Stake Loses 11 Game Providers in California, Mississippi Considers Online Casinos

The Stake.us Game Provider Exodus Continues

Things have been moving quickly in the nation's most populous state, California, which accounts for roughly 17% of sweepstakes casino revenue in the United States, according to sources.

As we reported over the weekend, the California State Assembly approved AB 831, the bill banning sweepstakes casinos in the state, by a unanimous 63-0 vote. This vote came just a few days after the California Senate also approved the measure. It now goes to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom (D), where it awaits his signature to become law.

Things were already starting to look dicey in California before the sweeps casino ban even passed the legislature. A recent lawsuit by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office against Stake.us really shook things up. Not only did the lawsuit go after Stake and its founders, but it also targeted several partner businesses of the sweepstakes casino, including many top game designers.

Top game designer Pragmatic Play, named in the LA City Attorney's Office lawsuit, immediately announced a pullout effective September 8th. Not only were they leaving Stake.us, but they decided to do a full exit from the entire sweepstakes market in the United States.

Another game provider, Skywind, announced that they would be removing their games from sweeps casinos effective September 5th, although they weren't a provider on Stake.us. Shortly thereafter, news broke that game designer Playtech would be removing their games from sweeps casino play in California, although they weren't active on the Stake platform.

In addition to the exits by Skywind and Playtech from sweepstakes play in select states, there are a total of eleven game providers that have disappeared from the Stake.us platform in recent days. They are:

• Pragmatic Play
• No Limit City
• Evolution
• Red Tiger
• NetEnt
• Hacksaw Gaming
• Just Slots
• Booming Games
• Live88
• Fat Panda
• Big Time Gaming

Probably the biggest losses for Stake were the exits of Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming, and Evolution. In particular, Pragmatic Play was the provider of some of the most popular slot games with high rollers, including Sugar Rush, Gates of Olympus, and the Big Bass series of fishing slots.

There are still some games available in Stake.us for California players, but with the passage of AB 831, it looks like they might not be servicing players in the state for much longer.

We will continue to keep you updated as more news breaks.

Mississippi Considers Online Casino Legalization

While many states are moving against the sweepstakes casino model businesses, legislators across the country are taking notice of the popularity of online casinos and looking to get in on the action.

Count Mississippi among those states.

Mississippi, despite its Bible Belt location and conservative reputation, has been a state with a great tradition in the gambling world. For many years, only Nevada, New Jersey, and Mississippi had legalized casinos. In 2018, sports betting was approved. However, the state has lagged behind in approving the existence of online casinos for the state's residents.

The sports betting legalization has been a boom for the state, and recent months have seen over $200 million in revenue. Now some legislators want to tap into the revenue stream from online casino games too.

What's even putting more pressure on the state is that neighboring Arkansas and Louisiana allow online casino play from non-residents, so long as they are within the state lines when they log into the app.

As the legislative discussions continue, we will keep our ears to the ground and update you once a bill is drafted for consideration.