STATE TRACKER · RI

Sweepstakes casinos in Rhode Island

Current status

No tracked explicit prohibition

We have found no state law that explicitly prohibits sweepstakes casinos here. That is an absence of a tracked prohibition, not an affirmative authorization.

Last review: June 11, 2026
Authority: R.I. Gen. Laws §11-19-1

There is no tracked prohibition here to act on. An operator's own terms still decide whether it will register you, and some exclude states that have taken no action at all, so read the terms we link on each review page. See the operators we track

Sweeps Coins (SC) redemption: No tracked prohibition
Gold Coin (GC) free play: Yes
Minimum age: 18+
Age floor source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-12-1 (Persons of full age / age of majority)

PRIMARY-SOURCE NOTE

Rhode Island's lottery felony and prize filing rule do not name online sweepstakes

What the law does

Section 11-19-1 is a general gambling offense¹. It covers anyone who, directly or indirectly and in public or in private, sets up, carries on, promotes or draws any lottery, chance, game or device to dispose of money, land, merchandise or other articles of value¹. The only exceptions are what chapter 19 itself, title 41, and chapters 61 and 61.2 of title 42 authorize¹. The section calls a violation a felony, with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to $2,000¹. Its text says nothing about online play, virtual coins or a free entry route. Section 11-19-9 declares illegal, as partaking of a lottery, any coupon or similar device given with a purchase that entitles the buyer to an article of unknown nature and value². Section 11-50-1 requires a retailer offering chance prizes worth more than $500 to promote its business to file a statement with the Secretary of State, and not filing is a misdemeanor³.

What has happened since

The wording of the lottery section is old. Its history line runs back to G.L. 1896, ch. 283, and the last amendment listed is P.L. 1993, ch. 84¹. Nothing in it has been rewritten for online play since then. Our tracked event history for Rhode Island is empty, and we hold no exit date for any operator here. On the operator side, 103 of the operators we track are recorded as accepting Rhode Island players and 18 as not accepting. Every tracked brand in the UTech Solutions LLC family is in that second group, so part of the exclusion count is one company's brands counted one by one. Some of those exclusion records cite an operator's own terms and others come from our bulk backfill without a terms citation, and our record ties none of them to a state action.

What is still open

The lottery section does not define consideration or say whether a free entry route changes the analysis, so the first question is whether selling Gold Coin packages that come with Sweeps Coins makes a site a lottery or game under section 11-19-1¹. The second question is whether the prize filing rule reaches online operators at all. The Secretary of State's form says any game offered to residents must register, including one run from another state⁴, while the statute speaks of a retail establishment promoting its business³. We have not searched the Secretary's public filings for any tracked operator, so whether any of them has filed is not in our record.

Enforcement search: Our tracked event history for Rhode Island is empty. The statutes and the Secretary of State filing form we read name no online sweepstakes operator, and we hold no agency order, criminal charge or court ruling against one.
Question still open: Whether selling Gold Coin packages that come with Sweeps Coins, while a free entry route exists, makes a site the kind of lottery, chance or game that section 11-19-1 reaches¹, and whether the Secretary of State's prize filing rule covers an online operator, is not answered by any record we hold.

Sources for this note

R.I. Gen. Laws section 11-19-1, forms of gambling prohibited (Rhode Island General Assembly) accessed Sep 28, 2026
R.I. Gen. Laws section 11-19-9, illegal trading stamps and coupons (Rhode Island General Assembly) accessed Sep 28, 2026
R.I. Gen. Laws section 11-50-1, games of chance filing requirement (Rhode Island General Assembly) accessed Sep 28, 2026
Form 660, statement with reference to games of chance, revised May 2023 (Rhode Island Department of State) accessed Sep 28, 2026

Sources rechecked 2026-09-28. Next scheduled review 2026-12-28.

What the law says

R.I. Gen. Laws §11-19-1 makes it a felony to 'directly or indirectly, set up, put forth, carry on, promote, or draw' any unauthorized 'lottery, chance, game, or device,' punishable by up to 2 years imprisonment and a fine up to $2,000, with carve-outs for state-authorized gaming under Title 41 and Title 42 chapters 61/61.2 (state lottery and video lottery).

Operators and Rhode Island

103 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as accepting Rhode Island players, and 13 of those are rated trusted.

18 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as not accepting Rhode Island players, and 7 of those records cite the operator's own terms.

Operator families whose every tracked brand is recorded as not accepting Rhode Island: UTech Solutions LLC.

Highest Trust Scores among the operators recorded as accepting Rhode Island:

See the full list on the leaderboard filtered to Rhode Island →

How this classification was reached

Show the record, the citation and the method

What the Rhode Island classification rests on

Source date: Not recorded
Last human review: June 11, 2026
Effective date: Not recorded
Basis of classification: statutory

How to read these rows

Where the operator counts come from

Of the 103 acceptance records, 35 cite the operator's own terms or rules, 10 come from a backfill of the operator's terms, 1 comes from the operator's site configuration, 9 are inferred because the terms do not list Rhode Island and 48 come from our bulk backfill without a terms citation. Of the 18 exclusion records, 7 cite the operator's own terms or rules and 11 come from our bulk backfill without a terms citation.

Citation as stored

R.I. Gen. Laws §11-19-1 (lotteries prohibited; felony).

Primary sources on file

R.I. Gen. Laws §11-19-1: Lotteries (Title 11, Chapter 19) Rhode Island General Assembly · accessed Jun 10, 2026

Method

Methodology · Corrections · Changelog · How to read a state page

Rhode Island questions

Are sweepstakes casinos legal in Rhode Island?

We have found no state law that explicitly prohibits sweepstakes casinos here. That is an absence of a tracked prohibition, not an affirmative authorization. Authority: R.I. Gen. Laws §11-19-1.

Does Rhode Island's games of chance filing rule reach games run from another state?

The Secretary of State's instructions for Form 660 say any game offered to Rhode Island residents must register with the office, and give a game offered in Connecticut, Massachusetts or New York that residents play in as an example. The statute behind the form, section 11-50-1, is written about a retail establishment that uses chance prizes worth more than $500 to promote its business.

Which operators accept Rhode Island players?

103 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as accepting Rhode Island players, and 13 of those are rated trusted. 18 of the 121 operators we track are recorded as not accepting Rhode Island players, and 7 of those records cite the operator's own terms. The leaderboard filtered to Rhode Island lists every one. Leaderboard filtered to Rhode Island →

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.