WASHINGTON, June 6 -- The advertisement is ubiquitous: play online casino-style slots with no deposit required, no real money on the line, prizes redeemable for cash. The pitch sounds airtight. The legal reality, courts and state legislatures are now deciding, is considerably less so.

More than a dozen states have banned or restricted sweepstakes casinos since 2023 - California, New York, Connecticut, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Indiana, Maine, and Oklahoma among them - and a March 2026 analysis by the independent review platform Sweepedia documented more than 100 active class action lawsuits filed against sweepstakes operators across the United States. The players bringing those suits argue the same thing regulators have started to a...