Legislation that would ban sweepstakes casinos in Maryland recently passed the state senate through a unanimous 47-0 vote.
On the surface, this appears to be a dark cloud on the Maryland gambling industry. However, a prominent pro-gaming state senator believes the effort goes beyond a simple ban. Instead, he hopes this will lead to a regulated online gambling industry in the Old Line State.
The upper chamber passed SB860, which would bar sweepstakes casino gaming within the jurisdiction. The bill prohibits any company from using a “dual-currency system of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any prize or award or cash or cash equivalents, or any chance to win any prize or award or cash equivalents.”
Sen. Ron Watson is one of the most pro-gambling senators in the legislature. Last year, he introduced legislation to legalize online casinos, but it couldn’t pass the Senate. However, even Watson supported the ban.
Watson believes the bill will help pave the way for regulated online poker and other casino games. Especially with the increased tax revenue that could come with a regulated.
“The intent of this bill is to acknowledge and put a halt to the amount of illegal gaming going on, and the uncaptured state revenue that is missed by not regulating and supporting legal iGaming,” Watson told Card Player. “iGaming is definitely ‘on the table’ and as Maryland’s fiscal challenges become more severe, this is now being considered as a potential option. Daily conversations are ongoing.”
The state currently faces a $3 billion budget shortfall and legal online casino gaming is one of the easiest ways to close that gap.
Sweepstakes and social casinos typically use two virtual currencies to operate. Users can play games for free using one currency and then have the option to purchase more.
Players then often receive a second currency and can use this method for play as well. Players can use the second currency, often referred to as “sweeps coins” or “sweeps cash”, to redeem for real cash or prizes.
Sweepstakes operators argue that players can play as much as they like for free and have no reasonable expectation of winning. They argue the games are more akin to traditional mobile gaming. However, legislators have said they are more like online gaming and Mississippi and Florida are among those that have moved to ban the sites.
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