Indiana Sweepstakes Casino Ban Takes Effect, Driving VGW, Stake.us and Dozens of Operators Out of the State

Indiana’s ban on dual-currency online sweepstakes casinos officially took effect this week after House Bill 1052 became law, prompting many of the industry’s largest operators to pull their redeemable sweepstakes games from the state entirely. The legislation targets platforms that use Gold Coin and Sweeps Coin models, where the latter can be redeemed for cash or gift cards, arguing the structure closely mirrors traditional gambling despite operating outside Indiana’s casino licensing framework.

The law carries civil penalties of up to $100,000 per violation for noncompliant operators and offers no licensing pathway or transition period. Companies were left with two options: shut down redeemable sweepstakes play in Indiana, or exit the market altogether.

Which Operators Have Left

VGW, one of the sector’s largest operators, withdrew all of its brands from Indiana, including Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, LuckyLand Casino, Global Poker, and United Slots. Sweepstakes Ltd. pulled Stake.us, while B-Two Operations exited with McLuck, Hello Millions, Jackpota, Mega Bonanza, PlayFame, and SpinBlitz. MW Services Ltd. discontinued WOW Vegas, Rolla, and MetaWin in the state as well.

Several other operators had already begun winding down Indiana operations in May and June ahead of the compliance deadline. Blazesoft ended sweepstakes play for Fortune Wins, Zula Casino, Sportzino, Yay Casino, American Luck, Luck Party, and Win Bonanza. Yellow Social withdrew Pulsz Casino and Pulsz Bingo, ARB Interactive removed Modo.us, High 5 Entertainment exited with High 5 Casino, and Woopla Inc. discontinued Funzpoints. Fliff Inc., Golden Hearts Inc., Ruby Sweeps, Baba Casino, ACE Casino, Cider Casino, Lucky Bunny Casino, and Lavish Luck were also among the platforms reported to have left ahead of the July 1 deadline.

Not Every Operator Is Leaving

Some companies have opted to stay in Indiana by converting to entertainment-only models that strip out the redeemable Sweeps Coin feature entirely. Utech Solutions shifted several of its brands, including Sweepico, VegasWay, MrGoodwin, FireSevens, JackpotRabbit, DexyPlay, Scarlet Sands, Playtana, and SweepShark, to Gold Coin-only play without prize redemption.

A1 Development similarly stripped sweepstakes functionality from Funrize, Fortune Wheelz, FunzCity, NoLimitCoins, StormRush, and TaoFortune, with those platforms now operating on Tournament Points and Gold Coins only.

Ripple Effects on Game Libraries and Enforcement Gaps

The wave of operator departures has already affected game availability for remaining Indiana players, with several reporting the loss of access to Hacksaw Gaming titles ahead of the deadline. Despite the exits, industry tracking suggests dozens of sweepstakes platforms were still accepting Indiana players as of July 2, with no geoblocking or updated restricted-state language yet in place, suggesting enforcement may lag behind the letter of the new law in the near term.

Indiana’s move follows a similar ban that took effect in Iowa on the same July 1 deadline, adding to a growing list of states clamping down on the sweepstakes casino model as lawmakers increasingly view it as gambling operating outside traditional regulatory oversight.