California banned sweepstakes casinos on January 1, 2026. What AB 831 does, which casinos left, and what Californians can still play.
California banned sweepstakes casinos on January 1, 2026. Here's what AB 831 does, which casinos left and when, whether players can get in trouble, and what Californians can still play legally. Updated November 3, 2026.
Sweepstakes casinos with prize redemptions are no longer available in California. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 831 on October 11, 2025, and the ban took effect on January 1, 2026. Every major casino we review has stopped offering Sweeps Coin play to people in California.
AB 831 (Chapter 623, Statutes of 2025) makes it illegal to run or support an online game in California that does all three of these:
The law reaches beyond the operators. It also covers businesses that “knowingly and willfully” support these games, including payment processors, game suppliers, platform and geolocation providers and media affiliates. Breaking it is a misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $25,000, up to a year in county jail, or both.
The bill was written by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia and backed by California’s tribal gaming groups.
The law targets the businesses, not players. A July 2025 amendment removed the word “person” from the list of violators, which, as Covers reported, shields individual players from arrest just for playing. We haven’t found any case of a player being charged.
What can happen to players is more practical: casinos block California accounts, and Sweeps Coins left after a casino’s cut-off date can be lost. Don’t use a VPN to get around it. It breaks every casino’s terms, and they can close your account and void your prizes.
Most casinos left in the weeks before the deadline. Some of the dates reported by CasinoBeats and Sweepsy:
Each review on AmeriSpin shows the casino’s current state list. For California, the answer is the same everywhere: no prize play.
Real-money online casinos have never been legal in California, and there’s no online casino or sports betting measure on the 2026 ballot. California’s tribes have said they’re looking at 2028 for sports betting.
Before the ban took effect, California cases were already targeting the industry. In August 2025, the State of California filed a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Stake.us’s operator, Sweepsteaks Ltd., and game suppliers including Evolution, Hacksaw Gaming and Pragmatic Play. We haven’t found a new California enforcement action dated 2026 so far. Our Bill Radar will cover any.
Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket are regulated federally, not under AB 831. Two California bills on prediction markets (AB 1840 and AB 2446) were introduced in 2026 but stalled in committee and didn’t pass before the 2026 legislative deadlines. See our prediction markets guide.
This page explains the law in general terms and isn’t legal advice.
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The Casino.gi Content Team researches and writes AmeriSpin’s reviews, guides and news. The team reads every casino’s terms, sweepstakes rules and state availability pages, follows bills and court cases in all 50 states and DC, and tracks new bonuses as they launch.
Written so far: 21 full casino reviews, 5 news updates, and legal tracking for all 50 states plus DC.
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Fact-checked so far: 21 reviews and 5 updates, each against the casino’s own terms and state law.