Sweepstakes Casinos in Connecticut (2026)

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in Connecticut?

No. Connecticut banned online sweepstakes casinos in 2025, and no dual-currency operator accepts Connecticut players. Senate Bill 1235, now Public Act 25-112, passed the Senate 36-0 on May 22, 2025 and the House 146-0 on June 3, 2025. Governor Ned Lamont signed it on June 11, 2025 and the sweepstakes provisions took effect on October 1, 2025. Connecticut was the second state, after Montana, to write a ban of this kind into statute.

Connecticut defines gambling as risking money or anything of value on a game of chance or a future event, and it only permits the gambling the state has specifically authorised: the two tribal casinos, the Connecticut Lottery, licensed online casino gaming and sports wagering, charitable games and pari-mutuel betting. Sweepstakes casinos argued that their free entry routes removed the element of consideration. The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), which regulates gaming in the state, never accepted that reading. In early 2024 it ordered VGW, the company behind Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots, to stop serving Connecticut customers, calling its games unlicensed gambling and a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. VGW withdrew in October 2024. Public Act 25-112 removed any remaining doubt.

What Public Act 25-112 changed

• Sweepstakes casinos: nobody may conduct or promote a sweepstakes or promotional drawing that uses a simulated gambling device, or that facilitates online casino gaming or sports wagering, without the relevant Connecticut licence. Sweepstakes that are not tied to the bona fide sale of goods, services or property are prohibited.
• Simulated gambling devices: electronic games that imitate slots, video poker, table games and similar games and award prizes are treated as gambling devices. Premises used for unlicensed sweepstakes can be declared a common nuisance and the equipment seized.
• Penalty: the offence is prosecuted as professional gambling, a Class D felony carrying up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
• Exemption: grocery retailers with five or more Connecticut stores may still run sweepstakes that award store discounts rather than cash.
• Lottery couriers: the act also bans reselling lottery tickets and third-party lottery courier services in the state.
• Also in the act: wider disciplinary powers for the DCP commissioner over gaming licensees, record-keeping duties for vendors and affiliates, limits on betting on Connecticut college teams, and authorisation of wagering on boxing and mixed martial arts.

Timeline

• February 2024: the DCP orders VGW to stop offering Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots to Connecticut residents, citing Sections 53-278b and 53-278d of the General Statutes and CUTPA.
• October 2024: VGW confirms it has left Connecticut.
• February 5, 2025: SB 1235 is introduced as the DCP’s annual lottery and gaming recommendations bill.
• May 22, 2025: the Senate passes the bill 36-0.
• May 30, 2025: the DCP announces a $1.5 million settlement with High 5 Games over its unlicensed High 5 Casino sweepstakes: $643,000 is refunded to 794 Connecticut users and $800,000 goes to the Consumer Protection Enforcement Fund. High 5 may now only supply games to licensed Connecticut operators and must report quarterly.
• June 3, 2025: the House passes the bill 146-0.
• June 11, 2025: Governor Lamont signs SB 1235 as Public Act 25-112.
• October 1, 2025: the sweepstakes and lottery courier provisions take effect. The remaining dual-currency brands remove Connecticut from their eligible states.
• 2026: no bill to repeal or soften the ban has been filed. Connecticut’s approach has since been copied in New York, California, Tennessee and other states.

How Connecticut law treats sweepstakes and gambling

The gambling offences sit in Chapter 946 of the Connecticut General Statutes (Sections 53-278a to 53-278g). Running or profiting from an unlicensed gambling business is professional gambling, a Class D felony. Merely gambling is a Class B misdemeanor on paper, but Connecticut’s enforcement has been aimed at operators and suppliers, not players; the High 5 settlement returned money to players rather than penalising them. The DCP Gaming Division licenses and audits the state’s online casinos, sportsbooks, lottery and charitable gaming, and it is the body that issues cease-and-desist letters to unlicensed sites.

What Connecticut players should check

• Availability: dual-currency sites do not accept Connecticut players. Any site that lets you register from Connecticut with a purchased currency and a separate redeemable currency is operating illegally, and your balance is at risk.
• Age: Connecticut’s legal age for online casino play and sports betting is 21, and licensed operators verify it.
• Location: licensed operators use geolocation. Using a VPN to reach an out-of-state sweepstakes site breaches its terms and forfeits balances.
• Old balances: if you held Sweeps Coins when a brand left Connecticut, contact its support team. The High 5 case shows the DCP can recover refunds for residents.
• Complaints: the DCP Gaming Division accepts consumer complaints about licensed and unlicensed gambling sites alike.

Other legal ways to play in Connecticut

Connecticut is one of only a handful of states with full legal online casino gaming. Foxwoods Resort Casino (Mashantucket Pequot Tribe) and Mohegan Sun (Mohegan Tribe) each run a licensed online casino and sportsbook, with DraftKings and FanDuel respectively, and the Connecticut Lottery operates the state’s third online sportsbook. All launched in October 2021 under the 2021 gaming expansion law. The lottery sells draw games and keno, pari-mutuel betting is available at off-track outlets, and charitable bingo and raffles are permitted. You must be 21 for casino gaming and sports betting and 18 for the lottery.

Staying up to date

We monitor DCP enforcement, any attempt to amend Public Act 25-112 and every operator’s Connecticut policy. The legal status on this page and the list of casinos open to Connecticut residents are updated as soon as anything changes, and the review date in the header shows when we last checked.