Sweepstakes Casinos in South Carolina (2026)

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in South Carolina?

Yes. Sweepstakes casinos are legal to play in South Carolina, and no bill, attorney general action or court case has targeted the dual-currency model. That surprises people, because South Carolina has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country: no commercial or tribal casinos, no sports betting, no pari-mutuel racing, and a criminal code that still fines people for playing cards for money. The state’s gambling statutes, though, all turn on wagering something of value. A promotional sweepstakes with a free entry route has no consideration, so it is not a lottery or an unlawful game under Chapter 19 of Title 16. Sweepstakes casinos sell Gold Coins for entertainment and give away the prize-eligible Sweeps Coins through bonuses, daily logins and postal requests, and every major brand accepts South Carolina players.

South Carolina also has a consumer statute written for promotions: the Prizes and Gifts Act (Title 37, Chapter 15), enforced through the Unfair Trade Practices Act. It requires sweepstakes promoters to disclose who is running the promotion, the number and retail value of prizes, the odds of winning and any conditions, and it bans conditioning a prize on a payment that is not clearly disclosed. It regulates how a sweepstakes is run rather than whether casino-style sweepstakes may exist.

Recent developments

• April 22, 2025: a South Carolina Senate panel holds a hearing on online gambling, including sweepstakes casinos. Witnesses describe the sites as systems that feed on desperation; no vote is taken and no bill follows.
• 2025-2026 session: Senator Tom Davis’s Senate Bill 444 would create a South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission and license up to 12 mobile sportsbooks at a 15 percent tax. In February 2026 the Senate Judiciary Committee holds the state’s first formal hearing on legal online sports betting. House Bill 4176 would authorise a casino along Interstate 95. Both bills remain in committee as of September 2026, with Governor Henry McMaster sceptical and the South Carolina Baptist Convention opposed.
• 2026: no bill to ban, license or tax sweepstakes casinos has been introduced, and the Attorney General has issued no opinion or cease-and-desist letter on the model.

How South Carolina law treats sweepstakes and gambling

Title 16, Chapter 19 of the South Carolina Code covers gambling and lotteries.

• Section 16-19-10 makes setting up a lottery a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison.
• Section 16-19-40 bans playing cards, dice and other games for money in public places and gaming houses. Unusually, it punishes players as well as operators: a player faces up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $100, while a person who keeps a gaming house faces up to 12 months and $2,000 per offence.
• Section 16-19-130 covers betting and pool-selling, a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail.
• Section 12-21-2710 bans slot machines and video gaming machines. South Carolina switched off its once-huge video poker industry on July 1, 2000 and has never reopened the door.

None of these provisions reaches a genuine no-purchase-necessary online sweepstakes, and no South Carolina court has held otherwise. The state has no gaming commission; the South Carolina Education Lottery is run by its own commission, bingo is licensed by the Department of Revenue, and criminal enforcement falls to the Attorney General and SLED. We are not lawyers; if you need certainty, read the statutes or ask one.

What South Carolina players should check

• Age: 18, matching the lottery age. A few sweepstakes casinos require 21 everywhere; check the terms.
• Location: geolocation is enforced. South Carolina is served by all major brands, as are neighbouring Georgia and North Carolina.
• Free entry: use the daily bonuses and postal entry route; the absence of consideration is what keeps the game lawful under Chapter 19.
• Identity checks: ID verification before the first redemption, with minimums of about 50 to 100 Sweeps Coins.
• Taxes: prizes are taxable federally and under South Carolina’s income tax; keep your redemption records.

Other legal ways to play in South Carolina

The South Carolina Education Lottery, which sold its first tickets on January 7, 2002, is the only state-sanctioned gambling apart from charitable bingo and raffles. There are no casinos in the state; the closest options are the casino cruise ships that sail from Little River into federal waters, and the Catawba Nation’s Two Kings Casino just across the border in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. There is no sports betting, no racetrack wagering and no legal online casino. S.444 and H.4176 would change parts of that picture if they ever pass.

Staying up to date

Stakester follows the General Assembly, the Attorney General and every operator’s South Carolina policy. This page and the casino list are updated as soon as anything changes.