Wyoming Sweepstakes Casino Ban Bill: Felony for Operators

Wyoming's proposed bill 27LSO-0098 would make operating an online sweepstakes casino a felony from July 1, 2027, with players carved out of the new offence, and reports conflict on whether the Legislature's gaming committee advanced it at its October 5-6 meeting.

WyoFile reports the committee voted unanimously this week to advance it. Covers reports the Select Committee on Gaming took no vote at its October 5-6 meeting in Rock Springs, and the official minutes are not out yet. The committee also had a rival bill in front of it that would do the opposite and write sweepstakes casinos into Wyoming law. The text of both bills is public, and it says more about what a Wyoming sweepstakes ban would look like than anything reported so far.

How do Wyoming's two sweepstakes bills compare?

What would Wyoming's sweepstakes ban bill actually do?

It does not create a new crime. It widens an old one. Wyoming already makes "professional gambling" a felony, and the bill adds a new category to that definition:

"Operating an online casino or sweepstakes game for play by another person, or knowingly providing services for the purpose of operating, offering or promoting an online casino or sweepstakes game for play by another person, including geolocation services, payment processing, server hosting, platform services, gaming content, data services, promotion or advertising."

The penalty is the one already in W.S. 6-7-102(b), which legislative staff copied into the bill: imprisonment for not more than three years, a fine of not more than $3,000, or both. Staff also note that the change would make the existing seizure rules for "gambling device," "gambling record" and "gambling proceeds" apply.

The definition is written to catch the coin model directly. A covered game must be offered online, involve "the risking or use of property or a representative of value," and enable or simulate gambling. "Representative of value" is defined as any unit used in "a single-currency, dual-currency, multi-currency, free-play, promotional-play, sweepstakes-entry or similar system" that can be redeemed for property. That is the Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins split described almost word for word.

A new section, 40-12-210, adds that nothing in Wyoming's prize-promotion statutes "shall be construed to authorize" an online casino or sweepstakes game. That closes the door the industry relies on, the promotional-sweepstakes carve-out explained in our legality guide.

Would players in Wyoming be breaking the law?

This bill does not target them. The new subparagraph "shall not apply to a person's participation in an online casino or sweepstakes game solely as a player." That carve-out covers the new professional-gambling category only. The bill does not say whether playing counts as gambling under Wyoming's existing law. LSO counsel Tamara Rivale told the committee in July that the bill focuses "liability on operators and service providers, not individual players," according to the Legislature's own summary of that meeting.

The practical exposure for players is the same one every ban state has produced: operators leave, and balances have to be cleared on the operator's terms; VGW's past state exits gave players 14 to 57 days to redeem. Nothing in the bill says what happens to an unredeemed balance.

What is the rival bill to regulate sweepstakes casinos in Wyoming?

27LSO-0200, titled "Online sweepstakes authorized," would let a sponsor run online sweepstakes and exempt compliant ones from the gambling definition. Sponsors offering casino-style games would have to keep controls "reasonably designed to" do eight things, including:

Separately from those eight controls, sponsors would have to collect and remit sales tax "on taxable sales made in connection with the online sweepstakes as required by law." The bill does not say which sales count as taxable.

It defines "online sweepstakes" as a game "in which a prize may be awarded in connection with the sale of consumer products or services, provided no purchase is necessary to enter or win a prize." In other words, the free mail-in and daily-bonus routes to Sweeps Coins would become a legal condition rather than a marketing habit.

Where it came from matters. The July 30 minutes record that Co-chairman Jayme Lien asked legislative staff for a bill based on Appendix 9-02 "to provide regulatory authority for online sweepstakes." Appendix 9-02 is listed in the same minutes as "Proposed Revisions to 40-12-201, et seq.", provided by Virtual Gaming World. VGW runs Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker. 27LSO-0200 is the only regulation bill on the October agenda, so it appears to be the one that request produced. The document itself does not say so.

Did Wyoming's gaming committee vote to advance the ban?

The record is split, and we cannot settle it yet.

• WyoFile, whose report was republished by Cap City News, says that "in a unanimous vote this week," lawmakers sponsored legislation "that would ban online sweepstakes games."
• Covers, updated October 8, says the committee "took no vote on either proposal."

What the Legislature's own records do show:

1. July 30, 2026, Casper. Co-chairman John Kolb moved to forward 27LSO-0098 to Management Council, but "the motion failed for lack of a second," per the official minutes. That is the stall we reported in August.
2. Next meeting. The July agenda listed September 29 in Evanston. The meeting took place on October 5-6 in Rock Springs instead.
3. October 5-6, Rock Springs. The agenda scheduled a "Demonstration" by Wyoming Gaming Commission Executive Director Nick Larramendy, then both bills, each presented by Rivale and Larramendy with public comment. 27LSO-0098 was posted at the same version number, v0.2, that the committee saw in July. The Legislature's notice for the meeting says the committee would "determine whether legislation should be advanced for sponsorship." The final agenda item lists "Management Council Sponsorship" and "Next Meeting: none."

That last point matters for reading the WyoFile report. The Legislature's committee record marks this select committee as unable to sponsor bills itself. Its route is to forward a bill to Management Council, which is what the July motion tried to do. So even if the vote WyoFile describes took place, it most likely sent the ban to Management Council for 2027 sponsorship consideration. It did not put a bill on the floor. As of October 10, the committee record lists a notice and an agenda for the October meeting but no minutes.

What did the Gaming Commission and VGW say about the ban?

According to WyoFile, Larramendy described a "constant cycle" of complaints passed between his agency and the consumer-protection unit, and said: "So this bill definitely makes it very clear that this is illegal gambling." The same report quotes Bill Gantz, who it identifies as an attorney for VGW, calling the bill "over broad." It also reports Gantz's claim that VGW has run online sweepstakes in Wyoming since 2012. These quotes rest on that one report.

What should Wyoming players do now?

Nothing changes today. The earliest either bill could take effect is July 1, 2027, and only after Management Council or another committee sponsors it and the 2027 session passes it.

Most brands still serve the state. In our database, only NoLimitCoins, Funrize and TaoFortune list Wyoming as excluded. The ones that remain are ranked and scored here. If you keep a balance, finish identity checks now and know how redemption works before a deadline forces it. Our Wyoming state page also covers the Gaming Commission's 2025 warning that it treats every sweepstakes site serving the state as operating illegally.

Sources & documents

• 27LSO-0098 v0.2, "Online casinos and sweepstakes prohibited," as posted for the October 5 meeting
• 27LSO-0200 v0.3, "Online sweepstakes authorized"
• Select Committee on Gaming, Summary of Proceedings, July 30, 2026
• October 5-6, 2026 agenda and meeting notice
• Wyoming Legislature committee record for the Select Committee on Gaming (agenda items, presenters, documents)
• WyoFile, "Wyoming lawmakers take steps to further restrict online gaming", republished by Cap City News
• Covers, "Wyoming Lawmakers Weigh Sweepstakes Casino Ban, Regulation"

Both bills, the July minutes and the October agenda were retrieved from the Wyoming Legislature's servers on October 10, 2026. Quotations from them are verbatim. The minutes say they are a digest and not a transcript. The October vote is reported by WyoFile alone and is contradicted by Covers. Until the Legislature publishes October minutes, treat it as unconfirmed.

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