What’s Next for Sweepstakes Casino Gaming?

What Are Sweepstakes Casinos? 

Sweepstakes casinos operate on a dual-currency system. You’ll use Gold Coins (GC) to play for fun, and Sweeps Coins (SC) to redeem cash prizes. Both types of currencies can be obtained for free by claiming regular promotions. 

Because sweeps casinos give you free tokens, they’re able to comply with sweepstakes laws. This means they’re exempt from the same rules that govern traditional casinos, which are only legal to use in seven US states right now. By comparison, most sweeps casinos are accessible in 39+ states. 

How Do Sweeps Casinos Differ from Real Money Gambling Sites? 

The primary difference between sweepstakes casinos and real money poker sites is the requirement to spend money. Theoretically, you can go to a sweepstakes site, sign up, get free bonus SC, hit a jackpot, and redeem prizes without spending a dime, like you do at Chumba orMcLuck. 

This isn’t a thing at real money casinos, where you need to make a deposit and play games with actual cash in order to win prizes. 

Where Can I Sign Up With Sweepstakes Casinos?

Despite changing regulations, all is not lost. The vast majority of US states have no restrictions on sweepstakes gaming. While this is prone to change in the next year or so, players can currently enjoy slots and other casino-style games for free in 39 US states, with the exception of:

Which US States Have Sweeps Games on the Chopping Block? 

Sweepstakes casinos are currently permitted in 39 US states, but this number is dwindling down by the month. More than a dozen US states introduced legislation to ban sweeps games in 2025. 

Montana and Connecticut were the most recent states to axe sweeps games as of October 1, 2025. Ohio is in the process of banning sweeps games to legalize real money casinos, but this pair of bills (HB 298 and SB 197) is likely to be delayed past the end of the year. 

California has also banned sweeps games as of October 2025, but this legislation doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2026. Nevada and Missouri have both filed bills to change the definitions of what gambling means (thus outlawing sweeps games), but there’s no timeline for either state. 

New York passed AB 6745 in June 2025, which effectively bans sweepstakes casinos as soon as Gov. Kathy Hochul signs the bill. Despite the fact that sweeps games are technically still legal in the Big Apple, all sweepstakes casinos have pulled away from New York to remain compliant. 

Where Are Sweepstakes Games Banned Outright?

Here’s a full list of states where you can’t access any sweepstakes games: 

Google’s New Take on Changing Sweepstakes Regulations 

On October 28, 2025, Google updated its Gambling & Games policy to disallow the advertising of sweepstakes casino games. While social casino games (that have no opportunities for prize redemptions) are compliant with Google’s new certification rules, sweepstakes games are not. 

The difference between social and sweepstakes casinos is quite simple. At a social casino, you are only using one free currency to play games. For example, Gambino Slots relies solely on G-Coins to facilitate gameplay across 150+ slots. There’s no way to redeem prizes at this site. 

Google isn’t playing around, either. It states that:

Their internal team will now suspend Google Ads accounts that break these rules without prior warning, showing that Google is taking a very heavy hand against these platforms. 

The Industry Is Changing, but We’ve Got the Latest Updates

Lawmakers allege that sweepstakes gaming is little more than a sham to skirt existing laws, but the general premise of collecting free SC is something that players won’t easily let go of. As the industry continues to grow and change, we may find that sweeps casinos are outlawed entirely. 

This is especially true in areas that don’t currently offer real money online casinos. New York is debating the prospect of legalizing traditional casino games like New Jersey does, and Attorney General Letitia James banned sweeps casinos in June of 2025 to prepare for this upheaval. 

While nobody can predict what’s next for the sweepstakes industry, we’ll keep you in the loop with regular updates.