A Prominent Sweeps Casino Reveals Plans in California As AB 831 Looms

With California's anti-sweepstakes legislation, AB 831, going into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, which will ban sweepstakes casinos, many brands are making decisions as to what they plan to do as the date nears. 

McLuck, owned by B-Two Operations, has announced it'll shut down Sweeps Coins play on Dec. 29 in the state, according to Sweepsy. That said, players will still be able to use Gold Coins and play using those.

It's unclear if this includes Hello Millions, Mega Bonanza, Jackpota, PlayFame, and SpinBlitz, which are also under B-Two. 

What Other Brands Are Doing

We've now gotten confirmation on what many top sweepstakes casino brands will be doing leading up to the Jan. 1 deadline.

Here are some of the plans for these brands: 

• Pulsz Casino and Pulsz Bingo will leave the state completely as of Dec. 15. 
• Virtual Gaming Worlds hasn't revealed its plans yet. 
• ARB Interactive, the owner of Modo.us, will get rid of Sweeps Coins play, but keep Gold Coins play, which is the same plan as McLuck. 
• Stake.us will completely leave California on Dec. 30. 
• WOW Vegas plans to stay until the deadline. 

Additionally, here's a list of brands that have already left the state: 

• High 5 Casino
• Carnival Citi
• Dara Casino
• Ruby Sweeps
• SweepsUSA
• TheBoss.Casino
• Grand Vault Casino
• CosmoSlots
• LuckySlots
• Vegas Gems
• Peak Play
• Betty Sweeps
• SweepNext
• Stackr Casino
• ToraTora Casino

Why Keeping Gold Coins Play is Possible

With AB 831, this bill targets dual-currency systems, and the root of the problem is what Sweeps Coins can be redeemed for — cash prizes. 

This is not the case with Gold Coins. These can be used to play games, but have no cash value. 

This is the model that social casinos use. Gold Coins can still be purchased, but since there's no cash value, they can't be exchanged for cash prizes. 

There is a market for this: Light & Wonder reports around $200 million per quarter from social casino games. 

Updated Restricted Markets for McLuck

With McLuck pulling Sweeps Coins out of California, here's the list of states in which McLuck isn't available at all: 

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Idaho
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• Washington
• West Virginia