Assembly Bill 831 (AB 831) aims to ban sweepstakes casinos in California. The bill was introduced by Asm. Avelino Valencia and passed the Senate Governmental Organization Committee with a unanimous 10-0 result on July 8, 2025. The next step is for this bill to get through the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Asm. Valencia stated, “online sweepstakes casinos have increased in popularity by exploiting no purchase necessary and use dual currency models to take advantage of a gray area in the law.”
Valencia goes on to say that “by operating as an online casino with real cash payouts, these platforms are circumventing the will of the voters and sidestepping the state’s gaming framework.”
If AB 831 passes into law, violators would be subject to up to $25,000 in fines and one year in jail. Do note that this does not include sweepstakes users, just operators.
During the Senate Government Organization Committee, tribal leaders declared that “allowing online sweepstakes casinos to continue operating in the state will destabliize the entire legal gaming ecosystem.”
Groups like the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians are two that support AB 831, stating that sweepstakes casinos undermine tribal gaming rights.
Other notable groups that are for AB 831 include the Sports Betting Alliance, which represents major regulated operators like FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics, and bet365.
It’s in the best interest of these operators to go against sweepstakes casinos because their goal is eventually to bring online sports betting and online casinos to California.
The Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) gaming attorney Bill Gantz stated that Californians are mostly supportive of sweepstakes casinos, with no consumer backlash since sweepstakes platforms entered the market in 2012.
Gantz went on to say, “We urge that the legislature take time to learn about this industry and find out what they’re authorizing and banning by adopting something like AB 831.”
Other groups that oppose AB 831 include Social and Promotional Games Association, along with sweepstakes company VGW, which operates popular platforms like Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker.
Sweepstakes casinos have been under major scrutiny across the nation in recent months.
Montana was the first state to ban sweepstakes casinos, with Senate Bill 555 coming into effect on October 1, 2025. New York is set to join in after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the anti-sweeps bill on June 18, 2025.
Here is a complete list of states where sweepstakes casinos are unavailable:
| State | Status of Sweepstakes Casinos |
|---|---|
| Montana | Declared illegal |
| Washington | Declared illegal |
| Idaho | Declared illegal |
| Connecticut | Declared illegal |
| New York | S 5935 signed, some operators have left, ban looks inevitable |
| Michigan | Issued Cease and Desist, sweeps sites have been blocked from operating within the state |
| Maryland | Issued Cease and Desist to several operators |
| Delaware | Issued Cease and Desist to several operators |
| Mississippi | Issued Cease and Desist to several operators |
| Nevada | Declared illegal |
| West Virginia | Declared illegal |
With California also aiming to ban daily fantasy sports – including operators like Underdog, which offer pick’ems and draft-style contests – that would leave users without a casino and sports picks platform in the Golden State.
The risk here is that it will push players to turn to offshore operators, which are not regulated in the United States.
