Do sweepstakes casinos have to geolocate players?
Last reviewed 20 October 2026
Increasingly they have to stay out of states entirely: since 2025 at least nine states have banned online sweepstakes casinos, and an operator that keeps serving the other states has to know which state each player is in.
The bans
| State | Law | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | MCA 23-5-112, amended 2025 | In force since 1 October 2025 |
| Connecticut | Public Act 25-112 (SB 1235) | Signed June 2025 |
| New Jersey | P.L.2025, c.128 (A5447) | Approved 15 August 2025, effective immediately |
| California | AB 831 | Signed 11 October 2025, effective 1 January 2026 |
| New York | S5935-A, Chapter 605 of 2025 | Signed 5 December 2025 |
| Indiana | HB 1052 | Signed 13 March 2026, effective 1 July 2026 |
| Maine | LD 2007, Public Law ch. 645 | Signed 6 April 2026 |
| Louisiana | HB883, Act 182 | Signed 15 May 2026, effective 1 August 2026 |
| Tennessee | SB2136, Public Chapter 1117 | Signed 22 May 2026 |
Checked against each state’s published text or legislature record on 20 October 2026. Oklahoma’s ban takes effect on 1 November 2026, and other states have bills in progress. Not legal advice.
The laws turn on where the player is
New Jersey’s law reaches a sweepstakes “in which a person present in New Jersey may participate.” New York’s bars operating such games “within the state of New York,” and names geolocation providers among the businesses that may not support them. Neither law spells out a geolocation method. Both make the player’s location the fact that decides legality.
What an operator needs
- A check before each paid play, not only at sign-up. See in-process geolocation.
- A method a VPN does not defeat. See IP vs device geolocation.
- A record of each check that holds up later. See proof of location.
A verdict answers for a device, not a person. It says an enrolled device was inside or outside a region at a time. It does not say who was holding it. Use it alongside identity verification, never instead of it. It does raise the cost of cheating: instead of a VPN subscription, a cheater needs real devices and a person in the permitted place for every transaction.
- What is geolocation compliance?
- What is geofencing?
- Why do location checks fail near state borders?
- Do prediction markets have to geofence states?
- What is proof of location?
- Frontier AI access is a location problem. 28 Sep 2026
- Age verification is a location problem. 23 Sep 2026
- Cryptographic proof of location. 6 Aug 2026
- Octet is live. 25 Jun 2026