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Maine Senator Files Bill to Ban Casino-Style Sweepstakes Games Online
Maine Sen. Craig Hickman has submitted a proposal to outlaw real money transactions on sweepstakes casino sites in the state.
The number of US states that are considering or enacting new legislation to restrict the operations of sweepstakes-based online casino sites continues to grow, with Maine representing the latest. A new proposal from Maine Sen. Craig Hickman outlaws transactions related to dual-currency models and earmarks funds from fines associated with potential violations to support the state's resources for people who deal with problem gambling.
LD2007 amends Maine gaming laws
Hickman filed LD2007 on Dec. 5, and the bill has been assigned to the Maine Senate's Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. At this time, the committee has not scheduled any hearings on the proposal.
LD2007 takes aim at sweepstakes sites offering packages of "gold coins" or other digital currencies to people in Maine while giving a second digital currency, commonly referred to as "sweeps coins," that players can redeem for cash prizes after satisfying playthrough requirements with casino-style games. Under Hickman's framework, operating such games would substitute illegal gambling in Maine. The same applies to promoting such websites.
Violators of the potential statutes would face fines between $10,000 and $100,000. Any fines collected from these violations would go to the Maine Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Fund.
Penalized entities and individuals would also become ineligible to hold gaming licenses in the state. If LD2007 becomes law, Maine would expand the map of states restricting such games, but the state's gaming regulator has already taken action on the issue.
Maine Gambling Control Unit already issued opinion on sweepstakes sites
In June 2025, the Maine Gambling Control Unit issued a notice to residents that characterized sweepstakes casino sites as "illegal interactive gaming." The notice added that the agency "strongly" encourages "everyone to avoid these websites."
However, the Unit has not gone to the extent that other gaming regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies in other states have regarding sweepstakes casino sites. Many state-level gaming regulators and attorneys general have sent cease-and-desist letters to the operators of these websites, for example.
New York also recently joined the small number of states to pass laws like LD2007 explicitly banning these games online. Other states to do so are California, Connecticut, Montana, and New Jersey. Statutes that banned such games existed in Idaho and Washington before the websites started proliferating through the US.
The Maine legislature has also approved a bill that could establish real money online casino apps in the state. While Gov. Janet Mills has pushed it to 2026, it could allow people in the state to take advantage of offers like the Caesars Palace Online Casino promo code deal for new players.
The landscape of online casino gaming in the US is continuing to evolve as lawmakers take positions on the vertical. In Maine, the parameters could soon be less favorable for sweepstakes operators.
