Verticals / Social casino
Social casino
Social casinos are legal and live in 41 states and DC, as of Oct 12, 2026.
Free-to-play social casino with no prize redemption.
LiveContestedNot authorized
By state
| State | Status | Launched | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps (no cash-value prize redemption) operate nationwide, including Alabama, without state authorization because they fall outside the statutory definition of gambling (staking something of value for a chance at a thing of value); no Alabama-specific statute or enforcement action targets them. | ||
| Alaska | Live | Free-to-play apps with no cash prize or redemption path are not "gambling" under §11.66.280(3)'s definition, which requires staking "something of value" (defined in §11.66.280(11) as money, property, or something exchangeable for them) on a chance outcome. | ||
| Arizona | Live | Pure free-to-play social casino apps, which carry no cash-value prize or sweeps-coin redemption, fall outside the state's legal definition of gambling and are not separately licensed or banned. Dual-currency sweepstakes-casino apps that let players redeem winnings for cash are a different product, addressed separately on this page. | ||
| Arkansas | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption operate in Arkansas without state authorization, because they fall outside the gambling-device prohibition, which applies only where money or property can be won or lost. | ||
| California | Live | The state's 2025 sweepstakes-casino ban targets dual-currency products that let players redeem winnings for cash; it does not reach pure free-to-play social casino apps with no prize redemption, such as non-sweeps social slots, which fall outside the legal definition of gambling because nothing of value is at stake.? | ||
| Colorado | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption fall outside Colorado's legal definition of gambling, since no thing of value is risked for a chance at a thing of value, and are not separately licensed or banned. | ||
| Connecticut | Live | Pure free-to-play social casinos with no cash-prize redemption (e.g. Hard Rock's Jackpot Planet) operate in Connecticut outside the gambling definition. This is distinct from the dual-currency sweepstakes-casino model, which Public Act 25-112 (SB 1235, eff. 2025-10-01) separately bans. | ||
| Delaware | Live | Free-to-play social casino games with no stake and no cash or prize redemption fall outside Delaware's gambling prohibition and are not licensed or regulated as gambling. Games with paid virtual currency, transferable benefits or dual-currency sweepstakes are a separate question. This is an inference from the statute, not approval of any particular app. | ||
| District of Columbia | Live | Pure free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption fall outside D.C. Code § 22-1704's gambling-device definition (which requires a thing of value staked on chance) and operate without DC-specific restriction. This is distinct from the dual-currency sweepstakes-casino model, which remains unauthorized gray-market activity. | ||
| Georgia | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash prize redemption fall outside Georgia's definition of a "bet" (an agreement to win or lose something of value), so they are not restricted as gambling. | ||
| Hawaii | Live | Free-to-play apps with no cash prize or redemption path fall outside the "something of value" gambling definition; not separately licensed or regulated. | ||
| Idaho | Live | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps fall outside §18-3801's gambling definition, which requires risking value "for gain"; not separately licensed or regulated. | ||
| Indiana | Live | Pure free-to-play, no-prize-redemption social casino apps fall outside Indiana's gambling definition (IC 35-45-5-2 requires risking something of value for gain). Indiana's 2026 sweepstakes ban targets prize-redeemable dual-currency products (Gold Coins/Sweeps Coins) and does not reach no-prize social casino play; no statute or regulator statement restricting pure social casino apps specifically was located. | ||
| Iowa | Live | No Iowa statute or IRGC/DIA action targets pure free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption; Iowa's 2026 sweepstakes-enforcement law (Senate File 2289) targets dual-currency sweepstakes and unlicensed real-wager gambling, not no-prize social casino play. Iowa Code ch. 99B separately regulates non-prize "social gambling" among players, a related but distinct concept from branded social-casino apps. | ||
| Kansas | Live | No Kansas statute or KRGC action addresses free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps. Kansas has likewise not enacted anything reaching pure social casino play when it looked at sweepstakes-style dual-currency products, since play with no real money at stake falls outside Kansas's gambling definition, which requires a thing of value staked for gain. | ||
| Maine | Live | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps fall outside Maine's gambling/wager definitions and are unregulated. | ||
| Maryland | Live | Free-to-play social casino games with no stake and no cash or prize redemption fall outside Maryland's wagering prohibition and are not licensed or regulated as gambling. Games with paid virtual currency or transferable benefits are a separate question, and dual-currency sweepstakes casinos are a legally contested category the state targets with cease-and-desist letters. This is an inference from the statute, not approval of any particular app. | ||
| Massachusetts | Live | Free-to-play, no-prize-redemption social casino apps are not regulated as gambling in Massachusetts and operate without MGC/AG licensing, consistent with the general exclusion of no-purchase, no-cash-prize sweepstakes-style promotions from the gambling statutes. | ||
| Michigan | Live | Pure free-to-play, no-cash-prize-redemption social casino apps are not regulated as gambling in Michigan and are not targeted by MGCB enforcement, which has instead focused specifically on apps that let users buy in and cash out real money (e.g. the Oct. 2024 cease-and-desist to Papaya Gaming's 21 Cash, Bingo Cash, Bubble Cash, and Solitaire Cash apps, cited under the Lawful Internet Gaming Act and the Michigan Penal Code's unauthorized-gambling prohibition). A tracker source notes Michigan has not adopted legislation specifically limiting social or sweepstakes-casino operations as some other states have, and that applying existing law to pure social casino play (no purchase, no cash-out) has not been tested in Michigan courts. | ||
| Minnesota | Live | No Minnesota-specific statute or enforcement action was identified targeting pure free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps, consistent with the general pattern across states of excluding no-purchase, no-cash-redemption sweepstakes-style play from gambling definitions; Minnesota's own sweepstakes-casino vertical notes the state has not enacted sweepstakes-specific legislation either way. | ||
| Missouri | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prizes are not "gambling" under Missouri's chance-plus-consideration-plus-prize definition and are not separately regulated. | ||
| Montana | Live | SB 555's 2025 "internet gambling" definition exempts online casino-style platforms that "do not allow the use of currency of any kind," i.e., free-to-play social casino apps with no purchase/redemption path. | ||
| Nebraska | Live | Competitive | No Nebraska statute, NRGC rule, or AG action restricts free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prize; such apps fall outside Nebraska's gambling definition, which requires risking something of value for a chance at a thing of value. | |
| Nevada | Live | Free-to-play, no-prize-redemption social casino apps fall outside NRS 463's gambling/gaming-device definitions (no thing of value is risked or won) and are not treated as licensed gambling by the Gaming Control Board; applying this database's national convention for pure social casino. | ||
| New Hampshire | Live | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not within RSA 647:2's gambling definition (no real risk of monetary loss/gain) and are not licensed or regulated. | ||
| New Jersey | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption are not gambling under NJ law and are unregulated; NJ's 2025 sweepstakes-casino ban (P.L.2025, c.128) expressly carved out promotions with no purchase requirement and prizes capped at $20, preserving conventional social casino. | ||
| New Mexico | Live | Free-to-play, no-prize-redemption social casino apps are not known to be restricted; New Mexico's criminal "bet" definition (30-19-1 NMSA 1978) requires an agreement where parties "agree that, dependent upon chance...the other party will become entitled to receive" money or property, which free-to-play social casino play does not involve. | ||
| New York | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption are not "gambling" under NY Penal Law § 225.00 (no staking of "something of value" on a chance outcome) and are unregulated. | ||
| North Dakota | Live | Competitive | North Dakota's gambling definition (N.D.C.C. § 12.1-28-01) requires risking something of value on an uncertain event for a return of value; pure free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prize fall outside that definition and are not addressed by any ND-specific restriction. No North Dakota statute, AG opinion, or enforcement action limits free-to-play social casino apps. | |
| Oklahoma | Live | Competitive | No Oklahoma-specific statute, AG opinion, or enforcement action restricts free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prize; such apps fall outside Oklahoma's gambling definition, which requires risking something of value on a game of chance for a thing of value. Oklahoma's new sweepstakes-casino ban (SB 1589, effective Nov. 1, 2026) instead targets dual-currency games that risk "representatives of value," not pure free-to-play social casino with no prize redemption. | |
| Oregon | Live | Pure free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps fall outside ORS 167.117(7)'s "gambling" definition, which requires staking something of value on a chance outcome, and no Oregon statute or regulator statement restricts this category. | ||
| Rhode Island | Live | Competitive | No Rhode Island statute, Lottery Division rule, or AG action restricts free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prize; such apps fall outside the state's gambling definition because no prize of monetary value is at stake. | |
| South Carolina | Live | Competitive | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not "gambling" under South Carolina's consideration/prize-based definitions and operate nationally, including in SC, without state-specific licensing or restriction. | |
| South Dakota | Live | Competitive | No South Dakota statute, Commission on Gaming rule, or AG action restricts free-to-play social casino apps that pay no cash-redeemable prize. Because South Dakota's gambling laws require risking something of value for a chance at a thing of value (SDCL ch. 22-25), these apps fall outside the state's gambling definition and operate freely. | |
| Tennessee | Live | Competitive | Tennessee's 2026 law banning dual/multi-currency sweepstakes-casino platforms (SB 2136/HB 1885) targets virtual-currency systems that can be exchanged for cash or real-world prizes. Its sponsor, Sen. Ferrel Haile, stated on the record that "this bill does not make free games illegal. It primarily targets operation for real money that is being used." No Tennessee statute, AG action, or enforcement action restricts free-to-play social casino apps that carry no cash-redeemable prize. | |
| Texas | Live | Competitive | Texas Penal Code ch. 47 requires consideration (a bet of something of value) as an element of gambling; pure free-to-play social casino apps with no purchase requirement and no cash/prize redemption lack consideration and a redeemable prize. That distinguishes them from dual-currency sweepstakes casinos, where purchasable virtual currency can reintroduce consideration and whose legality remains disputed in Texas. No Texas statute, AG opinion, or enforcement action restricts true free-to-play social casino apps; treated as operational, consistent with this database's default for the vertical. | |
| Utah | Live | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prize fall outside the "gambling" and "fringe gambling" definitions (which require a prize/return of value), so they operate unregulated; several sweepstakes-casino operators sued in Utah in 2025 marketed themselves as this category before being targeted under the dual-currency sweepstakes definition instead. | ||
| Vermont | Live | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps fall outside 13 V.S.A. ch. 51's gambling definition and are unregulated. | ||
| Washington | Live | Applying the dataset's established national convention that pure free-to-play social casino apps (no cash-value prize redemption) are operational absent a state-specific restriction, since nothing of value is staked; no Washington statute or regulator statement restricts this narrower category (WSGC guidance and enforcement target real-money/cash-value platforms specifically). | ||
| West Virginia | Live | Free-to-play social casino games with no stake and no cash or prize redemption fall outside West Virginia's wagering prohibition and are not licensed or regulated as gambling. This is an inference from the statute, not approval of any particular app. Games with paid virtual currency, transferable benefits or dual-currency sweepstakes are a separate question.? | ||
| Wisconsin | Live | Competitive | No Wisconsin statute, DOA Division of Gaming rule, or AG action restricts free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-redeemable prize; such apps fall outside Wisconsin's constitutional gambling prohibition (which bans games played for "something of value," not pure free play) and are treated as operational nationally, consistent with the research guide's default for this vertical. | |
| Wyoming | Live | The Gaming Commission's 2025 warning targets real-money payouts specifically; free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not described as targeted. | ||
| Florida | Contested | Pure free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-out mechanism are not addressed by Florida's gambling statutes. Dual-currency "sweepstakes" social casinos that let players redeem a second, promotional currency for cash (VGW's Chumba Casino/LuckyLand, Stake.us) are a different matter: they are the target of Florida Attorney General litigation (filed Aug. 19, 2026) alleging they are unlicensed real-money casinos notwithstanding their "free"/sweepstakes framing, and of a pre-existing private suit (Knapp v. VGW Holdings, M.D. Fla.) raising the same theory. | ||
| Louisiana | Contested | Free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-out mechanism are not directly addressed by Louisiana's gambling statutes. Dual-currency sweepstakes-style casinos, which let players redeem a second currency for cash or prizes, are now directly prohibited by statute; whether single-currency apps with no path to a cash prize remain permitted has not been separately addressed by the Attorney General's opinion, the 2025 cease-and-desist letters, or the 2026 statutory amendments. | ||
| Mississippi | Contested | No Mississippi statute directly addresses pure free-to-play social casino apps that have no cash-out mechanism. Dual-currency sweepstakes-model apps, which do offer a cash-equivalent prize path, are different and are the subject of active Mississippi Gaming Commission enforcement and private litigation. VGW's brands continue to operate in Mississippi as traditional, single-currency, no-cash-prize social casinos following their 2025 Sweeps Coins wind-down. | ||
| Illinois | Not authorized | Not separately regulated; free-to-play social casino apps with no cash-value prize redemption generally fall under the 720 ILCS 5/28-1(b)(13) "no purchase required" exemption and operate without a specific license, but there is no dedicated authorizing statute. | ||
| Kentucky | Not authorized | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not addressed as gambling under Kentucky law given the absence of a prize-for-consideration element. The Attorney General's June 2026 suit against VGW Holdings targets its dual-currency sweepstakes-casino products specifically and does not extend to pure social casino apps with no cash-equivalent prizes. | ||
| North Carolina | Not authorized | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not addressed as gambling under North Carolina law since there is no prize-for-consideration element. | ||
| Ohio | Not authorized | No specific Ohio statute addresses free-to-play, no-prize social casino apps; they are generally understood to fall outside Ohio's gambling definitions because no thing of value is won. | ||
| Pennsylvania | Not authorized | No PA statute or regulator specifically addresses free-to-play social casino apps; they are not licensed or regulated as gambling because no prize of monetary value is redeemable. | ||
| Virginia | Not authorized | Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not regulated as gambling under Virginia law since no consideration-for-prize element exists; not separately addressed by statute. |