Sweeps Coin gameplay at sweeps casinos is officially illegal in Maine. On July 14, the new Maine sweepstakes casino ban officially took effect. This makes Maine the second state in 2026 to formally outlaw dual-currency sweepstakes platforms, following Indiana.
Maine Legislative Document 2007, which Gov. Janet Mills signed in April, enacted the sweepstakes casino ban in Maine. The legislation took effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, which occurred on April 15.
There are civil penalties of $10,000 to $100,000 per violation for operators that keep serving Maine players.
VGW, the company generally seen as the barometer for the industry, ended Sweeps Coin gameplay in Maine on July 13.
Smooth sailing the whole way
The bill, introduced by Sen. Craig Hickman to the Senate Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee in December, draws a hard line between the future of licensed Maine online casinos and the model used by sweepstakes casinos. It strengthens enforcement in the Maine Criminal Code, with steep fines and licensure consequences.
Maine’s LD2007 coasted mostly unopposed through the state legislature. Of all sweeps ban bills, it perhaps most effectively targets the economic structure that fuels the sweeps gaming platforms.
The bill identifies two separate ways players spend something of value to play games.
One involves digital currencies that are either purchased directly or obtained through promotional offers. The other covers currencies distributed at no cost to players but that can later be exchanged for cash, prizes, or other items of value.
LD2007 also addresses pairing a non-redeemable virtual currency purchase (Gold Coins) with bonus redeemable currency (Sweeps Coins). Under the bill, operators are prohibited from using the purchase of one digital product as a way to award a separate currency that can ultimately be redeemed for value.
‘Illegal operators’ will stay, argued SGLA
During a January committee hearing that featured testimony from DraftKings, Sean Ostrow, the Executive Director of the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance, testified against LD2007, along with a representative of VGW (the owner of Chumba Casino, Global Poker, LuckyLand Slots, LuckyLand Casino, and soon-to-launch United Slots).
Ostrow warned committee members of adverse and unintended consequences if LD2007 ultimately passed.
“We think if LD2007 passed, the outcome will be pretty predictable,” Ostrow said. “The law-abiding operators, including members of the SGLA, would exit the state, but it would be the illegal operators that stay. They can continue to prey on unsuspecting Maine consumers. Many of those are based in China that use exploitative marketing techniques. We believe there’s no place for that.”
Ostrow echoed that sentiment in a statement released after Mills signed LD2007 into law.
“Unfortunately, this bill will do nothing to generate revenue for the state nor protect Mainers from exploitative illegal online gambling,” he said. “Instead, LD 2007 will ban free and low-cost social games that have been operating responsibly for over a decade, leaving the thousands of Maine adults who enjoy them without a safe, trusted outlet for this mainstream entertainment. Even as many other states are looking to regulate and tax this growth industry, Maine’s gaming policy continues to pick winners and losers while stifling innovation.”
