New York does not restrict sweepstakes casinos through regulator guidance. It bans them by statute. S5935-A, signed on December 5, 2025 as Chapter 605 of the Laws of 2025, took effect immediately and outlaws the dual-currency model that sweepstakes casinos use in other states.
What S5935-A bans
The law targets online casino-style games played with two currencies: one that players buy and play with for fun, and one that can be redeemed for cash or prizes. That is the Gold Coin and Sweeps Coin model used by brands such as Chumba Casino, Pulsz and McLuck. Under its own text, the law took effect the day it was signed.
Penalties run from $10,000 to $100,000 per violation. The law also reaches the businesses around an operator: payment processors, geolocation providers, suppliers and media affiliates. That last group matters because it covers publishers that promote these sites to New York residents, not just the operators themselves.
A correction: there was no DFS guidance
An earlier version of this article said the New York Department of Financial Services had issued guidance that pushed sweepstakes operators out of the state. We could not find any such guidance, and DFS is not New York's gaming regulator. The same version said Chumba, Pulsz, High 5 Casino and LuckyLand Slots still accepted New York players in May 2026. That was also wrong: all four had stopped Sweeps Coins play in New York a year earlier.
The operators left in 2025
The major brands pulled Sweeps Coins play from New York in spring 2025, months before the ban passed. Pulsz and Pulsz Bingo left in late March, High 5 Casino on April 10, and McLuck, Hello Millions and PlayFame on April 30.
VGW switched off Sweeps Coins at Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker on June 2, 2025 and paid out redemptions until August 1, 2025. LuckyLand Slots has since closed altogether, on September 14, 2026. Stake.us also lists New York among the states it does not serve.
The $8 million VGW settlement
On September 9, 2026, VGW settled with Attorney General Letitia James for $8 million. The company is permanently barred from offering cash-redeemable sweepstakes games in New York. It can keep offering Gold Coin play, which has no cash value, and it did not admit liability.
The settlement also covers players with old balances. VGW must honor Sweeps Coins redemption claims filed within a year of August 31, 2026. The deal followed a cease-and-desist from the Attorney General in June 2026.
What New York players can do
If you held Sweeps Coins at a VGW site when play stopped in New York, the settlement gives you until August 31, 2027 to file a redemption claim. Contact VGW support for the current process.
New York has no licensed online casinos, although online sports betting has been legal since 2022. Any site that still offers Sweeps Coins play to New York residents is doing so in a state that bans it, so treat it with caution.
Updated September 23, 2026: This article has been rewritten. The original version attributed New York's restrictions to Department of Financial Services guidance we could not verify and listed operators that no longer served New York. It now covers S5935-A and the September 2026 VGW settlement.
