One sweepstakes casino is telling players it will leave Illinois on Jan. 10 due to state regulations.
And the games vendor Evolution has seemingly pulled its games from sweepstakes casinos in Illinois, as of the new year.
These updates may suggest others could soon follow suit. (If they haven’t already.)
Tora Tora Casino has emailed its Illinois players that it will leave Illinois on Jan. 10 due to state regulations. So Illinois will soon join the list of Tora Tora’s excluded markets: Washington, Idaho, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, Montana, West Virginia, Maryland, Nevada, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, California, Arizona, Minnesota, and any other state or jurisdiction where local laws prohibit participation, per the site’s terms and conditions.
Sweepsy also learned that Evolution games are no longer offered in Illinois at Spinquest, as of 2026. We have also received information the same is true at Modo.us, leading us to believe this is an industry-wide change.
There are no bills currently active in Illinois that would ban online sweepstakes gaming using Sweeps Coins. So that logically leads to two theories:
One: A bill is expected to soon be filed.
Two: There is currently action being levied by the office of Attorney General Kwame Raoul, potentially in the form of cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes casinos.
We may lean right now toward Option 2, as industry chatter suggests there is drama and pressure against the sweeps industry coming from Raoul (and elsewhere) right now in Illinois.
Sweepsy reached out to Raoul’s office for comment. We did not receive a response.
Pressure on both physical and online sweeps gaming?
This apparent pressure on online sweepstakes gaming coincides with pressure against physical sweepstakes gaming kiosks, as well, most notably in Chicago.
There, Alderman William Hall recently introduced a proposal that would outlaw terminals known as “sweepstakes machines” from bars, restaurants, gas stations, and convenience stores throughout Chicago.
In an opinion piece Hall wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times in November, he claimed he wants to eventually regulate and tax these machines to create revenue for the city. This ban, then, would be the first step toward that eventual goal.
These types of gaming machines, which resemble like slot machines, were banned in Illinois in 2019. However, Chicago’s sweepstakes machines have still operated a legal gray zone, thanks to the city’s home rule powers, which free it from Illinois’ video gaming regulations. They most often award players with exchangeable coupons or non-cash prizes, but some do also give out cash, per Block Club Chicago.
Hall’s concerns regarding player safety echo those made by prominent anti-sweeps figures in relation to online sweeps casinos that are owned by companies not based in the U.S.
“We’ve seen illegal gambling houses infiltrated by criminals, and we don’t want Chicago to [experience] the next wave of crime through illegal gambling machines,” Hall said at a December city council meeting. “So this is both preventive and protective of our residents, preventive of future crimes and preventive of illegal operations.”
Illinois sweeps ban failed to gain traction in 2025
In Illinois last February, Sen. William Cunningham filed Senate Bill 1705, which would have outlawed both physical sweepstakes gaming kiosks and online sweeps casinos by updating the state’s definition of gambling device to include:
“[A]ny vending or other electronic machine or device, including, without limitation, a machine or device that awards credits and contains a circuit, meter, or switch capable of removing and recording the removal of credits that offers a person entry into any contest, competition, sweepstakes, scheme, plan, or other selection process that involves or is dependent upon an element of chance for which the person may receive a gift, award, or other item or service of value if that offer is incidental to or results from: (A) the purchase of an item or service of value; or (B) the purchase or gratuitous receipt of a coupon, voucher, certificate, or other similar credit that can be redeemed for or applied towards an item or service of value from such machine or device or elsewhere.”
But the bill never really gained traction — it received no hearings — and stalled out in committee when its reporting deadline passed in April.
There is more of an appetite for sweeps bans nationwide now, though, as, since that stall-out in April, five states have passed laws outlawing Sweeps Coin gameplay (California, New York, Montana, Connecticut, and New Jersey) and a handful of others have seen Attorney General’s offices blanket the state with cease-and-desists to sweeps casino operators in an attempt to establish the market as off-limits for sweeps — Arizona, Tennessee, and Louisiana come to mind in particular in this area.
Then, so far in 2026, lawmakers in Indiana, Maine, and Florida have introduced sweeps bans. The bills in Maine and Indiana already have their first hearings scheduled — on Jan. 14 and Jan. 6, respectively.
Is this Tennessee all over again?
The random pull-out of Tora Tora is reminiscent of what happened in late 2025 in Tennessee.
Over the span of just a couple weeks in November, a deluge of major operators suddenly pulled Sweeps Coin gameplay out of Tennessee or shut things down entirely.
VGW told Sweepsy that it would phase out Sweeps Coin gameplay on its three platforms beginning Nov. 24, with the process completing by Dec. 23.
Before that, Sweepsy learned that five platforms — Stake.us, High 5 Casino, LoneStar Casino, RealPrize, and Lucky Bits Vegas — were preparing to scale back or exit the state.
Then, we learned the same thing for Legendz and the A1 Development LLC sites (NoLimitCoins, Fortune Wheelz, Tao Fortune, FunzCity, Funrize, and Storm Rush).
At the time, the logical conclusion was clear: Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti must be applying pressure.
Then, earlier this week, that conclusion was confirmed when Skrmetti’s office announced it has sent out cease-and-desist letters to nearly 40 operators.
Time will tell if any potential Illinois situation follows a similar pattern.
Losing Illinois would be huge blow for sweeps operators
Although legislation becoming law is the most sure-fire way to block Sweeps Coin gameplay in a state, as cease-and-desist letters are ultimately a game of whack-a-mole, those orders would still be a blow to the U.S. sweeps industry.
Illinois, ranked by population, is the sixth-largest state in the country. As of today, No. 1 (California) and No. 4 (New York) on that list are both illegal territories for Sweeps Coin gameplay. On top of that, No. 2 (Florida) has a bill currently on the table as mentioned earlier, and many operators are already out of No. 5 (Pennsylvania) because real-money online casinos are legal there.
That makes Illinois a significantly pivotal market for sweeps operators — no doubt one of the most important ones remaining in the U.S. for Sweeps Coin gameplay. A legislative ban would be a huge blow. Cease-and-desists would hurt plenty, as well.
