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A Wyoming Select Committee on Gaming voted on October 6, 2026, to sponsor draft legislation to ban online sweepstakes in the state. During its meeting in Rock Springs, the committee rejected a competing bill that would have legalized and regulated sweepstakes casinos.
The panel, which included members of the Wyoming Senate and House, instead called public officials, industry operators, and other stakeholders to testify about the sweepstakes industry.
After two days of discussion, they voted unanimously to have the Wyoming Legislative Service Office (LSO) draft legislation to ban sweepstakes casinos in Wyoming.
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The Wyoming Select Committee on Gaming’s expert list
The hearing included a broad range of experts. Nick Larramendy, the Executive Director of the Wyoming Gaming Commission (WGC), was one of the first to testify on sweepstakes gambling.
Larramendy spoke of a “jurisdictional loop,” where complaints about the sweepstakes casino industry bounce between the state’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Unit and the Wyoming Gaming Commission.
Angie Van Houten, Wyoming’s Community Health Section chief, gave statistics on the industry and gambling in general.
Matt Kaufman, a partner with Hathaway & Coons and legal counsel for the Wyoming Lottery, said the lottery opposes sweepstakes gambling. He also shared statistics on Wyoming’s online gambling industry.
Bally’s representative suggested new laws were needed
Affie Ellis, a former Wyoming State Senator from 2017 to 2025, spoke as a representative of Bally’s Gaming.
In her opening statement, Ellis said of the sweepstakes games, “They look like maybe the same slot machine, same blackjack table, same jackpot animations, but they are two fundamentally different products.”
Ellis said Wyoming gambling law bans regulated online gambling, but it may not apply to dual-currency sweepstakes gaming because of the free Sweeps Coins received when buying just-for-fun virtual coins.
Therefore, she recommended a new law that would ban sweepstakes sites in the state.
Bill Gantz defended the sweepstakes industry
Bill Gantz, a lawyer for VGW Holdings, testified before the Select Committee. Gantz said the bill was overbroad and would damage the traditional sweepstakes industry if adopted.
VGW’s representative said the technology has changed, which means gaming types might not be covered by the current laws. But Gantz warned against overcorrecting.
In a video feed introduced by Jonathan Downing of VGW, Gantz said, “If this language were adopted, Wyoming would be virtually the only state that I can think of that would not allow a free entry to be used in a game that is resulting in the award of a prize.”
The Select Committee did not act on Gantz’s warnings. They voted on a bipartisan basis to call for the LSO to draft legislation and gave it the designation 27LSO-0098.
What happens to the Wyoming sweepstakes ban draft legislation?
Next, the Wyoming LSO will draft the legislation as an official “Committee Bill.” Once the 2027 general session of the Wyoming Legislature convenes, one of the (still unannounced) committee members will introduce the bill.
Once that happens, the bill must pass three separate readings on the Wyoming House floor. Committee bills tend to receive high priority. If it passes the three readings, it must pass in the Wyoming Senate.
If it does, the bill goes to the Wyoming governor’s desk for signing. The current governor is Mark Gordon, but his term ends on January 4, 2027. Either Ken Casner, Eric Barlow, or Rebecca Bextel will be Wyoming’s governor in 2027.
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