01 ยท State tracker
Sweepstakes casino laws by state
What each state's law or regulators have done about sweepstakes casinos. This is information, not legal advice. Whether a casino accepts players in your state is a separate question: each state's page answers both.
Last updated
Where things stand
- Banned by statute
- 10
- Regulator or Attorney General enforcement
- 15
- Bill pending
- 3
- Bill failed or vetoed
- 2
- No specific action found
- 21
All states
| State | Status | Summary | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No specific action found | No Alabama bill or state enforcement action on online sweepstakes casinos was found, but the state is a centre of private loss-recovery lawsuits, all resolved so far on procedure (remand, arbitration). | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Alaska | No specific action found | Nothing found: no Alaska bill, Attorney General or regulator action on sweepstakes casinos in 2025-2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Arizona | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | The Arizona Department of Gaming has issued several rounds of cease-and-desist orders since 2025 to unlicensed online operators including 'sweepstakes' casinos, and says promoting or benefiting from gambling is illegal in Arizona unless an exception applies. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Arkansas | Bill failed or vetoed | The 2025 bills HB 1861 and SB 524, which would have made dual-currency online sweepstakes games a felony while legalising iGaming for licensed casinos, were withdrawn by their authors. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| California | Banned by statute | AB 831 makes it a crime to operate, conduct or offer an online sweepstakes game in California and to knowingly support or promote one. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Colorado | No specific action found | No Colorado sweepstakes-casino bill, Division of Gaming statement or Attorney General action was found for 2025-2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Connecticut | Banned by statute | Public Act 25-112 bars anyone from conducting or promoting a sweepstakes that allows or facilitates real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering unless licensed. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Delaware | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | Delaware's Division of Gaming Enforcement issued a cease-and-desist order to VGW and announced that from 2 April 2025 Delaware residents could no longer use VGW's platforms; no sweepstakes bill was found. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| District of Columbia | Bill pending | B26-0656, an iGaming bill that would bar anyone from offering, promoting or conducting unlicensed sweepstakes or dual-currency gaming, was introduced on 9 April 2026 and heard on 4 May 2026; the DC lottery regulator calls sweepstakes sites a 'gray area' under current law. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Florida | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | On 19 August 2026 the Florida Attorney General sued VGW (Chumba, LuckyLand, Global Poker) and Stake, plus their payment processors, calling sweepstakes casinos illegal online gambling; bills on internet gambling died in both 2025 and 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Georgia | No specific action found | No Georgia bill or state enforcement action on sweepstakes casinos was found; federal suits against VGW were dismissed or sent to arbitration on procedural grounds. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Hawaii | No specific action found | No Hawaii action on online sweepstakes casinos was found; SB 3281 (2026) targeted physical 'sweepstakes gaming machines' and game rooms and did not pass. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Idaho | No specific action found | No Idaho sweepstakes-specific bill, Attorney General statement or enforcement was found; casinos' exclusion of Idaho appears to rest on the state constitution's gambling ban, which bars any 'electronic or electromechanical imitation or simulation of any form of casino gambling'. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Illinois | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | On 5 February 2026 the Illinois Gaming Board, with the Attorney General, sent more than 60 cease-and-desist letters to online casino and sweepstakes operators, telling them to block Illinois residents or stop offering prizes. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Indiana | Banned by statute | HEA 1052 defines an online dual-currency 'sweepstakes game' and lets the Indiana Gaming Commission fine anyone who conducts one in Indiana $100,000. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Iowa | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | SF 2289 does not define or ban sweepstakes casinos; it gives the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission power to issue cease-and-desist orders and seek injunctions against unlicensed 'illegal sweepstakes'. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Kansas | No specific action found | No Kansas bill, regulator or Attorney General action, or lawsuit on online sweepstakes casinos was found. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Kentucky | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | On 17 June 2026 the Kentucky Attorney General sued VGW (Chumba, LuckyLand, Global Poker) in Franklin Circuit Court; there is no sweepstakes-specific statute. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Louisiana | Banned by statute | Act 182 of 2026 makes any online dual-currency game that simulates gambling 'gambling by computer' and penalises promoters, endorsers and media affiliates who knowingly support it. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Maine | Banned by statute | Public Law 2025 c.645 makes operating, promoting, or supporting the operation or promotion of an online sweepstakes game a civil violation and a form of unlawful gambling. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Maryland | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | Maryland's gaming agency says no real-money online gaming other than licensed sports betting and fantasy contests is legal, publishes a list of 100+ operators it has sent cease-and-desist letters to (including Stake.us and Chumba), and ban bills failed in both 2025 and 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Massachusetts | Bill failed or vetoed | H.4431, an iGaming bill that would also have outlawed operating, promoting or supporting online sweepstakes games, was sent to a study order on 23 March 2026; no sweepstakes-specific enforcement was found. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Michigan | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | The Michigan Gaming Control Board treats sweepstakes casinos as unlicensed internet gaming: it sent cease-and-desist letters to Stake.us and VGW in late 2023, and the Attorney General shut down Golden Hearts Games' Michigan operations in 2023. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Minnesota | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | Minnesota's Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division wrote to 14 gambling sites in June 2025 and Attorney General Ellison followed with letters on 5 November 2025, covering sweepstakes casinos including LuckyLand, Zula and Fortune Coins; a 2026 ban bill naming 'media affiliate' passed the Senate 62-3 and died in the House. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Mississippi | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | The Mississippi Gaming Commission said in June 2025 that there are 'no legal exceptions' for 'so-called sweepstakes casinos' and sent cease-and-desist letters to 10 online operators including Chumba; ban bills passed the Senate in 2025 and 2026 and then died. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Missouri | No specific action found | No Missouri sweepstakes-casino bill or state enforcement action was verified; a class action (Killham v. Sweepsteaks Ltd) names Stake.us and its celebrity promoters Drake and Adin Ross as defendants. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Montana | Banned by statute | SB 555 (2025) rewrote the definition of internet gambling to include online casinos 'by whatever name known' that take and pay out any form of currency. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Nebraska | No specific action found | No Nebraska bill, regulator or Attorney General action, or lawsuit on online sweepstakes casinos was found. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Nevada | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | Nevada has no statute naming sweepstakes casinos, but SB 256 (2025) raised penalties and added profit disgorgement for unlicensed gaming and was described by its industry backers as aimed at sweepstakes. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| New Hampshire | No specific action found | No New Hampshire sweepstakes-casino bill, Attorney General or Lottery Commission action was found. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| New Jersey | Banned by statute | P.L.2025 c.128 treats a paid-entry sweepstakes (including dual-currency systems) as unlawful gambling and gives Consumer Affairs and the Division of Gaming Enforcement civil penalty powers. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| New Mexico | No specific action found | No New Mexico sweepstakes-casino bill or state action was found; one private suit against Stake.us is pending in federal court. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| New York | Banned by statute | Chapter 605 of 2025 makes it unlawful to operate, conduct or promote online sweepstakes games in New York, and the Attorney General had already forced 26 sweepstakes casinos out in June 2025. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| North Carolina | No specific action found | No North Carolina bill, regulator or Attorney General action, or lawsuit specific to online sweepstakes casinos could be verified. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| North Dakota | No specific action found | Nothing found: no North Dakota bill, Attorney General or regulator action on sweepstakes casinos in 2025-2026 (no regular session in 2026). | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Ohio | Bill pending | No Ohio law or regulator action targets sweepstakes casinos; iGaming bills HB 298 and SB 197, which would also prohibit online sweepstakes games, have sat in committee since 2025 and expire when the 136th General Assembly ends in December 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Oklahoma | Banned by statute | SB 1589, enacted over the Governor's veto, adds dual-currency 'online casino games' to the felony gambling statute and names promoters and media affiliates; it takes effect on 1 November 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Oregon | No specific action found | No Oregon bill or state action on sweepstakes casinos was found for 2025-2026; one private federal suit is pending. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Pennsylvania | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board told a House committee on 7 April 2025 that sweepstakes casinos are 'in our assessment, illegal online gambling' and that it had sent about eighteen cease-and-desist letters, all complied with; no ban bill has been introduced that we could verify. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Rhode Island | No specific action found | No Rhode Island sweepstakes-casino bill or enforcement action was found. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| South Carolina | No specific action found | No South Carolina sweepstakes-casino bill or state enforcement action was verified; one federal suit against Stake.us was sent to arbitration in May 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| South Dakota | No specific action found | Nothing sweepstakes-specific found; a 4 August 2025 Commission on Gaming notice about fraudulent online casinos does not mention sweepstakes. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Tennessee | Banned by statute | Public Chapter 1117 declares operating, conducting or commercially promoting online sweepstakes games unlawful and a Consumer Protection Act violation; the Attorney General had already pushed about 40 sweepstakes casinos out in December 2025. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Texas | No specific action found | We found no Texas statute, bill, Attorney General action or regulator action aimed at online sweepstakes casinos; the Legislature does not meet in regular session again until January 2027. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Utah | No specific action found | Utah has no sweepstakes-casino-specific law or state action, but its general code makes online gambling promotion a felony and lets losers sue for double damages, which has produced a wave of class actions against sweepstakes operators since late 2025. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Vermont | No specific action found | No Vermont sweepstakes-casino bill, Attorney General or regulator action was found for 2025-2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Virginia | Bill pending | Virginia's standalone sweepstakes bill SB 579 was carried over to the 2027 session on 11 February 2026, and the iGaming bills that contained a sweepstakes prohibition (HB 161 / SB 118) died in conference on 14 March 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Washington | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | Washington has no sweepstakes-casino statute, but all online gambling is illegal (knowingly transmitting gambling information is a class C felony), the Gambling Commission says virtual-currency casino games are 'likely to constitute illegal gambling', and the Attorney General sued social-casino app makers in February 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| West Virginia | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | The West Virginia Attorney General is reported to have served subpoenas on sweepstakes operators in February 2025, but we found no primary document; no sweepstakes bill appears in the 2025 or 2026 bill lists. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Wisconsin | No specific action found | No Wisconsin sweepstakes-casino bill or Department of Justice action was found; the state's 2026 gambling enforcement concerns prediction markets. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |
| Wyoming | Regulator or Attorney General enforcement | The Wyoming Gaming Commission warned on 22 May 2025 that 'no online casino, iGaming, or sweepstakes site is licensed... and they are all operating illegally in Wyoming'; a legislative committee considered but did not advance a ban draft in July 2026. | Checked Sep 2026 State records |