Sweepstakes casinos offer players ways to enjoy online casino games without having to play with real money. These sites offer slots, table games, and even live dealer games online for free, and sometimes provide opportunities to redeem winnings for cash prizes. Currently, sweepstakes casinos are legal in most states, although the situation in New York has undergone significant changes over recent months.
In June, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced sweeping bans on operators, significantly limiting the number of sweep sites available to New Yorkers. Soon after, New York legislators passed a bill prohibiting sweepstakes casinos in the state, and in early December, Governor Kathy Hochul signed that bill into law, effectively shutting down sweepstakes casinos in New York.
Sweepstakes casinos that have exited New York
As mentioned above, the NY sweepstakes industry recently underwent a significant change. In early June 2025, Attorney General Letitia James announced that she was sending cease-and-desist letters to 26 sweepstakes casinos operating in New York. Before that, legislation to ban sweepstakes casinos had already been introduced by Senator Joseph Addabo. Shortly after the Attorney General’s announcement, both the Senate and the Assembly passed the bill and sent it to the governor for her signature.
Meanwhile, many sweepstakes casinos have already exited the state. Here is a partial list of sweepstakes casinos that used to operate in New York that no longer do.
- Carnival Citi
- Chanced
- Chumba Casino
- Crown Coins
- DingDingDing
- Fliff
- Fortune Coins
- Fortune Wheelz
- Funzpoints
- Funrize
- Funzcity
- Global Poker
- Golden Hearts Games
- Hello Millions
- High 5 Casino
- Jackpota
- Lucky Hands
- Luckyland Slots
- McLuck
- Mega Bonanza
- NoLimitCoins
- The Money Factory
- Play Fame
- Pulsz
- Pulsz Bingo
- Punt.com
- RealPrize
- Rebet
- Rolling Riches
- Sidepot
- SpinBlitz
- SportsMillions
- Sportzino
- Spree
- Stake.us
- SweepSlots
- Sweeptastic
- TaoFortune
- Vegas Gems
- WOW Vegas
- Yay Casino
- Zula Casino
Social casinos: an alternative to sweeps
With the exit of sweepstakes sites from NY, players can turn to social casinos that offer free-to-play online casino games. Note that these sites do not offer ways to redeem prizes for cash prizes or gift cards, but are strictly for entertainment only.
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New York sweepstakes casinos FAQ
No. Legislation to ban sweepstakes casinos altogether was signed into law in early December 2025.
In the days following the Attorney General’s cease-and-desist letters described above, both the New York Senate and the New York Assembly swiftly passed Senate Bill 5935A by overwhelming margins. In the Assembly, the vote was 141-0 (with 9 absent), and in the Senate, it was 57-2 (with 4 absent). Having been passed by both chambers. The bill was sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signed it into law on Dec. 5, 2025.
The proposed bill would impose fines of $10,000 to $100,000 per violation, as well as revoke license eligibility for operators.
Where available, social casinos and sweepstakes casinos (in states that permit them) are free to play.
Final thoughts
Many fans of the best sweepstakes casinos have found that the games rival the quality of regular online casinos. That includes having the same high level of graphics, animation, and sound that can help create an immersive and fun gaming experience. In fact, some of the same slots featured at online casinos (and retail casinos) turn up in the game libraries of these sweepstakes sites, as do the table games and live dealer games, which similarly rival their real money counterparts.
For those looking to enjoy online casino games in states that don’t have real money sites available, sweepstakes casinos provide an excellent option and even ways to redeem your winnings for various prizes. As noted, the games are always free to play, but you can also purchase coins and take your sweepstakes casino experience to a new level. While the era of New York sweepstakes casinos has come to an end, we’ll continue to monitor its status and provide all the latest updates here when news breaks.