TLDR
- Indiana’s sweepstakes casino ban took effect on July 1, prohibiting dual-currency games.
- Major operators including Chumba Casino, Stake.us, McLuck, and WOW Vegas withdrew from the state.
- VGW pulled all of its brands, including LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker.
- Some operators switched to entertainment-only Gold Coin play instead of leaving entirely.
- Maine’s similar ban starts July 15, with Louisiana’s ban following on August 1.
Indiana’s new sweepstakes casino law took effect on July 1. The law bans online sweepstakes games that use a dual-currency system.
The law was signed earlier this year. Operators had several months to prepare for the change.
Many of the industry’s largest brands have now left the state. This includes Chumba Casino, Stake.us, McLuck, and WOW Vegas.
VGW, one of the industry’s biggest operators, withdrew all of its brands. That list includes LuckyLand Slots, LuckyLand Casino, Global Poker, and United Slots.
Major Operators Complete Their Exit
Other companies also pulled out of Indiana. Sweepstakes Ltd, which runs Stake.us, is one example.
B-Two Operations left the state too. Its brands include McLuck, Hello Millions, Jackpota, Mega Bonanza, PlayFame, and SpinBlitz.
MW Services Ltd also withdrew. This company operates WOW Vegas, Rolla, and MetaWin.
Not every company left the state completely. Utech Solutions switched its brands to entertainment-only Gold Coin play instead.
Those brands include Scarlet Sands, MrGoodwin, VegasWay, SweepShark, JackpotRabbit, Playtana, Sweepico, FireSevens, and DexyPlay.
A1 Development took a similar approach. It removed sweepstakes promotions from brands like Funrize, Fortune Wheelz, and NoLimitCoins, but kept Gold Coin games running.
Several more companies confirmed they ended sweepstakes play in Indiana. These include Fliff, Golden Hearts, Rolling Riches, Smiles Casino, Thrillz, and Dara Casino.
Some operators started winding down their Indiana operations earlier. Blazesoft, Yellow Social, ARB Interactive, High 5 Entertainment, and Woopla Inc. all made changes in May and June.
Despite these exits, not every platform has cut off Indiana players yet. Dozens of sweepstakes sites still appeared to accept players from the state as of July 2.
Some of these sites have not added a geoblock or updated their restricted-state list. This means the full rollout of the ban may still be underway.
Indiana players have also reported losing access to games from Hacksaw Gaming before July 1. Hacksaw is a popular game provider in the sweepstakes industry, known for titles like Wanted: Dead or a Wild and Chaos Crew.
More State Bans Are Coming
Attention is now shifting to Maine. That state’s sweepstakes casino ban takes effect on July 15.
Several operators have already left Maine ahead of the deadline. Blazesoft, ARB, Woopla, and Yellow Social are among them.
Louisiana is expected to be next. Its sweepstakes casino ban starts on August 1.
Many platforms had already withdrawn from Louisiana earlier this year. This happened as state officials increased enforcement efforts.
