Baltimore Continues Gaming Crackdown, Latest Legal Action Targets Online Sweepstakes Casinos
Posted on: March 5, 2026, 12:33h.
Last updated on: March 5, 2026, 12:33h.
- Baltimore is suing several online sweepstakes casinos
- The city’s lawsuit alleges the websites engage in illegal gambling
- Baltimore sued DraftKings and FanDuel last year
The City of Baltimore has filed another lawsuit seeking to better protect its residents from gambling harms.
On Wednesday, the Baltimore City Law Department and its go-to outside counsel, DiCello Levitt, LLP, filed litigation in the Circuit Court for Baltimore against six social sweepstakes casino entities. The complaint alleges that the companies have violated Baltimore’s Consumer Protection Ordinance by facilitating illegal online casino gambling disguised as lawful sweepstakes contests.
This lawsuit is about drawing a clear line: illegal gambling operations are not welcome in Baltimore. These companies are targeting our communities, including young people and minors, and profiting while ignoring the law. No company, especially those operating from overseas, gets to profit here while flouting our laws and endangering our residents,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
The complaint names VGW Holdings as a defendant, the company that operates several leading social sweepstakes casinos, including Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots. Stake, High 5 Casino, McLuck, Fortune Coins, and Pulsz Casino are additionally named as defendants.
Illegal Gambling Charges
The Baltimore complaint charges the online sweepstakes casino platforms with illegal gambling.
Sweepstakes casinos offer a dual-currency digital environment, where a secondary credit, commonly called “sweeps coins,” can be purchased. When a player risks sweeps coins on the interactive slots and table games, their winning credits can be redeemed for cash withdrawals.
Critics of sweepstakes casinos, and there are many, say the websites and apps are designed to circumvent state gaming laws. Maryland prohibits online casinos.
“These companies are operating illegal gambling platforms while using deceptive practices to avoid oversight and accountability. The City is using its consumer protection authority to stop these unlawful practices and to address the real harm they are causing to Baltimore residents,” added Baltimore City Solicitor Ebony Thompson.
Sweepstakes casinos claim they offer free-to-play social casino games. As for their sweeps coins, they liken such operations to businesses and retailers offering customers a chance to win a prize, with examples ranging from McDonald’s Monopoly promotion to CVS featuring a spinning wheel in its app, where users can win discount codes.
Sweepstakes casinos do provide free sweeps coins, though the value of the complimentary tokens is typically less than $1 per day for logging in.
Baltimore Crackdown
In April 2025, Baltimore and DiCello Levitt brought a lawsuit against FanDuel and DraftKings on claims that the online sportsbooks target and exploit vulnerable persons, which is banned by the Consumer Protection Ordinance.
“DraftKings and FanDuel put corporate greed ahead of the well-being of Baltimoreans, getting users hooked to their gambling platforms and then leveraging troves of data to identify, target, and exploit the most vulnerable among them. Their predatory practices have caused significant harm to our community, and we are taking action to hold them accountable and protect our citizens,” said Thompson.
In November, the case was sent back to state court after FanDuel and DraftKings asked Maryland’s federal court to intervene.
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