STATE TRACKER · FL

Sweepstakes casinos in Florida

Current status

Enforcement activity

Regulators have taken tracked enforcement action against operators here.

Last review: June 11, 2026
Authority: Fla. Stat. §§ 849.09

Regulators are acting against operators here, and terms, availability and redemption windows can change with little notice. Keep your own record of what you deposited and what you redeemed. Tell us what happened to you

Sweeps Coins (SC) redemption: Contested, regulators are acting
Gold Coin (GC) free play: Generally not targeted. 70 of 121 operators we track are recorded as not accepting Florida
Minimum age: 18+
Age floor source: Fla. Stat. § 743.07 (age of majority); cf. Fla. Stat. § 849.094 (game promotions: no age provision)
Latest action: Aug 19, 2026: lawsuit

PRIMARY-SOURCE NOTE

Florida's sweepstakes rule is a promotion statute, and the bill to go further died

What the law does

Our Florida record cites the lottery section and section 849.094 of the Florida Statutes, the game promotion law, whose definition names sweepstakes¹. It covers a contest, game of chance, sweepstakes or gift enterprise run in connection with and incidental to the sale of consumer products or services, and it reaches a retailer or any other person who promotes, operates or conducts a nationally advertised promotion¹. Subsection (2)(e) makes it unlawful to require an entry fee, payment or proof of purchase as a condition of entering¹. Once announced prizes pass $5,000, the operator has to file its rules and prize list with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services before the promotion starts and back the prize total with a trust account or a surety bond¹. A violation is a second-degree misdemeanor under subsection (9)¹. Subsection (8)(b) adds that complying with the department's rules is no defense to a charge of possessing a slot machine or device¹.

What has happened since

Our record for Florida holds a filed bill, an Attorney General report and a lawsuit announcement. On December 2, 2025, Representative Berny Jacques filed HB 591, which would have made operating or promoting online games that simulate casino-style gaming a third-degree felony³. It died in a House subcommittee on March 13, 2026, and the similar Senate bill, SB 1164, died in committee that day². The report, dated January 5, 2026, says Attorney General James Uthmeier's office subpoenaed sweepstakes-style gaming apps. On August 19, 2026, his office announced complaints in Hillsborough County Circuit Court against the operators of Stake and of VGW's Chumba Casino, LuckyLand and Global Poker, and their payment processors, alleging illegal gambling and deceptive trade practices and seeking injunctions, restitution and civil penalties⁴. No ruling or operator exit is recorded for Florida, and 70 tracked operators are recorded as not accepting players there.

What is still open

Section 849.094 was written for promotions attached to the sale of consumer products, and its subsection (2)(e) bars an entry fee or payment as a condition of entering¹. Whether a coin package sold alongside free sweepstakes entries is that consumer product, or the payment the subsection bars, is not answered by the text. Subsection (8)(c) lets the Department of Legal Affairs sue in circuit court to stop a promotion that violates the section¹. The lawsuits announced on August 19, 2026 allege violations of state gambling law and the deceptive trade practices act, and the release does not say whether they rely on that subsection⁴. Until a court rules, the coin-package question stays open.

Enforcement search: Our Florida enforcement record holds a trade-press report, dated January 5, 2026, of Attorney General subpoenas to sweepstakes-style gaming apps, and the Attorney General's announcement on August 19, 2026 of lawsuits alleging that Stake, VGW and their payment processors run illegal online gambling. Our record holds no ruling on those allegations and no operator exit.
Question still open: Whether a coin package sold with free sweepstakes entries is a consumer product under the game promotion statute, or the payment it bars as a condition of entry, and how a court rules on the Attorney General's lawsuits against Stake and VGW, remains open in our record.

Sources for this note

Florida Statutes section 849.094, game promotion in connection with sale of consumer products or services (2025, The Florida Senate) accessed Sep 28, 2026
HB 591 (2026 session), Gambling, bill history and related bills (The Florida Senate) accessed Sep 28, 2026
HB 591 (2026 session), filed bill text (Florida House of Representatives, via The Florida Senate) accessed Sep 28, 2026
Lawsuits against operators of illegal online casinos, news release of August 19, 2026 (Florida Office of the Attorney General) accessed Oct 20, 2026

Sources rechecked 2026-10-20. Next scheduled review 2026-12-28.

What the law says

Setting up, promoting, or conducting a lottery is a third-degree felony under § 849.09(1)(a)-(d); lesser possession/sale offenses are first-degree misdemeanors escalating on repeat. Game-promotion violations under § 849.094 (e.g., requiring an entry fee, rigging, failing to award prizes) are second-degree misdemeanors with civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation and exposure under deceptive-trade-practices law.

How we got here

Every tracked event for Florida, newest first.

Aug 19, 2026

Enforcement lawsuit

The Florida Attorney General announced on August 19, 2026 two complaints filed that day in Hillsborough County Circuit Court against the operators of Stake and of VGW's Chumba Casino, LuckyLand and Global Poker, and the payment processors that serve them. The complaints allege the defendants run illegal online gambling enterprises in violation of Florida gambling law and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. They seek permanent injunctions against operating or soliciting in Florida, forfeiture and recovery of money lost by Florida consumers, disgorgement, civil penalties, restitution and fees. Allegations only; no ruling on record. Release read 2026-10-20.

Source document Named in Florida AG files two lawsuits against Stake and VGW (Chumba Casino, LuckyLand, Global Poker) and their payment processors: Stake, Chumba, LuckyLandSlots, GlobalPoker
Jan 5, 2026

Enforcement ag statement

Attorney General James Uthmeier's office issued subpoenas to several fantasy platforms and sweepstakes-style gaming apps, with meetings planned with operators in early 2026 to exchange information and set out the guidelines they must follow to keep doing business in the state (as reported 2026-01-05). No public enforcement order against a specific sweepstakes casino has followed as of 2026-07-18. Source: Florida Politics, January 5, 2026 (the original report; read 2026-10-20): "For fantasy- and sweepstakes-focused platforms, the Attorney General's Office has issued subpoenas to several companies." The subpoenas themselves are not published and no Attorney General release about them was found.

Source document
Dec 2, 2025

Proposed legislation introduced

Rep. Berny Jacques filed HB 591 (2026 session) on 2025-12-02. The bill would have made operating, conducting, or promoting Internet gambling, defined to include games that simulate casino-style gaming such as slots, video poker, and table games, a criminal offense, and would have prohibited specified gambling advertisements, with Seminole compact activities exempt. It died in the House Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee on 2026-03-13 without becoming law.

Source document

Operators and Florida

Because of Florida's status, we don't list or link operator promotions for this state.

70 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as not accepting Florida players, and 11 of those records cite the operator's own terms.

50 operators we track do not list Florida among excluded states in the terms we last read, dated June 10, 2026 to October 2, 2026.

Of the remaining records that do not exclude Florida, 1 rests on the operator's site configuration or other records.

Operator families whose every tracked brand is recorded as not accepting Florida: Realplay Tech Inc.

How this classification was reached

Show the record, the citation and the method

What the Florida classification rests on

Source date: August 19, 2026 (lawsuit)
Last human review: June 11, 2026
Effective date: Not recorded
Basis of classification: proposed legislation that is not law and enforcement-based

How to read these rows

Where the operator counts come from

Of the 51 records that do not exclude Florida, 36 cite the operator's own terms or rules, 1 comes from a backfill of the operator's terms, 1 comes from the operator's site configuration and 13 are inferred because the terms do not list Florida. Of the 70 exclusion records, 2 cite the operator's own terms or rules, 9 come from a backfill of the operator's terms and 59 come from our bulk backfill without a terms citation.

Citation as stored

Fla. Stat. §§ 849.09 (lotteries), 849.094 (game promotions) (2025).

Florida questions

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in Florida?

Regulators have taken tracked enforcement action against operators here. Authority: Fla. Stat. §§ 849.09.

What does Florida's game promotion law require of a sweepstakes operator?

Section 849.094 makes it unlawful to require an entry fee, payment or proof of purchase as a condition of entering a game promotion. When announced prizes exceed $5,000, the operator must file its rules and prize list with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at least 7 days before the start and hold a trust account or surety bond for the prize total.

Which operators accept Florida players?

70 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as not accepting Florida players, and 11 of those records cite the operator's own terms. Trust Score leaderboard →

This page is information, not legal advice. Laws and thresholds change quickly, so confirm with the operator and your state attorney general before depositing, or consult a lawyer. Last verified June 11, 2026. Send a correction.