One of the most popular brands in sweepstakes gaming is leaving California early, serving as a stark contrast to WOW Vegas, which has vowed to remain active in the state until sweeps casinos officially become illegal on Jan. 1, 2026.
According to information obtained by Sweepsy, Legendz Casino is in the process of shutting down access in California and Tennessee. Legendz is owned by Platinum Panther Ltd., and it’s the company’s lone sweeps casino.
Legendz and High 5 Casino are the two most recognizable names among sweepstakes casinos to leave or be in the process of leaving California. The others that have formally exited California are less well-known properties, including two Sweepsy also learned of this week.
TheBoss Casino, Grand Vault Casino also shutting down in CA
TheBoss Casino and Grand Vault Casino have also pulled out of California, bringing the total number of known sites to shut down in the state to eight:
- Carnival Citi
- Ruby Sweeps
- Dara Casino
- High 5
- SweepsUSA
- Legendz
- TheBoss
- Grand Vault
As for Legendz, the additions of California and Tennessee bring its list of excluded markets to 14. Tennessee was already a part of that list prior to this week, but only for the Legendz sweeps sportsbook. It’s unclear if this recent change is simply a shutdown of the sportsbook access in Tennessee, or if this now means Tennessee players will soon lose access to the casino-style games as well. A customer service representative told Sweepsy that, currently, Tennessee players have access to casino-style games but not the sportsbook, but they did not have an update regarding if that will change in the future.
The California exit will apply to both the sportsbook and casino-style games.
This is the current Legendz excluded state list:
- California
- Connecticut
- Idaho
- Michigan
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio (sportsbook only)
- Tennessee (unclear if sportsbook only)
- Washington
- West Virginia
When Legendz adds a market to its excluded list, that means it has shut down its full platform — both the Sweeps Coin games and Gold Coin games. Some sweeps operators, like VGW sites Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker, opt to keep their social casino games (the Gold Coin games) up and running while blocking only the Sweeps Coin games, as these are the games state lawmakers and regulators have taken issue with, as players can redeem Sweeps Coins for real cash.
Legendz approach vs. WOW Vegas approach
Most of the larger sweepstakes casino brands, such as VGW, B-Two Operations (McLuck, Hello Millions, SpinBlitz, Mega Bonanza, PlayFame, Jackpota), ARB Interactive (Modo Casino), Yellow Social Interactive (Pulsz Casino, Pulsz Bingo), and A1 Development LLC (NoLimitCoins, Tao Fortune, FunzCity, Fortune Wheelz, Funrize, Storm Rush), are still active in California and have yet to release any plans regarding their exit strategy.
This isn’t necessarily a surprise. California Assembly Bill 831, which bans sweepstakes casinos and criminalizes any entity that supports them, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 12, but it doesn’t technically take effect until Jan. 1, 2026.
So these operators are allowed to continue operating until then. The sweeps casinos that have already exited California are doing so out of an abundance of caution, which certainly makes sense for smaller sites that could face financial ruin if anything slipped through the cracks and they were offering illegal gaming options in 2026.
For the larger companies, however, the concept of staying active until the 11th hour is likely less daunting. We know that to be the case with WOW Vegas, as Sweepsy last week learned that WOW Vegas officials fully intend on keeping their sweepstakes casino up and running in California right up until the final moments it’s legal in 2025.
What’s up in Tennessee?
Legendz received a cease-and-desist from the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council this past spring, and as a result, it shut down the sportsbook arm of its platform in the state on April 8.
However, the information obtained this week by Sweepsy specifically noted blocking access for players in California and Tennessee. So, again, it’s not immediately clear if that means Legendz is now simply blocking all access for Tennessee players, or if this was in regards to sportsbook access dating back to April.
Other recent departures in Tennessee include Sportzino, which also left the state last month as a result of a cease-and-desist from the TSWC.
