Maryland targets VGW in latest enforcement action

• VGW targeted in Maryland in latest action against the sector
• The company ought to cease activity and provide additional details
• Failure to comply could result in denial of future right of entry into the state

The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency has moved against another operator in the state, targeting Virtual Gaming Worlds, the owner of Chumba Casino. VGW, as the company is known, received legal notice from the regulator in the form of a cease-and-desist letter which asks the company to comply and wind down operations within 10 days of receiving the notice.

VGW targeted in Maryland as noose around sweepstake sector tightens

The letter was sent to VGW, which also operates LuckyLand Slots, Global Poker, and other brands, on March 12, meaning that the company has until March 22 to comply with the request to stop providing its products locally at least for the time being.

The company also has to reply to the regulator in writing by March 27 about other aspects concerning its activities. Maryland is also alleging that VGW has been operating a form of gambling without the necessary license to do so.

VGW is required to respond in writing to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency and confirm or deny that it is operating gaming products in the Old Line State. On top of that, VGW has to present the regulator with a full and detailed account of the type of products that it is offering to local players.

This is the latest development in the saga that involves social casinos and sweepstakes operators. A growing crop of local governments in the United States have been taking a gung-ho approach towards the sector, with Maryland among those to take a dim view of the activity.

VGW has to inform the regulator about all of its gaming activities

Mississippi is already all but set on banning the sector, while New Jersey and New York are similarly debating outlawing the activity. Sweepstakes have come under a lot of scrutiny from regulators, trade bodies, and tribal organizations, accused of running a form of gambling but not bothering to obtain the same licenses as regulated companies.

The sector has rebuffed those claims, arguing that the sweepstakes model was established in legal precedent and that the companies involved in sweepstakes operations were not breaching any laws. However, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission has chosen to treat VGW as an entity that offers a form of gambling, but without the appropriate license.

In its statement, the regulator said that it "had no record" of VGW owning such licensure but still carrying out these activities.

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