Arkansas Sweepstakes Casinos
The lack of legal online gambling in Arkansas has led to sweepstakes casinos emerging as the most viable and similar alternative. They offer casino-style games that resemble online slots, real-money blackjack, live dealer table games, and more under a promotional sweepstakes loophole designed to sidestep Arkansas’ gambling laws.
Regulators in some states have moved to ban sweepstakes casino sites because of their resemblance to full-fledged online gambling, but Arkansas remains one of the friendlier jurisdictions for the model.
No state statute targets the model, and local officials have not acted against the many sweepstakes casinos that operate openly in Arkansas.
As a result, every established brand is active in Arkansas, including:
- WOW Vegas Casino
- Stake.us Casino
- Casino.click Casino
- Ace.com Casino
However, players should know that sweepstakes sites are not exact substitutes for licensed Arkansas online casinos. The Arkansas Racing Commission does not license sweepstakes casinos, test their games, approve their security policies, or handle customer disputes.
Are Sweepstakes Casinos Legal in Arkansas?
Arkansas law does not address sweepstakes casinos, so they operate openly in a legal gray area. In other words, sweepstakes casinos are not illegal in Arkansas, but they’re also not expressly authorized.
That said, Arkansas does have an unusually broad gambling statute intentionally worded to prevent evasion of the law. Arkansas Code § 5-66-101directs courts to interpret the state’s gambling prohibitions broadly and prevent businesses from avoiding the law by inventing new names, formats, and devices.
Nonetheless, operators contend that Arkansas’ gambling prohibition does not cover sweepstakes games. In their view, the “no purchase necessary” model removes the consideration element that separates promotional contests from gambling.
Lawmakers came close to settling the question in 2025 with legislation that aimed to legalize online casinos in Arkansas while banning their sweepstakes equivalents.
Had the proposal passed, it would have banned online games that use a “dual-currency system of payment” and simulate “casino-style gaming,” with Class D felonies for violations.
Lawmakers withdrew the legislation shortly after its introduction due to a lack of support in the legislature, so sweepstakes casinos remain easily accessible statewide.
The emergence of legislation to ban sweepstakes casinos doesn’t necessarily indicate increased hostility toward the model in Arkansas. The anti-sweepstakes provisions in the proposal were incidental to its primary goal of legalizing online gambling, although a future session could revive the same felony language on short notice.
Arkansas Online Gambling Laws
Arkansas law generally prohibits gambling unless a law or constitutional provision specifically authorizes it.
Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution, approved by voters in 2018, is the legal foundation for every form of casino gambling available in the state today. Although the amendment deals with land-based casinos specifically, it includes two details relevant to online gambling in Arkansas:
- It defines “casino gaming” broadly: The amendment defines “casino gaming” broadly and explicitly includes wagers on sporting events in the definition. As a result, Arkansas was able to authorize online sports betting without a constitutional amendment. That experience could provide the blueprint for legalizing online casinos in Arkansas (more on that below).
- It sets the tax structure: Under Amendment 100, licensees pay a 13% tax on net casino gaming receipts up to $150 million and 20% on all amounts above that. Any revenue from licensed Arkansas online casinos would likely be subject to the same tax rates.
Will Arkansas Legalize Online Casinos?
Arkansas has two realistic paths to legalizing online casinos, but legalization does not appear imminent.
The state has experienced casino operators, a regulator familiar with online wagering, and a detailed legislative proposal that could serve as the blueprint for future legalization bills. Additionally, the Racing Commission’s online poker rules support arguments that Arkansas could legalize online casino games without new legislation.
However, the political obstacles are also significant. Arkansas’ casino operators are divided on the issue, and key government officials oppose legalization.
The Rule-Change Path
Amendment 100 provides the simplest realistic route to legal online casinos in Arkansas. The amendment defines “casino gaming” as games played with cards, dice, equipment, or electronic devices for money.
Legalization proponents argue that Amendment 100’s language gives the legislature or the Racing Commission enough authority to approve casino games played online without a constitutional amendment, just like it did for online sports betting in Arkansas.
Because Amendment 100 also includes wagers on sporting events in its definition of “casino gaming,” the Racing Commission simply amended its gambling regulations in early 2022 to let licensed casinos accept wagers statewide through their own apps.
Saracen Casino Resort wants the commission to run the same play for online casino games in Arkansas. In March 2024, Saracen Chief Market Officer Carlton Saffa wrote to Racing Commission Chairman Alex Lieblong requesting an amendment to Casino Gaming Rule 5 to authorize online casino games.
The rules already authorize online poker in Arkansas (no casino has launched a poker site to date), so Saffa's argument is that the commission only needs to add slots and table games to a framework that exists today.
The Legislative Path
Arkansas saw its first real online casino bills in 2025, and their collapse was quick even by failed-gambling-bill standards.
SB 524 and companion bill HB 1861 would have created the Interactive Gaming Act and authorized each of Arkansas’ licensed land-based casinos to operate one branded online casino app under Racing Commission oversight.
Within a week of their introduction, both bills’ sponsors withdrew their legislation from consideration due to vigorous opposition from the governor’s office and attorney general’s office. The House referred HB 1861 for interim study, but the 2026 session produced no follow-up.
Arkansas Casinos Divided on Online Gambling
Another major obstacle to legalizing online casinos in Arkansas is the division in the state’s land-based industry.
On the pro-legalization side, Saracen Casino has publicly pushed the rule change to authorize online gambling, backed the 2025 legalization bills, and has developed its own prospective online casino app.
Oaklawn, the state’s oldest gambling institution, opposes legalization. Saffa’s assessment of that opposition was not diplomatic when he told KATV that Saracen’s sportsbook handles three times as many wagers as Oaklawn’s and called Oaklawn’s objections “a smokescreen based upon a fear of competing.”
With only three licensees in the state, one determined opponent represents a third of the industry. Until the casinos present a united front or the political leadership turns over, neither the commission nor the legislature has much incentive to act.
What Regulated Arkansas Online Casinos Would Look Like
Arkansas’s regulated online casino market would likely be small, with licenses limited to each of the state’s three land-based casinos. The state’s 2025 online casino bills and current sports betting market both offer a preview into how licensing would work and the options available to players.
For example, some of SB 254’s key provisions included:
- Granting regulatory and oversight powers to the Arkansas Racing Commission
- Making games, platforms, technology vendors, and live dealer studios subject to Racing Commission approval
- A ban on any partnership that results in an Arkansas casino paying a majority of net online casino receipts to a third-party vendor
- Require independent technical testing for game fairness and security
- Class D felony offenses for offering unauthorized online gambling
Under SB 254’s framework, players would choose between three Arkansas casino apps, each tied to an existing land-based property. National online gambling brands like FanDuel Casino and DraftKings Casino could provide branding, games, and technology but could not take a majority of the revenue from online gambling.
For years, that same majority-revenue rule kept every national sportsbook brand out of Arkansas. That wall cracked in early 2026, when FanDuel and DraftKings launched in Arkansas through partnerships with Oaklawn and Southland, so a future online casino market may attract national brands after all. Just don’t expect the wide-open, ten-operator markets found in other states.
Online Poker in Arkansas
Online poker sites are legal in Arkansas, but none are operational.
Subpart 5 of the Arkansas Racing Commission’s gambling regulations covers the “Operation of Interactive Gaming” and allows casinos to offer poker and other peer-to-peer card games online. However, none of the state’s licensed casinos has launched a poker site, so there is no way to play poker online in Arkansas.
The Racing Commission’s online poker rules are the basis for Saracen’s push to legalize online casino games by a rule change rather than by new legislation. If the commission’s existing rules already permit card games over the internet, the argument goes, adding slots and table games requires nothing more than an amendment to its own regulations.
The reason no casino has acted on the opportunity to offer online poker in Arkansas is multi-factored:
- Arkansas has roughly 3.1 million residents, and a legal poker room here would be walled off inside state lines.
- Arkansas has not joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), the compact that lets New Jersey, Michigan, and other states share player pools.
- Under § 358-521(c)(2), a third-party platform taking a share of online poker revenue is also liable to the casino for its proportionate share of the state’s license fees. An outside online poker operator partnered with an Arkansas casino would therefore receive just a portion of rake and pay taxes on it, which is a hard sell for a product that already runs on thin margins.
Arkansas Online Casinos FAQ
Wes Burns has more than a decade's worth of experience as a writer, researcher and analyst in the legal gambling industry and is co-founder of BettingUSA.com. As a former professional online poker player, Wes approaches his work from the viewpoint of players.