Sweepstakes Casinos in North Dakota (2026)

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in North Dakota?

Yes. North Dakota has no law aimed at online sweepstakes casinos, no bill on the subject was filed in the 2025 legislative session, the Legislature does not sit in 2026, and every major dual-currency brand accepts North Dakota players. The state’s gambling debates are about charitable e-tabs and sports betting, not sweepstakes.

North Dakota’s criminal code, chapter 12.1-28 of the Century Code, defines gambling as risking money, credit, a deposit or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part on chance, and excludes lawful business transactions and lawful contests of skill. The North Dakota Constitution bans games of chance except those the Legislature authorises for charitable, lottery and tribal purposes. Sweepstakes casinos avoid the definition because the prize-redeemable currency, Sweeps Coins, is handed out free with Gold Coin purchases, through daily logins and by mail-in request, so a player never risks anything of value to obtain a chance to win.

The Gaming Division of the Office of Attorney General regulates charitable gaming and the Lottery Division runs the state lottery; neither has authority over commercial promotional sweepstakes, and neither has issued a warning or cease-and-desist letter about them. We are not lawyers, and we list the casinos that accept North Dakota players for information only.

Recent developments

• 2017: the Legislature legalises electronic pull tabs, or e-tabs, in charitable gaming sites. The slot-like machines spread to more than 800 bars and clubs and become the biggest gambling product in the state.
• December 2021: Dakota Magic Casino in Hankinson, owned by the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, takes North Dakota’s first legal sports bet under the tribal-state compact.
• Early 2024: Spirit Lake Casino near St. Michael opens its own sportsbook.
• January 22, 2025: the House rejects HCR 3002, Representative Scott Louser’s resolution to put statewide sports betting on the November 2026 ballot, by 70 votes to 24, citing gambling addiction and college athletes. Because the Legislature meets only in odd-numbered years, no ballot measure can come from lawmakers before 2027.
• 2025 session: no bill mentions online sweepstakes casinos. Lawmakers do tighten oversight of e-tab sites after charitable gaming gross proceeds pass $2.5 billion, with about $2.3 billion of it from e-tabs.
• February 2026: 4 Bears Casino and Lodge in New Town partners with Kambi to run its sportsbook, the third tribal casino with a book.
• 2026: charitable gaming proceeds are projected to reach $2.7 billion for the fiscal year. No operator adds North Dakota to its restricted list.

How North Dakota law treats sweepstakes and gambling

Chapter 12.1-28 punishes people who engage in or profit from unauthorised gambling, with penalties rising from an infraction for small wagers to a Class C felony for running a gambling business. In practice enforcement is aimed at illegal machines, unlicensed poker games and operators, not customers, and nobody has been charged over an online sweepstakes casino. Legal gambling is authorised in separate chapters: chapter 53-06.1 for charitable games of chance, run by nonprofits under Gaming Division licences, chapter 53-12.1 for the lottery and the tribal-state compacts for the reservations’ casinos. The Gaming Division audits charitable sites and licenses distributors and manufacturers of pull tabs and e-tab machines. Sweepstakes casinos fall outside that system, so a dispute with one is a consumer matter for the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.

What North Dakota players should check

• Age: most sweepstakes casinos accept North Dakotans at 18, which matches the state lottery age. VGW brands such as Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots require 21, as do the tribal casinos and charitable e-tab and blackjack sites.
• Location: operators verify your state by geolocation. Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana are next door; Montana banned the model in 2025, so an account used across that border will be restricted, and Canadian visitors cannot play at all.
• Identity checks: expect KYC verification before your first prize redemption.
• Redemption rules: North Dakota sets no prize cap; the minimums, maximums and processing times you see are the operator’s own.
• Taxes: prizes are taxable income for federal and North Dakota purposes; operators issue tax forms above the federal thresholds.

Other legal ways to play in North Dakota

Five tribal nations run casinos in North Dakota: Dakota Magic near Hankinson, Spirit Lake Casino and Resort near St. Michael, Sky Dancer at Belcourt and Grand Treasure at Trenton, both owned by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, 4 Bears at New Town, owned by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, and Prairie Knights at Fort Yates, owned by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Sports betting is legal only inside those casinos.

Charitable gaming is everywhere else. Licensed nonprofits run e-tabs, paper pull tabs, blackjack, poker, bingo and raffles in bars and clubs across the state, and the proceeds fund local causes. The North Dakota Lottery, approved by voters in 2002 and launched in 2004, sells only multi-state draw games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, Lotto America and 2by2, with no scratch tickets. Pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing is legal, including licensed advance-deposit wagering. There is no legal online casino, online poker or mobile sportsbook. The minimum age is 21 at casinos and for charitable gaming and 18 for the lottery.

Staying up to date

We monitor the 2027 legislative session for sweepstakes, sports betting or online gaming bills, Attorney General Gaming Division guidance and every operator’s North Dakota policy. The casino list and legal status on this page are updated as soon as anything changes, and the review date in the header shows when we last checked.