Sweepstakes Casino Setbacks Continue as Indiana Fields Legislative Ban
Posted on: December 9, 2025, 12:15h.
Last updated on: December 9, 2025, 12:28h.
- Online sweepstakes casinos continue to face legal and regulatory scrutiny
- New legislation in Indiana seeks to ban the controversial websites and apps
Online sweepstakes casinos are on a losing streak, despite “social” gaming websites and apps continuing to lobby state lawmakers for regulatory and legal legitimacy.
New York joined California this week in banning sweepstakes casinos that use dual-currency arrangements to allow players to win real cash on unregulated internet slots and table games. Connecticut, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, and Washington additionally have laws banning such dual-currency gaming, and 10 other states have ordered platforms like Chumba, Stake, and WOW Vegas to cease operating.
Indiana could be next.
Indiana Rep. Ethan Manning (R-Cass) has filed a bill that addresses various administrative law matters. House Bill 1052 includes criminalizing sweepstakes casinos that “utilize a dual-currency system of payment allowing a player to exchange currency for a cash prize, cash award, or cash equivalents that stimulates casino-style gaming, including slot machines, video poker, table games, lottery games, bingo, and sports wagering.”
Violators found guilty of the proposed statute would be subject to civil penalties of $100K per incident. HB1052 has been directed to the Public Policy Committee for initial review.
Manning’s text closely mimics the New York statute signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) last Friday.
String of Defeats
It was only a few months back that sweepstakes casinos were operating in nearly all 50 states. A string of legal and regulatory actions, however, has greatly pulled back their reach and market potential.
Along with the state legal and regulatory crackdowns, Google amended its social gaming advertising rules to prohibit sweepstakes casinos. The change means sweepstakes casinos cannot advertise on Google Search and YouTube.
Sweepstakes casinos claim to offer online promotions not unlike an online retailer offering a customer or rewards member a chance to spin an interactive prize wheel for a discount code or other reward. Sweepstakes casino platforms argue they allow players to purchase credits to play for prizes via a secondary currency called sweeps coins. The digital currency cannot be “cashed out” in traditional iGaming terms, but instead must be “redeemed.” The sweeps coins, unlike the free sweepstakes gameplays, can be redeemed for cash.
Critics say the sweepstakes casino promotions are nothing more than cleverly marketed platforms designed to circumvent state gambling laws.
Gaming Leader
Since joining the Indiana General Assembly in 2018, Manning has become a powerful voice on gaming issues. The chair of the House Public Policy Committee and a member of the Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee, Manning was behind a motion to legalize iGaming earlier this year.
Unlike sweepstakes casinos, Manning’s iGaming bill would have given regulatory oversight of online casinos to the Indiana Gaming Commission. The law also would have required iGaming platforms to partner with one of Indiana’s in-person casinos.
Along with the sweepstakes bill, Manning’s Public Policy Committee will soon consider legislation to allow a casino license in Allen County. Full House Resorts wants to relocate its Rising Sun Casino to Fort Wayne.
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