3 Oaks Gaming Pulls Sweepstakes Casino Titles From Iowa

What Iowa Players Are Seeing

Affected titles include Coin Up Hot Fire, Big Heist, Aztec Pyramid Megaways, Sun of Egypt 4 and 777 Coins Hold and Win.

At some sweepstakes casinos, the games no longer appear in the lobby for Iowa players. At others, attempting to launch a 3 Oaks title displays the following notice:

Dear visitor,
Due to legal reasons, this game is not available for players residing in this jurisdiction.
We apologize for any inconvenience.

The same message appears whether players use Gold Coin or Sweeps Coin gameplay.

What Changed In Iowa

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2289 in May, with the new enforcement powers taking effect July 1.

The law does not specifically ban dual-currency sweepstakes casinos. Instead, it gives the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission authority to issue cease-and-desist orders and seek court injunctions against unlicensed operators.

Before the change, IRGC administrator Tina Eck said the commission was largely limited to warning Iowans about unlicensed gambling websites and encouraging consumers to avoid them.

Other Companies Had Already Limited Iowa Access

Several sweepstakes operators had already restricted access in Iowa before 3 Oaks removed its games, including High 5 Casino, Baba Casino, Lucky Bunny Casino and Sidepot Casino.

Game suppliers have also reduced their sweepstakes exposure elsewhere. Evolution restricted some products in California following legal action, while Pragmatic Play said last year it would stop licensing games to sweepstakes operators in states where restrictions had been introduced.