46 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2025 PULSE New Hampshire casinos can install unlimited VLTs after governor signs gambling expansion into law Arizona Lottery Awards Pollard Banknote Three-Year Contract Extension For Warehousing And Distribution House committee advances bill to save, reform Texas Lottery A House committee on Tuesday advanced legislation that preserves the embattled Texas Lottery but abolishes the commission that oversees it. Under the bill the state would move oversight and control of the games' management to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and a new lottery advisory committee. Two Ex-Lottery.com Executives Plead Guilty to Securities Fraud Sentencing before Judge Alvin K. Hellers set for November. Two former Lottery.com Inc. executives have pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges in connection with a scheme to fraudulently inflate the financial results of a company that promoted itself as the lottery equivalent of Uber or Doordash. Ryan Dickinson, the company’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty Thursday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, to make false and misleading statements in proxy statements, and to make false filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He also pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud, one count of making false SEC filings, and one count of improperly influencing the conduct of audits. Former chief revenue officer Matthew Clemenson pleaded guilty to the same charges, minus the count for influencing the conduct of audits. The pleas are part of a case that federal prosecutors filed in February against the ex-CEO of the blank-check company that acquired Lottery.com to launch it into the public markets. That indictment accuses Vadim Komissarov of defrauding investors in Trident Acquisitions Corp. by reporting fake revenues about Lottery.com and selling off his shares before the market found out. Ohio bill proposes to legalise online gambling and ban sweepstakes Legality In Doubt, Sweepstakes Casinos Could Be Targeted By State Attorneys General With only seven U.S. states offering realmoney online casino gaming (also known as “iGaming”), sweepstakes casinos have emerged to fill the void. Readily available on major app stores for download from anywhere in the U.S., these unregulated platforms — which originated offshore but have since steadily migrated onshore (with many of the major operators headquartered in the United States) — offer real money casino-style gambling (such as slots, roulette, blackjack, poker, and even sports betting) under the guise of a “sweepstakes” promotion (albeit, one which is perpetually run). This nascent industry has grown at an astonishing rate — with more than one million U.S.-based players — and this year expects to see $11.4 billion in player purchases and at least $4 billion in net revenue. While these platforms claim to offer a “sweepstakes” like those occasionally offered by Publisher’s Clearinghouse and McDonald’s, they bear no similarity to those promotions. Rather than a limited-time offer intended to promote a separate, standalone product, these platforms continuously offer real money casino-style games of chance. The only product offered are casino games – there is no separate line of business being promoted. The purported “sweepstakes” aspect is no more than a sleight of hand – customers purportedly pay for one type of token to participate in the games (“Gold Coins,” which allow you to play the games for no real-world prizes) and are issued a “free” bonus allotment of “Sweeps Coins,” which allow you to participate in the same games for the opportunity to win a prize. The number of Sweeps Coins a purchaser receives is generally equivalent on a 1:1 basis to the number of dollars they spend to obtain them. As detailed previously in Forbes, every relevant judicial decision (at least 15 by my count) which addresses a ‘casino-style’ sweepstakes game that awards users entries to play real money games of chance in an amount commensurate with dollars spent was found to be illegal gambling — even though free entries were also available without a product purchase. Despite their dubious legality, online sweepstakes casinos have continued to operate unimpeded in the United States. Efforts to rein in these unregulated platforms – which skirt state licensing requirements, offer no player protections, and siphon revenues from state governments – have largely been relegated to private class action lawsuits from aggrieved customers and the occasional cease-and-desist notice from a state regulatory agency. Pennsylvania lawmakers clash over skill game tax rates ahead of budget deadline Pennsylvania lawmakers remain divided over how to regulate and tax skill games, with competing proposals stalling progress as a key budget deadline looms. Sen. Chris Gebhard introduced legislation last month proposing a 35% tax on skill games. He said the figure is a compromise between Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed 52% rate and Sen. Gene Yaw’s 16% alternative. Slot machines in casinos are taxed at 54%. Shapiro included the 52% rate in his 2025 budget proposal. Yaw, whose bill was introduced in April, argues a lower rate will support small businesses and local groups that depend on skill game revenue. Connecticut Senate approves sweepstakes ban, sends bill to house Montana officially enacts nation’s first sweepstakes ban Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law this week after SB 555 passed both chambers of the legislature in April. The ban will go into effect on Oct. 1 of this year. The legislation amends the state’s existing gaming laws to stipulate that the term internet gambling now includes “online casinos, by whatever name known, which constitute internet gambling and therefore are prohibited. This includes but is not limited to any platform, website, or application that knowingly transmits or receives gambling information, allows consumers to place a bet or wager using any form of currency, and makes payouts of any form of currency,”the text reads. The “any form of currency” terminology is key, as it encompasses the dual-currency system used by most sweepstakes operators. Via that approach, users are given a free daily allowance of virtual coins but can buy more of that in-game currency to use. When they buy those coins, they also get an allotment of a second currency that can be used to play games and earn more of that second currency that can be cashed out for real money. Anyone who knowingly violates the new law will be charged with a felony and could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. It is not entirely clear from the bill exactly which operators will be impacted by the legislation, which many argue extend beyond the most popular sweepstakes companies. New York Attorney General orders online sweepstakes casinos to cease and desist
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