Another state has joined the list of markets considering legislation that would outlaw Sweeps Coin gameplay at sweepstakes casinos in the 2026 legislative session.
On Friday, Louisiana Rep. Laurie Schlegel pre-filed House Bill 883 ahead of the start of the state’s legislative session on March 9. HB883 updates Louisiana’s definition of illegal online gambling to include the type of economic model traditionally used by sweeps casinos.
This introduction comes despite many operators already long since leaving Louisiana, as the state issued a cascade of cease-and-desists to many well-known brands in sweepstakes gaming back in June 2025.
Analyzing the language of HB883
It’s interesting to note that HB883 actually never uses the word “sweepstakes” or makes reference to “sweeps casinos” in any way. What it does do is use the phrase “dual-currency system of payment” in its modified definition of illegal online gambling.
Specifically, HB883 newly defines the following as illegal iGaming:
Any game, contest, or promotion that is available on the internet or accessible on a mobile phone, computer terminal, or similar access device that utilizes a dual-currency system of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any prize or award, cash, or cash equivalents, or any chance to win any prize or award, cash, or cash equivalents, and simulates any form of gambling constitutes gambling by computer.
Traditionally, most sweepstakes casinos operate under a dual-currency system, offering players the choices of Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins.
Gold Coins can be purchased, but cannot be redeemed for anything of real-world value. They are purely in-game digital tokens to be used on the casino-style games. Sweeps Coins, meanwhile, can be redeemed for real money. However, up until recently sweeps gaming operators have been able to evade state gambling laws because these redeemable Sweeps Coins cannot be purchased. Players can get them for free via a number of methods, including mail-in requests, daily login bonuses, or even as free bonuses with Gold Coin purchases.
Because Sweeps Coins are technically free, sweeps casinos have operated for years without Sweeps Coins being considered a means for real-money online gambling.
Last year and this year, though, state lawmakers, regulators, and Attorneys General have targeted this dual-currency, Gold Coin/Sweeps Coin ecosystem as equivalent to real-money online gambling.
Thus, the attempted addition of “dual-currency system of payment” in Louisiana law via HB883.
Setting the scene in Louisiana
The Louisiana Legislature actually passed a sweeps ban bill last June. However, Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed the bill, saying at the time that the bill, Senate Bill 181, was “a solution in search of a problem that is already being solved by our current system.”
Then, not-so-coincidentally, a few days later Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced that, in coordination with the Attorney General’s office, it sent cease-and-desist letters out to more than 40 offshore and sweeps gaming sites.
Since then, most sweeps operators — at least the notable ones — have either pulled out of Louisiana entirely or have at the very least shut down the Sweeps Coin gaming options.
That plus the fact that Landry already vetoed a sweeps ban bill last year makes it a little head-scratching to see HB883 pre-filed. We’ll see what comes of it when the session begins in March. The session ends June 1, and bills need to advance out of their originating chambers by May 29.
Another bill targeting sweeps to monitor in Louisiana
Also pre-filed in Louisiana is House Bill 53, which adds several gambling-related offenses to the state’s racketeering law. They are:
- Gambling
- Gambling in public
- Gambling by computer
- Gambling or wagering at cockfights
- Unlawful wager; prohibited player
- Bribery of sports participants
- Gambling by electronic sweepstake device
That last category — electronic sweepstakes devices — is the key one. In practice, it may sweep in the typical online sweeps casino model, especially based on how the governor has indicated he views these platforms.
Compared to other methods states have tried, this anti-sweeps effort feels the most emphatic. Cease-and-desist letters are the mildest. Operators often ignore them or tweak their platforms just enough to keep going. Straight legislative bans are stronger, but as we’ve seen in places like California, companies have gotten pretty good at finding loopholes or reworking their terms to fit around whatever wording lawmakers use. (See, Card Crush.)
Putting sweepstakes gaming under racketeering law is a different level. If HB53 passes in Louisiana, regulators wouldn’t have to keep arguing about whether a game is skill or chance, whether there’s “consideration” or even whether it technically qualifies as gambling. Those debates become less important if the whole operation can be treated as a criminal enterprise from the start.
And once you’re in racketeering territory, RICO-style enforcement comes into play. That means prosecutors can bundle together a series of smaller or gray-area violations into one larger case, go after company leadership even if they weren’t directly involved in every action, and potentially seize the profits generated by the business.
In other words, instead of playing regulatory whack-a-mole, the state would have a framework designed to shut the whole thing down at its core.
Strength of ‘dual-currency’ language vs. other options
Other states have gone beyond the “dual-currency” language and used the term “multi-currency” or “multiple currency.”
In Maryland, Senate Bill 112 and House Bill 295 use the following language — “utilizes multiple currency systems of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any prize or award or cash or cash equivalents” — in describing the casino-style gaming they ban.
(Both bills also legalize real-money iGaming, and neither have seen action since January.)
In Indiana, House Bill 1052 was amended to expand its scope from “dual-currency” to “dual-currency or multi-currency” systems, closing potential loopholes. HB1052 cleared its final legislative hurdle when the House and Senate approved the conference committee report of the bill last week, sending HB1052 to the Indiana governor for a signature.
While “multi-currency” language may be more encompassing that “dual-currency” language, it still misses the workaround some operators are currently using: single-currency.
That’s why the twin sweeps ban bills in Tennessee — Senate Bill 2136 and House Bill 1885 — are the most smartly written, from a lawmakers’ perspective.
They use the broader concept of a “virtual-currency system” to block any online casino-style platform that runs on digital tokens — no matter how those tokens are structured or branded. The goal seems to be to capture the full framework of sweeps casinos instead of chasing specific terminology.
The pro of that language choice it’s harder for operators to tweak labels or add extra currencies to avoid the rule. The downside is legal risk. The broader the wording, the more room there may be for challenges arguing the law casts too wide a net.
