Wyoming Gaming Commission tightens oversight, joins national self‑exclusion and presses lawmakers on illegal operations

Nick Laramundi, executive director of the Wyoming Gaming Commission, presented the commission’s self‑funded regulatory-and-law-enforcement agenda and defended recent rule changes and enforcement actions before the Joint Appropriations Committee.

Laramundi told lawmakers that late in 2024 the commission promulgated rules making certain athlete‑harassment offenses a basis for license bans, saying Wyoming was among the first states to hold players accountable beyond banning prop bets. He also said the commission finalized geo‑fencing for advanced deposit wagering (ADW) so ADW platforms cannot accept wagers from counties that have not authorized pari‑mutuel wagering.

On enforcement, Laramundi described successful prosecutions of illegal offshore iGaming operations and of local poker rooms operating outside of statute. The commission also joined the national voluntary self‑exclusion program, enabling reciprocal exclusions across participating states and platforms and expanding protections for people who self‑identify as having gambling problems.

Committee members asked about resources for problem gamblers, money‑laundering investigations and tax/fee policy to discourage illegal operators. Laramundi said the commission refers people to the Wyoming Coalition on Problem Gambling and national resources and noted that state money‑laundering statutes and federal partnerships are important but that small-scale laundering investigations are resource intensive.

Lawmakers requested follow-up on (1) whether increases in taxes on licensed gambling activity would push more play to illegal offshore platforms, (2) clarifying the bona‑fide social‑relationship exemption used in prosecutions of illicit card rooms, and (3) whether penalties and enforcement mechanisms are adequate to address unlicensed terminals and illegal devices.