Louisiana Sweepstakes Casino Ban Proposal

“NEW: High 5 Entertainment has been hit with a federal class action lawsuit in Mississippi for operating an illegal online sweepstakes casino. (This is the 10th sweeps-related suit vs. H5E). But this one threatens to "pierce the corporate veil" to go after H5E's owners.”

“NEW: A class action lawsuit has been filed in Ohio federal court against the operators of the "Crown Coins Casino" sweepstakes casino website. The complaint alleges that CCC is "an online version of an Internet Café," employing the same business model and 1:1 pricing structure.”

“As the complaint notes, Ohio case law is very problematic for online sweepstakes casinos: "Ohio courts have long held that the availability of free chances is not necessarily dispositive of whether the game is a gambling scheme."”

“A second Ohio case -- Cleveland v. Thorne -- may have said it best: "The justice system is not some lumbering oaf who must ignore the patently obvious gambling scheme apparent here simply because of a contrived separation between consideration and the scheme of chance."”

“NEW: A bill to ban online sweepstakes casinos has been pre-filed in Louisiana. Most sweeps operators have already exited LA following a wave of C&D letters, a formal opinion issued by @AGLizMurrill, and several DOR lawsuits for unpaid sales taxes.”

“The court added, “there is no justification for ignoring the nature of the transaction simply because the system is designed in such a way as to artificially isolate one part of the illegal transaction from another. The justice system is not so blinded by chicanery.””