Gaming Regulators in Maine Caution Public About Unregulated Casino Websites
Posted on: June 10, 2025, 01:43h.
Last updated on: June 23, 2025, 08:06h.
- Maine gaming regulators are reminding the public that iGaming is illegal
- Maine is home to legal online sports betting and fantasy sports
- Online slots and table games remain prohibited
Lawmakers in Maine continue to consider legislation to authorize iGaming, or websites and apps that facilitate online slots and table games. In the meantime, the state agency tasked with governing legal forms of gambling is cautioning the public about utilizing offshore gambling websites.
On Monday, Milton Champion, the executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit, a division of the state Public Safety Department, issued a statement advising consumers to avoid accessing unlicensed, unregulated gambling websites.
Maine is home to two legal online sportsbooks — Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings — and five online fantasy sports platforms — DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks, OwnersBox, and RealTime.
Accessing a website offering sports gambling and/or fantasy sports not named one of those operators is illegal. The same goes for any website or mobile app that conducts real-money casino games, including controversial sites billing themselves as sweepstakes platforms.
These sites may appear legitimate, but none are licensed or regulated by the state. No online casino, iGaming, or sweepstakes site is authorized to operate in Maine,” Champion said in a statement.
Sweeps and social casinos continue to face scrutiny from gaming regulators, state attorneys general, and the federal government. The platforms’ use of dual-currency systems has been deemed an illegal workaround to circumvent state laws.
Sweepstakes interests reject such allegations, with the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) telling Casino.org on Monday that their members provide “engaging, free-to-play online entertainment … through sweepstakes promotional models widely used by respected consumer brands nationwide.”
Maine Mulls iGaming
Last week, Maine’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee surprised the iGaming industry by forwarding legislation to allow online casinos that it had previously shelved in March. Legislative Document 1164/House Paper 769 is now being reviewed in the State Legislature’s chambers.
The odds of Maine joining Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia in allowing online casino games remain long. Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) opposes more gaming, and the state’s two current casino operators — Penn Entertainment and Churchill Downs — have told state lawmakers they don’t wish to expand their operations to the internet.
Champion says the public can only legally play slot machines and table games in person at Hollywood Casino Bangor and Oxford Casino Hotel. Any website advertising otherwise is illegitimate.
State Gaming PSAs
Maine’s Gambling Control Unit becomes the latest state gaming regulatory agency to warn consumers that iGaming remains prohibited. Along with gaming regulators, advisories have also been issued by casinos themselves, which have come across offshore websites posing as their online identities.
In April, Jake’s 58, a video lottery casino on New York’s Long Island, warned its patrons and the community of a fraudulent website claiming to offer iGaming on the casino’s behalf. The Golden Nugget in Illinois’ Danville, Caesars Virginia, Plainridge Park in Massachusetts, Beau Rivage in Mississippi’s Biloxi, and Saracen Casino Resort in Arkansas have also issued releases condemning online apps and websites posing as affiliates of the brick-and-mortar casinos.
Many of the illegal gaming websites operate from countries friendly to iGaming, including Malta, the Isle of Man, Anjouan, Gibraltar, Curacao, the Philippines, and Ukraine.
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