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OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (Gambling911.com) - Sweepstakes casinos began their mass exodus out of Oklahoma November 1 with Senate Bill 1589 (SB 1589) becoming law this day.
The new law goes beyond targeting casino operators. It also creates potential felony liability for promoters, media affiliates and technology providers supporting prohibited games. Both paid and unpaid social media influencers promoting a particular sweepstakes casino brand directly to Oklahoma residents could face Class C2 felony charges. As of October 30, a number of top affiliate websites were still promoting sweepstakes casinos specifically to Oklahoma residents.
The legislation was so broad in scope and wide reaching that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt vetoed the state's sweepstakes casino ban, but lawmakers overrode his veto.
VGW-owned Chumba, the largest of the sweepstakes casinos, has opted to remain in Oklahoma but but will offer a separate horse-racing-based real-money gaming product called Chumba Spins.
The new promotion is said to offer a 100% match on a first purchase for invited Oklahoma players through a closed beta, with a waitlist for others. This represents a different operating structure involving Game Play Network rather than Chumba Casino's usual VGW sweepstakes model.
To be clear, Chumba has a fairly solid reputation and appears to be keeping its customers updated on the situation in Oklahoma. VGW published explicit wind-down and redemption schedules when leaving New Jersey, Tennessee, West Virginia and Mississippi.
Not all sweepstakes casinos are however.
A significant unanswered question remains: What happens to the Sweeps Coins and pending cash redemptions belonging to players who were eligible before the ban?
Several major sweepstakes casino operators have updated their terms to exclude Oklahoma residents. However, some have not publicly explained whether players can still redeem previously accumulated balances or how long pending redemption requests will remain valid.
Players with outstanding balances should request any redemption still permitted through their accounts, retain screenshots of their balances and pending requests, and contact customer support in writing.
Our coverage of the new ban has reached a wide swath of Oklahoma sweepstakes casino players this weekend.
Sunday Night Traffic at Gambling911.com
Three Developments Worth Watching for the Midterm Elections
Texas Senate: Sunday's YouGov survey gives James Talarico a four-point lead over Ken Paxton, compared with a 49%–49% tie in last week's Fox News poll. The two polls use different samples and methods, so the difference isn't necessarily a four-point movement.
Kansas Senate: Adam Hamilton's 50%–49% result coincides with Fox moving the contest into its toss-up category.
Nebraska Senate: The 49%–49% tie between Dan Osborn and Pete Ricketts is another notable result in a state Fox also reclassified Sunday.
More
Kansas: Democrat Adam Hamilton is ahead of Republican Sen. Roger Marshall 50% to 49% in a YouGov poll (updated Nov. 1).
Texas: Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leads Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton 51 to 47% in YouGov’s latest poll (updated Nov. 1).
Maine: Democrat Troy Jackson is ahead of GOP Sen. Susan Collins 52% to 47% in YouGov’s poll (updated Nov. 1).
Michigan: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads former Rep. Mike Rogers 51% to 47%, YouGov’s survey found (updated Nov. 1).
Ohio: Democrat Sherrod Brown is up 50 to 48% over GOP Sen. Jon Husted in the latest YouGov survey (updated Nov. 1).
Iowa: Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek leads Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson 50% to 49%, YouGov’s poll found (updated Nov. 1).
Nebraska: The race between Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts and independent Dan Osborn is locked in a 49%-49% tie, YouGov found (updated Nov. 1).
New Hampshire: Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas leads his Republican opponent, former Sen. John Sununu 48% to 41% in a University of Massachusetts Lowell survey (updated Oct. 29).
Minnesota: Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan leads Republican former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya 54% to 40% in a New York Times/Siena poll (updated Oct. 28).
Florida: Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon trails Republican Sen. Ashley Moody 50% to 44% in a New York Times/Siena poll (updated Oct. 28).
South Carolina: Republican Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, is tied with her Democratic opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews, both with 48% in the Times/Siena survey, while Graham is ahead 43% to 39% in a survey by The Citadel (updated Oct. 28).
Georgia: Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is ahead of Republican Rep. Mike Collins 48% to 40% in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution survey (updated Oct. 21).
North Carolina: Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is up 52% to 39%, over former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley in an Elon University poll (updated Oct. 20).
Alaska: Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola is ahead of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan 50% to 43% in a new New York Times/Siena poll (updated Oct. 3).
Polymarket
Polymarket Refunds 95% of Wallets Impacted By Recent Compromise
Polymarket's October 30 postmortem says hackers compromised a third-party performance-monitoring script that loaded on its website. The malicious replacement script exploited active user sessions to sell positions and transfer funds from affected wallets. The company said it had refunded 95% of affected wallets by the afternoon of October 30. The additional $1.2 million covers trading losses associated with forced sales and the trading suspension, according to Polymarket.
The company also disclosed that it:
- Removed the compromised script and cleared website caches.
- Reset all active login sessions.
- Introduced stronger controls for third-party scripts.
- Referred the incident to law enforcement.
Casino Crime
Missouri Mom Abandons 4-Year Old Daughter at Truck Stop to Go Gamble at Casino, Later Tells Police it isn't Her Child
Kayla Marie Christensen was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree child abandonment and two counts of first-degree child endangerment, court records show. The criminal complaint was filed in Newton County, just outside of Joplin. The investigation began shortly before 3 a.m. Friday October 23 when officers with the Neosho Police Department responded to a report of a young child alone in the Love's travel stop's parking lot. Police said Christensen intentionally left the 4-year-old at the truck stop and did not plan to return for her. When approached by officers, Christensen reportedly told them "I don't have a daughter." And it gets worse (this story has now gone viral)
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
