| Alabama | Product-specific position unresolved | Alabama has enforced its gambling laws against sweepstakes-branded slot-style games. A free-entry label is not evidence that an online casino promotion is lawful in Alabama. | Alabama Attorney General: Victory in Jefferson County Gambling Case (August 22, 2017) |
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| Alaska | Product-specific position unresolved | Alaska’s charitable-gaming permissions are specific. A state Attorney General opinion rejected a cash-prize phone-card sweepstakes despite a free-entry route; that historical opinion is not a current approval system for online sweepstakes casinos. | Alaska Department of Law: Promoting the Sale of Pre-Paid Phone Cards through a Cash Prize Sweepstakes (2000) |
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| Arizona | restriction | Arizona’s Department of Gaming warns that some games advertised as free-to-play or sweepstakes are illegal gambling. Its official guidance imposes demanding conditions on genuinely free participation. | Arizona Department of Gaming: Sweepstakes in Arizona |
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| Arkansas | Product-specific position unresolved | Arkansas considered an online-casino and dual-currency proposal in 2025, but the official record says HB1861 was withdrawn. A withdrawn proposal does not decide the legality of current sweepstakes-casino products. | Arkansas Legislature: HB1861 Bill Information (2025) |
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| California | restriction | California expressly prohibited the covered online sweepstakes-casino model from January 1, 2026. This page should explain the restriction rather than offer casino sign-ups. | California Gambling Control Commission: 2025 Gambling Legislation |
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| Colorado | Product-specific position unresolved | Colorado has specific restrictions on simulated gambling devices and a published Attorney General analysis rejecting a sweepstakes-café structure. Traditional licensed gaming permissions should not be presented as permission for online sweepstakes casinos. | Colorado Legislative Council Staff: Gaming and Internet Sweepstakes (2018) |
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| Connecticut | restriction | Connecticut restricts sweepstakes and promotional drawings that facilitate real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering unless the operator holds the required state licence. | Connecticut 2026 Supplement, Chapter 743n, section 42-301 |
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| Delaware | restriction | Delaware Gaming Enforcement shut down VGW Luckyland’s unlicensed online slots after rejecting its promotional-sweepstakes characterisation. | State of Delaware: Delaware shuts down illegal online slots |
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| District of Columbia | Product-specific position unresolved | The District evaluates sweepstakes by how they operate, rather than by a platform’s label or accessibility. No brand is certified as lawful by this guide. | Office of Lottery and Gaming FY2026 performance oversight responses, question 10 |
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| Florida | restriction | Florida’s promotional-game rules do not authorize an online casino. The state’s official news archive records 2026 litigation against online-casino operators, so this page should explain the legal risk without a signup ranking. | 2026 Florida Statutes, section 849.094 |
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| Georgia | Product-specific position unresolved | Georgia’s rules for advertising promotions contain conditions and restrictions that cannot be replaced by a “no purchase necessary” label. This guide does not establish that a cash-prize online casino is authorized. | Georgia official legislative code compilation, Title 10, section 10-1-393(b)(16) |
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| Hawaii | Product-specific position unresolved | Hawaii’s broad gambling definitions require a careful distinction between a genuine free promotion, a private social game and casino-style play for redeemable prizes. No operator approval is established here. | Hawaii Revised Statutes, section 712-1220 |
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| Idaho | restriction | Idaho has a restrictive gambling framework and a specific no-purchase rule for chance promotions. No sweepstakes-casino sign-up list is provided here. | Idaho Rules of Consumer Protection, IDAPA 04.02.01, Rules 80–82 |
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| Illinois | restriction | Illinois regulators and the Attorney General issued more than 60 cease-and-desist letters to alleged illegal online casino and sweepstakes platforms in February 2026. | Illinois Gaming Board: Casino Cease and Desist Letters |
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| Indiana | restriction | Indiana Gaming Commission records confirm enacted 2026 measures against online sweepstakes casino games, with enforcement fines beginning July 1, 2026. | Indiana Gaming Commission: March 26, 2026 Meeting Minutes |
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| Iowa | restriction | The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission states that online casino-style gambling is not authorized in Iowa. Its licensed online sports-wagering market must not be confused with an online casino or sweepstakes-casino license. | Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission: Online Gambling Scams and Illegal Operators (September 3, 2025) |
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| Kansas | restriction | Kansas’s regulator warns that sweepstakes and phone-card machines can be illegal gambling devices. Its broad treatment of consideration means a free-entry option should not be treated as a general legal exemption. | Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission: Illegal Gambling FAQs |
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| Kentucky | restriction | Kentucky’s Attorney General announced a lawsuit against VGW on June 17, 2026, challenging the Chumba Casino, Global Poker and LuckyLand Slots platforms as illegal gambling. This is a material enforcement position; the announcement is not a final court judgment. | Kentucky Attorney General: Three Lawsuits Against Illegal Gambling Companies (June 17, 2026) |
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| Louisiana | restriction | Louisiana’s Attorney General has publicly warned that online casino products, including alleged sweepstakes or social gaming sites offering those games, operate illegally in the state. | Louisiana Attorney General: warning concerning illegal online gambling |
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| Maine | restriction | Maine’s prohibition on defined dual-currency online sweepstakes games took effect on July 29, 2026, according to the Gambling Control Unit. | Maine Gambling Control Unit: July 29, 2026 online sweepstakes advisory |
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| Maryland | restriction | Maryland Lottery and Gaming has issued cease-and-desist notices to sweepstakes casino operators, explaining that gaming is unlawful unless expressly authorised. | Maryland Lottery and Gaming: Chumba Casino cease-and-desist notice, November 18, 2025 |
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| Massachusetts | restriction | Massachusetts regulates businesses that disguise a gambling purpose as ordinary sales. A free-play option does not by itself settle the legality of an online sweepstakes-casino model. | 940 CMR 30.00: Illegal lotteries, sweepstakes and de facto gambling establishments |
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| Michigan | restriction | Michigan regulators have taken action against named sweepstakes-casino operators. State-licensed internet casinos are a separate regulated category. | MGCB: cease-and-desist letters to online gaming companies |
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| Minnesota | restriction | Minnesota’s Attorney General has directly challenged social sweepstakes casinos using virtual coins redeemable for prizes. This is an active enforcement position, not simply an absence of online-casino licensing. | Minnesota Attorney General: Illegal Gambling Websites Directed to Stop Services (November 5, 2025) |
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| Mississippi | restriction | The Mississippi Gaming Commission says there is no legal exception for so-called sweepstakes casinos that meet the state’s gaming elements. | Mississippi Gaming Commission: June 17, 2025 notice to illegal online gaming operators |
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| Missouri | restriction | Missouri’s Gaming Commission warns that online casinos are illegal and that an accessible website or app is not proof of a lawful gaming platform. A sweepstakes label should not be treated as a Missouri casino license. | Missouri Gaming Commission: Rise in Fraudulent Online Casinos Targeting Missourians (April 23, 2025) |
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| Montana | restriction | Montana law expressly includes covered online casinos in prohibited internet gambling. A no-currency exception is narrower than a general claim that all social casino games are allowed. | Montana Code Annotated 2025, section 23-5-112 |
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| Nebraska | Product-specific position unresolved | Nebraska’s gambling definitions cover value wagered on chance and specifically address computer and electronic devices. A promotional name or free-play option alone does not establish that a particular casino-style site falls outside those rules. | Nebraska Revised Statutes 28-1101 — Terms Defined |
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| Nevada | general-framework | Nevada requires state authorisation for interactive gaming. This guide does not treat a sweepstakes brand or a land-based casino presence as proof of permission to offer online prize play. | Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 463, section 463.750 |
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| New Hampshire | Product-specific position unresolved | New Hampshire’s gambling statute expressly addresses certain sweepstakes machines, while its licensed charitable games are a separate system. This guide does not label an online sweepstakes casino state-approved. | New Hampshire RSA Chapter 647, Gambling Offenses |
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| New Jersey | restriction | New Jersey enacted specific restrictions on pay-to-play sweepstakes and dual-currency prize models in P.L. 2025, Chapter 128. | New Jersey P.L. 2025, Chapter 128 |
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| New Mexico | general-framework | New Mexico’s Gaming Control Board distinguishes ordinary business-promotional sweepstakes from gambling. Its guidance requires a no-purchase alternative, while explaining that gambling generally needs specific statutory authorization. | New Mexico Gaming Control Board: FAQs and Gambling Review |
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| New York | restriction | New York has taken enforcement action against sweepstakes casinos and enacted a formal prohibition. The Attorney General announced an $8 million VGW settlement in September 2026. | New York Attorney General: $8 million settlement with illegal online sweepstakes casino operator, September 9, 2026 |
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| North Carolina | restriction | North Carolina expressly prohibits covered electronic sweepstakes that use entertaining displays. The law’s definitions and device scope need to be read before any online casino claim is made. | North Carolina General Statute 14-306.4 |
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| North Dakota | Product-specific position unresolved | North Dakota defines gambling and lotteries broadly, including schemes in which only some participants provide consideration. Free entry for selected participants therefore should not be represented as automatic legal clearance. | North Dakota Century Code Chapter 12.1-28 — Gambling and Related Offenses |
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| Ohio | Product-specific position unresolved | Ohio separately regulates gambling schemes and sweepstakes terminals. The Casino Control Commission’s social-gaming FAQ is explanatory guidance, not approval of an individual sweepstakes casino. | Ohio Revised Code 2915.01, Gambling definitions |
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| Oklahoma | restriction | Oklahoma has enacted SB1589, effective November 1, 2026, expressly covering dual-currency online casino games. On the October 20 review date that new provision is enacted but not yet effective; this timing must be prominent. | Oklahoma Legislature: SB1589 History (2026) |
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| Oregon | Product-specific position unresolved | Oregon applies its gambling definitions to activity offered through websites and apps. The state’s 2025 Attorney General opinion does not provide a free-entry sweepstakes-casino exemption. | Oregon Attorney General Opinion 8297, November 13, 2025 |
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| Pennsylvania | Product-specific position unresolved | Pennsylvania has a licensed interactive-casino system, but a sweepstakes site is not part of it simply because the website accepts residents. This guide separates PGCB-regulated casinos from unresolved promotional models. | Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board interactive-gaming operators |
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| Rhode Island | Product-specific position unresolved | Rhode Island’s state-authorized iGaming has explicit account, location and age requirements. Those authorizations do not automatically extend to a sweepstakes-casino website. | Rhode Island General Laws 42-61.2-17, General requirements for iGaming |
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| South Carolina | Product-specific position unresolved | South Carolina has broad gambling and device prohibitions. A platform’s “social” or “sweepstakes” branding is insufficient to establish a lawful commercial cash-prize casino. | South Carolina Code, Title 16 Chapter 19, Gambling and Lotteries |
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| South Dakota | restriction | South Dakota specifically restricts internet gambling businesses. Its laws and Attorney General guidance require a distinction between expressly authorized activities and online casino promotions using a sweepstakes label. | South Dakota Codified Laws 22-25A-8 — Internet Gambling Business |
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| Tennessee | restriction | Tennessee expressly treats covered online sweepstakes gaming as unlawful under enacted 2026 legislation, following Attorney General enforcement in 2025. | Tennessee General Assembly: SB 2136 bill history |
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| Texas | general-framework | Texas gambling law examines consideration, chance and prizes or other value. A free-entry method and a “Gold Coins” label do not by themselves establish that an online casino model complies. | Texas Penal Code Chapter 47, Gambling |
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| Utah | restriction | Utah expressly prohibits participating in online gambling and fringe gambling. Its current definitions sharply limit the ancillary-promotion exception, so a no-purchase statement is not a general permission for casino-style sweepstakes. | Utah Code 76-9-1401 — Definitions (effective May 6, 2026) |
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| Vermont | general-framework | Vermont expressly allows qualifying contests and sweepstakes in which entry does not require risking money or other valuables. That provision is conditional and is not a state license for a dual-currency casino. | 13 V.S.A. 2143b, Contests and sweepstakes |
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| Virginia | Product-specific position unresolved | Virginia’s gambling law expressly addresses purchases connected to chances on gambling devices, even where a free chance is also offered. Proposed 2026 sweepstakes legislation must be separated from current law. | Code of Virginia, Title 18.2 Chapter 8 Article 1, Gambling |
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| Washington | restriction | Washington prohibits unauthorised internet gambling. The Gambling Commission distinguishes permitted promotional contests from gambling; a casino-style sweepstakes label is not an authorisation. | Washington State Gambling Commission: Illegal Gambling Activities |
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| West Virginia | Product-specific position unresolved | West Virginia has licensed interactive wagering, but that framework does not automatically authorise a separate sweepstakes-casino model. This guide does not recommend unverified operators. | West Virginia Lottery: Business and iGaming Information |
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| Wisconsin | general-framework | Wisconsin’s Division of Gaming says it does not regulate sweepstakes and that they follow different rules from raffles. That distinction is not an approval of any online sweepstakes casino. | Wisconsin Department of Administration: Raffle Common Questions |
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| Wyoming | restriction | The Wyoming Gaming Commission expressly warns that unlicensed online casinos and cash-prize sweepstakes sites operate illegally in the state. This page should explain that position and avoid sweepstakes-casino signup recommendations. | Wyoming Gaming Commission warning on illegal iGaming, May 22, 2025 |
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