Where sweepstakes casinos are blocked.

The full list

State-by-state guides

Deeper pages for the 14 closed states and the three biggest open ones — each with the ban details (or the all-clear), what it means for balances you hold, and what else is legal there.

Two different ways a state closes

Worth separating, because they behave differently and most coverage lumps them together.

A statutory ban is a law written specifically about sweepstakes gaming, passed by the legislature, with a bill number and a date. It's unambiguous, it's public, and operators exit in an orderly way ahead of the deadline. 11 states are in this bucket, all in the 2025–2026 wave.

An enforcement state has no sweeps-specific statute. Regulators simply take the view that the existing gambling law already covers this, and act — cease-and-desists, operator warnings, pressure on payment processors. Idaho, Michigan, Washington work this way. The practical effect on you is the same, but there's no single date to point at, and the picture can be murkier: some brands leave immediately, others linger.

What we haven't verified

We have bill numbers and effective dates for Indiana, Maine and Oklahoma, and a month for Tennessee. For the rest we've confirmed a ban passed in the 2025–2026 wave but have not personally verified the bill number or the exact effective date, so those cells say so rather than carrying a plausible-looking number.

That's deliberate. A made-up bill number on a page about the law is worse than a blank, and this is a site where the whole proposition is that you can trust the figures. If you need the citation for a specific state, the state legislature's own site is the source — not us, and not any other affiliate page.

If your state is on the list

1. Withdraw any redeemable balance now, not later. This is the one that costs people money. Operators generally stop sweeps play rather than closing accounts, but getting a balance out after an exit is far harder than getting it out before one.
2. Don't reach for a VPN. Operators treat it as a terms violation, and the geolocation check that actually matters happens at redemption — not signup. The documented outcome is a closed account with your money inside it. You'd be risking exactly what you're trying to withdraw.
3. Know that Gold Coin play often continues. Several operators keep the free, non-redeemable side running in restricted states. It's entertainment with no prize attached, which is fine as long as you know that's what it is.
4. Check what else is open to you. A sweeps ban doesn't automatically close daily fantasy, which runs under separate fantasy rules, or CFTC-regulated prediction markets, which reach states no sportsbook can. Both are covered in The Vault.

Why this happened

The sweepstakes model exists in a gap: play is free, a promotional currency is redeemable for prizes, and the whole thing sits under sweepstakes law rather than gambling law. Through 2025 and 2026 a wave of legislatures decided that a dual-currency product you can cash out of is gambling whatever the terms call it.

Notice which states moved. New Jersey and Nevada both have large licensed, taxed, regulated gambling industries. That doesn't make the legal reasoning wrong — but it's honest to say that protecting a regulated market and protecting consumers point the same direction here, and you can't cleanly separate the two motives from the outside.

The category isn't dead. Most of the country is still open, several large operators are growing, and the industry has organised to lobby. But if you're picking a room to build a balance at, the state list is now a real factor in that decision rather than a footnote — which is exactly why it has its own page.

Questions people actually ask

Which states have banned sweepstakes casinos?

As of 2026-08-10, 11 states have passed explicit statutory bans: California, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee. A further 3 — Idaho, Michigan, Washington — enforce pre-existing gambling law against sweeps operators without a sweeps-specific statute. That is 14 states closed in total.

Why did so many states ban sweepstakes casinos in 2026?

The sweepstakes model operates under promotional sweepstakes law rather than gambling law, and a wave of legislatures decided in 2025 and 2026 that a dual-currency product redeemable for cash is gambling regardless of what the terms call it. Several states with licensed regulated casinos were among the first to act, which tells you something about the motivation as well as the legal reasoning.

Is my sweepstakes casino account still valid if my state bans them?

Operators normally stop sweeps play in a banned state rather than closing accounts outright, and many exit ahead of the effective date. Withdraw any redeemable balance before the deadline rather than after — that is the part people get wrong. Check the operator's own notice, since exits are announced per brand and not all move at the same time.

Can I use a VPN to play from a banned state?

No, and it is a genuinely bad idea rather than a technicality. Operators treat VPN use as a terms violation, the geolocation check that matters is the one at redemption rather than at signup, and the documented outcome is a closed account with the balance frozen inside it. You would be risking the money you are trying to withdraw.

Do these bans affect sweepstakes sportsbooks and DFS apps too?

Often yes, but not identically. A ban written to cover redeemable Sweeps Coins catches social sportsbooks using the same dual-currency model, while daily fantasy operates under separate fantasy-sports rules and prediction markets sit under federal CFTC regulation entirely. Three different products, three different legal footings — check each rather than assuming your state's sweeps ban settles all of them.