTC + 77 <strong>\u00a0Free Spins<\/strong>!<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"pt-1\">New players only. Exclusive Welcome Bonus of 177% + 77 Free Spins\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating box-25 relative mb-10\">\n<div class=\"rating-box text-center box-100  relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating-box relative\">\n<div class=\"stars\"><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-rating-notice relative\">Casino<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/7-bit-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\tVisit Site<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The result also says something bigger about Maryland. The state did not seriously advance real-money online casino bills either. Opposition has come from both parties, along with gaming interests that argue online casino play could hurt tax revenue and cost jobs. Concerns around gambling addiction remain part of that resistance too.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/maryland-lets-sweepstakes-ban-die-as-session-ends\/\">Maryland Lets Sweepstakes Ban Die As Session Ends<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maryland closed the 2026 session without banning sweepstakes casinos. House lawmakers backed two bills targeting dual-currency casino-style games, but the Senate never took them up. That left the measures dead when the session ended. Good to Know Maryland House lawmakers approved two anti-sweepstakes bills The Senate never voted, so both bills failed Real-money online casino [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}