A bill that would ban sweepstakes casinos in Tennessee is halfway to passage.
That’s because, earlier this week, the Tennessee Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 2136 — 32 yays to 0 nays — and on Thursday it was officially transferred over to the House.
SB2136 is one of two bills in Tennessee that would outlaw Sweeps Coin gameplay. The other, House Bill 1885, is a twin of SB2136, but it hasn’t progressed quite as far. It is set to face another round in the House Departments & Agencies Subcommittee on March 10.
Tennessee’s 2026 legislative session ends on April 24.
SB2136 uses ‘virtual currency’ language
For our money, SB2136 (and its HB1885 twin, for that matter) is the most smartly written of the sweeps ban bills considered thus far. That’s because it uses language different than what has been used in other bills in different states.
Most bills either broadly target “sweepstakes gaming” or others add “dual-currency” or “multi-currency” language to further paint sweeps casinos in a corner and prevent them from using the Gold Coin and Sweeps Coin model to try to get around state gambling laws.
The problem with that language is it’s missing a key category:
“Single-currency.”
As we’ve seen with Card Crush and ClubWPT Gold, operators are attempting to get around these sweeps bans by pivoting to single-currency models.
Tennessee’s approach, however, is novel and may be more effective.
The bills use intentionally broad and neutral terminology — describing a “virtual-currency system” — to block any online casino-style game that revolves around virtual currency, no matter how it is structured. The goal of this wording, likely, is to capture entire gaming models regardless of how many different currencies they use or what names those currencies are given.
Under SB2136, the ban applies to any online casino-style game that:
Utilizes a virtual-currency system allowing a player to: (i) Play or participate with a currency, such as a virtual coin, token, or other representation of value, that is directly purchased, received through a bonus or promotion, or received for free with the purchase of another type of currency or related product, service, or activity; and (ii) Exchange the currency for a prize, award, cash, or cash equivalent, or the chance to win a prize, award, cash, or cash equivalent.
Tennessee was already established as anti-sweeps
If it passes, SB2136 — which would take effect immediately after passage — would further fortify Tennessee as an off-limits jurisdiction for sweeps gaming.
That process already began in late 2025, when Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced his office had sent cease-and-desist orders to nearly 40 sweeps operators. That announcement came in December, following weeks of operator movements that suggested something was brewing in Tennessee.
A VGW spokesperson told Sweepsy in November that the company would phase out Sweeps Coin play across its sites, with the process running from Nov. 24 through Dec. 23.
A week before that, Sweepsy learned that five platforms — Stake.us, High 5 Casino, LoneStar Casino, RealPrize, and Lucky Bits Vegas — were preparing to scale back operations in the state or exit entirely in the coming weeks.
High 5 Casino also shut down in Tennessee on Nov. 24. Around the same time, A1 Development LLC — which operates NoLimitCoins, Fortune Wheelz, Tao Fortune, FunzCity, Funrize, and Storm Rush — restricted Tennessee users from accessing its platforms.
Should SB2136 become law, though, Tennessee will establish itself alongside the likes of New York — with passed legislation and Attorney General cease-and-desists — as one of the country’s most anti-sweeps markets.
Checking in on other 2026 bills
So far in the 2026 legislative session, only Indiana has passed a sweeps ban bill, but it still needs to be signed by the governor to become law.
In Mississippi, meanwhile, a sweeps ban bill has failed for the second consecutive year — and both times it breezed through the Senate before facing complications in the House.
Bills in other states — Oklahoma, Virginia, and Iowa — have, like SB2136, passed out of their originating chamber. Legislation that either definitely will or may affect sweeps casinos is also being considered in Maryland, Maine, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Florida.
