Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker will soon close Sweeps Coin gameplay in West Virginia.
That’s according to a spokesperson for VGW, the Australian sweeps behemoth that owns those three sweepstakes casinos, who informed Sweepsy of the impending move early Thursday morning.
“Following careful consideration, we can confirm we’ve informed players in West Virginia of a decision to phase out Promotional Play (sweepstakes promotions) in the state across our brands,” the spokesperson told Sweepsy. “However, our valued players in West Virginia will still be able to enjoy all their favorite free-to-play games using Gold Coins. We are 100 percent focused on ensuring players are fully informed about the changes and that this transition is as smooth as possible.
“But we understand this is an adjustment after several years of enjoying our industry-leading brands and some players may be disappointed. This decision wasn’t taken lightly and was made based on a range of factors.”
Sweeps Coin phase-out will be finished on Nov. 25
Players in West Virginia are currency receiving messages when they access VGW sites that say Sweeps Coin play will be discontinued on Nov. 11.
The exact timeline for VGW phasing out Sweeps Coin play in West Virginia is as follows:
Starting Nov. 11, players will no longer be able to earn Sweeps Coins by any means — this includes login rewards, contests, and via bonuses as part of Gold Coin purchases. From that date forward, alternative methods of entry (AMOE), such as postal requests, will also be discontinued. But players may still play using any remaining Sweeps Coins in their accounts.
Starting Nov. 18, gameplay using Sweeps Coins will be fully disabled. Mail-in requests for Sweeps Coins will also stop being processed. But players will still be able to redeem Sweeps Coins in their account.
Starting Nov. 25, VGW will no longer process Sweeps Coin redemptions in West Virginia.
Why is VGW ending SC gameplay in West Virginia?
West Virginia is a very common addition to excluded lists shown in the terms and conditions of sweepstakes casinos, both large and small.
In February, according to reporting by Casino Reports, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey served various sweepstakes casino operators with subpoenas.
“We have serious concerns about West Virginia consumers, specifically our children, being targeted by illegal gambling operations,” McCuskey said in a statement to Casino Reports. “From day one, my priority has been to protect consumers and ensure our children are not being exposed to these operations or their advertising — while at the same time supporting those which are licensed and operating within the confines of the law. At this time, we cannot comment on specific cases or provide any further details.”
Later, at the summer meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States in Louisville, McCuskey revealed that he sent subpoenas to 47 operators. Legally, he cannot publicly say who he sent the subpoenas to, but if it was truly to 47 operators, it’s safe to assume that included most of the industry’s biggest brands — including VGW.
And there’s your likely reason for VGW’s Sweeps Coin shutdown this month in West Virginia.
Other notable brands to recently shut down or remove Sweeps Coin game play in West Virginia include Pulsz Casino, Pulsz Bingo, and B-Two Operations sites (including McLuck and Hello Millions).
Nothing illegal about Gold Coin gameplay
VGW is one of a small handful of sweeps brands that doesn’t fully remove itself when performing a market restriction.
While many operators shut down their entire platforms in New York and New Jersey this spring, for instance, VGW only shut down its Sweeps Coin gameplay while keeping its Gold Coin gameplay open. Why? Because none of the bills outlawing sweeps casinos in these states do anything to outlaw social casinos, where players can purchase digital currency to play with but they cannot redeem that currency for cash.
That’s what Gold Coins are. And as long as an operator has only Gold Coins as an option for its players, it can continue operating and generating revenue in states that have passed bills banning sweepstakes casinos.
Modo Casino is another good example of this. In a statement to Sweepsy, a spokesperson for Modo Casino said the operator will remain active in California after Jan. 1, 2026 — when Assembly Bill 831 becomes law and sweeps casinos become illegal — by removing Sweeps Coins and only giving players the option to play with Gold Coins.
Even though social casino games can be played entirely for free, the real goal for social casino operators — including fervent sweeps opponent, which has a social casino arm of its company called SciPlay — is to convert free users into paying players. This happens via currency package purchases. But often players will also have the option to buy other premium features (like mystery prizes or tournament entries). All in all, it’s a gameplay model that generates roughly $200 million per quarter for Light & Wonder.
