Pragmatic Play pulls out of US sweepstake casinos

Sweepstakes are a heavily debated topic, with some stakeholders insisting that they shouldn’t be allowed to operate at all. 

Some of the biggest game providers, like Pragmatic Play and Evolution are starting to remove their games from these sweepstake casinos.

Pragmatic Play was pushed to do this by constantly evolving regulations and California's recent civil enforcement action. 

The bill

The catalyst for this was Assembly bill 831 in California. The bill was last amended in July and is now in the process of another reading in the Assembly. 

If this bill passed, it would prohibit “any person or entity to operate, conduct, or offer an online sweepstakes game”. 

This means that both the online sweepstakes and the game providers could be criminally punished. 

Fearing that other states may start to follow California, some providers have started to get rid of licenses which allow their games to be used on sweepstakes sites. 

The fight against sweepstakes so far 

In the lead-up to this bill, authorities have been fighting back against these operators, with the operator Stake. us being sued by the city of L.A.

At the risk of providers being punished for their games being available on these sites, they are beginning to pull out.

Pragmatic Play is the owner of some of the most popular games such as Big Bass Bonanza and Sweet Bonanza. Once these are removed, it will make players even less likely to engage with the illegal sweepstakes. 

The United States regulators have been in a constant battle with these operators, and it seems that the newest tactic is to target the game providers instead. 

Some providers have already refused to work with sweepstakes, with Play’n’Go doing so on the basis that they “do not operate inside a regulated framework and that’s not something we support”. 

How this affects players 

Players will no longer be able to play Pragmatic Play games when using a sweepstakes site. 

This will further affect players if other states or developers decide to follow in California’s footsteps. 

Another company that has followed suit is Evolution Gaming, which has since removed all of its games from Stake.us.

Both providers have made the decision to stop licensing these sweepstakes after the regulation change. If they are no longer associated with these illegal sweepstake casinos then their companies are protected against regulation change. 

This will affect the way that providers operate, forcing them to become more vigilant about which online operations they are supplying. 

What’s next? 

Officials have decided to go after providers instead of the operators themselves, as established companies are easier to regulate. 

Montana, Louisiana, NJ and New York have all made moves to restrict sweepstakes casinos from operating in their respective states, with California looking to follow suit.

These established game providers want to stay in business and are required to follow the latest regulations. If these providers are careful about who they license, then it will be harder for illegal sweepstakes to even host games.