Sweepstakes Casinos in Delaware (2026)

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in Delaware?

No. Delaware’s gaming regulator treats dual-currency sweepstakes casinos as unlicensed gambling, and the major brands have all left the state. There is no sweepstakes-specific statute. Instead the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), part of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, applies the state constitution, the gambling offences in Title 11 of the Delaware Code and the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012. In April 2025 it ordered VGW, the operator of Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker, out of Delaware, and around thirty other operators withdrew rather than wait for their own letter. Two more, RealPrize and LoneStar, were ordered out in August 2026.

Delaware’s constitution prohibits lotteries and games of chance except those run under the state lottery, which is why the state’s three online casinos operate under Delaware Lottery licences. The DGE’s investigation concluded that VGW misrepresented its games as promotional sweepstakes while letting players buy coins to play casino-style games for cash prizes. That combination of consideration, chance and prize is gambling, and gambling outside the lottery system is illegal. The finding applies equally to every dual-currency site. Only a couple of small single-currency platforms, which sell entries directly rather than pairing a purchased currency with a prize currency, still admit Delaware players, and neither holds a Delaware licence.

Timeline

• 2023: the DGE sends VGW an initial letter questioning the legality of its Delaware operations.
• April 2, 2025: a DGE cease-and-desist order, issued with the support of the Delaware State Lottery, takes effect. Delaware residents can no longer play Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots or Global Poker.
• April 7, 2025: the state announces the action, warning that unregulated sites expose players to unauthorised transactions, identity theft and fraud.
• April to June 2025: most other sweepstakes casinos, including the largest dual-currency brands, remove Delaware from their eligible states.
• 2025 and 2026 sessions: the General Assembly considers no sweepstakes-casino bill; the DGE’s position makes one unnecessary.
• August 2026: the DGE issues cease-and-desist letters to RealPrize and LoneStar, the two most visible sweepstakes casinos still accepting Delaware players. Both end Sweeps Coins play and give players a redemption window.

How Delaware law treats sweepstakes and gambling

Article II, Section 17 of the Delaware Constitution bans lotteries and games of chance other than the state lottery, charitable gaming and the pari-mutuel and casino operations the General Assembly has authorised. Title 11, Chapter 5 of the Delaware Code makes advancing or profiting from unlawful gambling a crime, with misdemeanor penalties of up to a year in prison and fines for most offences and felony exposure for larger operations. The Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 placed online casino gaming, poker and sports betting under the Delaware Lottery, so any internet game of chance for money offered outside that system is unlicensed. Players are not the target: the DGE’s orders name the companies, and no Delaware resident has been charged for playing at a sweepstakes site.

What Delaware players should check

• Availability: assume a dual-currency site is closed to you. If one still lets you register from Delaware, it is operating against the DGE’s stated position and could be ordered out at any time.
• Age: all legal casino-style play in Delaware is 21+, and the remaining single-currency platforms apply the same limit.
• Redemption windows: operators leaving Delaware have given roughly a month to redeem. Watch your email and cash out before the deadline; unredeemed balances are forfeited.
• Licensing: the only licensed online casinos in Delaware are the three run under the Delaware Lottery. Anything else is unregulated, with no state help if a payout fails.
• Location: licensed sites geolocate you, and using a VPN to reach an out-of-state sweepstakes casino breaches its terms.

Other legal ways to play in Delaware

Delaware was the first state to launch legal online casino gaming, in November 2013, under the Gaming Competitiveness Act. Its three racinos, Delaware Park, Bally’s Dover and Harrington Raceway, each run an online casino, and since January 3, 2024 those sites and the state’s first online sportsbooks have been powered by Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers platform under contract to the Delaware Lottery. Retail single-game sports betting has been available since June 2018, and Delaware sold parlay cards even before that. The Delaware Lottery has operated since 1975, harness and thoroughbred racing continue at the three tracks, and charitable bingo and raffles are permitted. The minimum age is 21 for casinos, online gaming and sports betting and 18 for the lottery.

Staying up to date

We monitor DGE orders, Delaware Lottery announcements, any bill filed in Dover and each operator’s Delaware policy. The legal status on this page and the short list of sites still open to Delaware residents are updated as soon as anything changes, and the review date in the header shows when we last checked.