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Following the passage of AB 831 in California, a bill that would ban sweepstakes casinos if signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, we now have three sweepstakes casinos that have announced their exit from the state.
The latest is Ruby Sweeps' final day of operation in the state, which was Sept. 25, and players had until then to redeem their Sweeps Coins (Emeralds).
Now, since AB 831 has passed, High 5, Carnival Citi, and Ruby Sweeps have left.
As mentioned, AB 831 has passed. It passed in the Senate and was sent back to the Assembly due to the significant changes made since its initial introduction.
Now, it sits on Newsom’s desk, and he has until October 12 to decide whether to veto the bill, sign it into law, or take no action.
If he does nothing, it’ll have the same result as him signing it, but he wouldn’t have signed it himself.
In addition to California, Ruby Sweeps also recently left Nevada and Arizona.
In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Gaming has been cracking down on sweepstakes casinos, sending out numerous cease-and-desist orders. While it’s unknown if Ruby Sweeps received one or not, it appears that, either way, the message was received, and it left the state.
As for Nevada, Ruby Sweeps sent out an email to its players that read:
“Due to changes in the state of Nevada, we can no longer provide our services anymore,” the email read. “You will have until Friday, 08/15/2025 to play through any Emeralds you may have on your account. We will be shutting down in Nevada on Friday 08/15/2025.
“This means that you will no longer be able to access Ruby Sweeps while in this unavailable area. It has been a pleasure to offer our service to you, and if things change, we will certainly reach out.”
In leaving California, the list of excluded states has now grown to 20, including New York, which is similar to California in that a bill has been passed but has yet to be signed.
However, Ruby Play's "Rules of Play" has yet to officially include California in the excluded states list.