Maryland Sweepstakes Casino Online: How Does Maryland Gaming Laws Work & Is It Legal To Play Real Money Online Casino in MD?

Is it legal to play at online casinos in Maryland?

Last year, the Department of Legislative Services in the Office of Policy Analysis in Maryland published a detailed Legislator’s Guide to Commercial Gambling in Maryland. The almost 70-page document covers everything you need to know about gambling laws in Maryland.

According to the Maryland Criminal Law Section 12-102, gambling is outlawed in the state. Here’s what the official legal document states:

“ (a) A person may not:

1. bet, wager, or gamble;
2. make or sell a book or pool on the result of a race, contest, or contingency;
3. establish, keep, rent, use, or occupy, or knowingly allow to be established, kept, rented, used, or occupied, all or a part of a building, vessel, or place, on land or water, within the State, for the purpose of:
   (i) betting, wagering, or gambling; or
   (ii) making, selling, or buying books or pools on the result of a race, contest, or contingency; or
4. receive, become the depository of, record, register, or forward, or propose, agree, or pretend to forward, money or any other thing or consideration of value, to be bet, wagered, or gambled on the result of a race, contest, or contingency.
   (b) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, is subject to imprisonment for not less than 6 months and not exceeding 1 year or a fine of not less than $200 and not exceeding $1,000 or both.”

One important thing to note here is that the law states that these provisions only apply to Baltimore City. This is because some counties allow some forms of gambling, such as slot machines, which are not permitted in other parts of Baltimore City.

So while you won’t find real money online casinos in Maryland with no deposit bonuses, you will find land-based casinos that offer physical gambling services.

Which forms of gambling are allowed in Maryland?

In December 2021, Maryland legalized sports betting, which comes at the heels of similar legislation passed across many other states in the U.S. So while online casinos in Maryland are still some way off, you can start wagering on sports right away at many of the authorized online sportsbooks operating in Maryland.

If you are curious about the other forms of gambling that are permitted in Maryland, take a look at the list we have compiled below:

Is it legal to play at sweepstakes casinos in Maryland?

When it comes to sweepstakes casinos, it is always a legal gray area, simply because they are a more recent phenomenon. We are slowly starting to see some states introduce laws around sweepstakes casinos, but for the large part, they operate in a gray zone and as quasi-legal entities.

The Legislator’s Guide to Commercial Gambling in Maryland, as we mentioned earlier, has no mention of sweepstakes casinos:

This means that the law does not specifically label them as legal or illegal, which actually favors the successful operation of sweepstakes casinos in Maryland.

According to the law, gambling is prohibited in Maryland. However, since Maryland sweepstakes casinos do not offer gambling or charge consideration, they are not considered in violation of the law. So as long as these sweepstakes casinos continue to offer free online games without chagrin any real money, they can keep their shops open without ruffling any feathers.

As the consumer, playing sweepstakes games in Maryland, you don’t have to worry too much about breaking the law. That’s because typically when sweepstakes casinos have violated the law, the state government goes after the people who run these casinos and never the players.

So your occasional game of poker or a spin of an online slot on Stake.us or McLuck Casino will not land you in jail!

Do sweepstakes casinos operating in the state of Maryland need to be licensed?

While you won’t find an online casino in Maryland for real money games, you will find plenty of sweepstakes casinos. That’s because these casinos are running on a sweepstakes model and do not need a license to operate in the state.

• It is easy to open up a sweepstakes casino online if you are not paying huge fees for licensing or waiting months for the application to go through.

As we clarified above, these Maryland sweepstakes casinos are not considered gambling hubs since there are no real money wagers trading hands. As a result, they are not in violation of laws and do not require prior permission from the state to launch a website.

This obviously makes it harder to trust these sweepstakes casinos since there are no particular sweepstakes laws in Maryland that they need to comply with. They are not being regulated or monitored as closely as the online sportsbooks in Maryland, which are legal and require prior authorization from the state before launching their services.

How do you identify which sweepstakes casinos are legit?

When you search for sweepstakes casinos in Maryalnd online, you will notice that there are many different sites that will pop up on your screen. Many of these sweepstakes casinos will invite you to sign up and claim fantastic welcome bonuses on their platforms.

Since the internet is teeming with sites like these and there aren’t any particular Maryland sweepstakes rules regulating them, it is crucial to be cautious and recognize potential scam sites. If you are looking to explore, here are some easy tips that can help you figure out which sites you should trust.

Always make research a priority when signing up on any new site; this can potentially save you the loss of your data and even money and keep you vigilant at all times.

What potential future updates on online casinos in Maryland can the people expect?

The legislative session of Maryland came and went in April of this year without any good news for online casino enthusiasts. Although a bill was introduced in the legislative house regarding the legalization of online casinos, it did not make it to the final state budget and therefore was not legalized this year.

• Del. Atterbeary’s Bill Online Casino Bill:  Back in March, Del. Vanessa Atterbeary introduced the Maryland online casino bill to the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee and emphasized the potential for job creation in the retail sector. It passed in the House with a vote of 92-43 and it paved the way for a possible referendum in the state regarding this issue.
• Death of the bill: The bill failed to make it to a referendum because members of the house did not see the need for the revenue that the legalization of online casinos would have brought to the state. There was also a lot of pressure from the union of casino workers for retail casinos to not legalize online casinos at the moment since it would be taking away business from these retail casinos.

No-deposit bonus playthrough requirements in Maryland

If you've already played at Maryland sweepstakes casinos, you are probably familiar with the different types of bonuses that you would typically find at a sweepstakes casino site. However, if you're not too familiar with these bonuses, here's a quick list of the types of bonuses that you can usually find on these sides:

• Welcome Bonuses
• Daily login bonuses
• Bonuses for leaderboard wins and competitions
• Other occasional bonuses
• VIP level perks

Most sweepstakes casinos give out SC coins, which can be redeemed for tangible prizes like cash prizes or gift cards. This is what makes sweepstakes casinos so attractive and popular: there's always that opportunity to win actual prizes. However, remember that there will always be playthrough requirements attached to any bonus that comes with SC coins.

Check out below the top Maryland sweepstakes casinos and their respective playthrough requirements.

What are users saying about playing sweepstakes casinos and online in Maryland?

When we went to Reddit to look at what kind of chatter is happening around online casinos and sweepstakes casinos in Maryland, we found some really interesting threads. The proposed bill that did not make it to the final round in this year's legislative session had captured a lot of people's imaginations and people were hoping that it would make it through.

Obviously there are a lot of different sentiments around this bill. While some people want online casinos to be legalized in Maryland, others are heavily opposed to any form of legal gambling in the state.

An interesting thing that we noticed is that people consider it very hypocritical for sports betting to be legal in Maryland and not online casinos. We have seen the same story in other states where sports betting has been legalized but online casinos have not and we can't help but wonder why there is a difference in treatment for these two essentially similar gambling forms.

Overall, it seems like most residents of Maryland want online casino legalization in the state.  We found this thread below on Reddit, which published results from a poll where 75% of Maryland voters had shown their willingness to support online casino legalization in the state.

Given that there wasn't a lot of support for the build this year, we are not too hopeful that next year we will see any new movement on online casino legalization. However, who knows, the winds of change can fly in any direction.

Final thoughts on sweepstakes casinos in Maryland

Many forms of gambling aare legal in Maryland but online casinos are unfortunately not one of them. You can find retail casinos in Maryland and you can also play at sweepstakes casinos in the state. Unfortunately, you will have to wait slightly longer before real-money online casinos open up in the state

Meanwhile, if you want to play online casino games without breaking any laws, sweepstakes casinos are your best alternative, as they are legal and free. Just make sure to research any new sweeps casino sites you are signing up on and read all of the bonus redemption rules carefully.

Maryland Legal Sweepstakes Casino FAQ

Disclaimer: Kindly note that we are not legal or tax experts. While we always strive to present the most accurate information, this is not binding legal advice. Always reach out to a licensed lawyer or tax advisor when in doubt.