Kentucky Sweepstakes Casinos

Some sweepstakes casinos still operate in Kentucky, but the list of reputable brands open to residents has shrunk in recent years.

Several major sweepstakes casinos (including Stake.us, High 5 Casino, and Ace.com) exclude Kentucky voluntarily, and the remainders face an increasingly hostile legal environment.

Two established sweepstakes casinos still accept Kentucky players as of today:

• Casino.Click
• WOW Vegas

Online sweepstakes casinos operate on a dual-currency model in which players receive free Sweeps Coins (SCs) through daily login promos, mail-in requests, and as bonuses when purchasing Gold Coins (GCs). Players can use the SCs they’ve acquired to play games that resemble online slots, blackjack, and real-money roulette, and redeem their winnings for cash prizes.

Are Sweepstakes Casinos Legal in Kentucky?

Sweepstakes casinos contend that they’re legal in Kentucky because players can participate with “no purchase necessary,” which removes the element of consideration from Kentucky’s definition of gambling.

No Kentucky statute explicitly bans sweepstakes casinos, but the state’s top law enforcement officer contends they are illegal, and the question is now before a court.

Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a lawsuit against VGW Holdings in June 2026, accusing Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, LuckyLand Casino, and Global Poker of operating “illegal gambling websites” in Kentucky.

According to the filing, the state is seeking a court order to shut down the platforms in Kentucky and recover players’ losses. VGW Holdings has contested the lawsuit, but the court has yet to issue a final ruling. The outcome of that case will likely determine the future of sweepstakes casinos in Kentucky.

Unlike states that have enacted legislation banning sweepstakes, Kentucky has never passed a bill targeting the model because it hasn’t needed to. Private lawsuits under Kentucky’s Loss Recovery Act have already convinced most operators to leave the state voluntarily, and the Attorney General’s lawsuit has now made it clear that the state will target operators that choose to stay.

Why Many Online Casinos Avoid Kentucky Entirely

The Loss Recovery Act, a Kentucky law dating to 1798, is the main reason many sweepstakes casinos, offshore gambling sites, and various gray market operators refuse to serve the state. Kentucky has never passed legislation banning these forms of gambling specifically because it has never needed to.

Under KRS 372.020, anyone who loses $5 or more gambling may sue the winner to recover the money. However, the section that makes the Loss Recovery Act particularly deterring to operators is KRS 372.040, which states that if the loser doesn’t sue within six months, any other person can sue on their behalf and collect triple the losses.

Because the Act covers gambling losses of any kind, it impacts casino-style products that no other Kentucky law addresses, including sweepstakes casinos. Kentucky courts have also held that operators qualify as winners, even on platforms that only collect a fee from player-versus-player games. As a result, the statute targets the house directly.

Lawmakers crafted the Act with 18^th-century card games in mind, but Kentucky courts have applied it to the internet era with expensive results.

• PokerStars: The Commonwealth sued PokerStars in 2011 to recover the roughly $290 million residents lost on the site between 2007 and 2011. After a decade of failed appeals, the judgment had grown to nearly $1.3 billion with interest. Flutter Entertainment (which had acquired PokerStars by then) settled for $300 million in 2021.
• VGW Holdings: In 2023, Chumba Casino’s parent company paid $11.75 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by Kentucky players under the Act.

The Loss Recovery Act is why there sometimes seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why some online gambling brands operate in Kentucky, while others avoid the state entirely.

Every quasi-legal operator in the state faces the same triple-damages exposure and prices the risk differently. With settlements worth $300 million and $11.75 million already on the books, plenty have concluded that the reward is not worth the risk.

Will Kentucky Legalize Online Casinos?

Kentucky could eventually legalize online casinos, but there is no realistic path to legalization over the near term.

Unlike states like Georgia, where legalization would require a constitutional amendment and voter approval in a statewide referendum, Kentucky has repeatedly expanded its legal gambling activities through the standard lawmaking process.

For instance, lawmakers authorized historical horse racing machines and online sports betting in Kentucky without touching the constitution. If the General Assembly wanted online casinos, all it would take is a standard bill and the Governor’s signature.

However, lawmakers have never advanced a bill dedicated to Kentucky online casinos. Past proposals have primarily dealt with online poker, sports betting, fantasy contests, or land-based casinos.

Kentucky’s Horse Racing Industry Holds the Cards

Kentucky’s racetracks already operate the closest thing the state has to casinos, and they have little incentive to invite competition.

Since debuting at Kentucky Downs in 2011, slot-style historical horse racing machines (HHRs) have grown to become the state’s dominant form of gambling. Total gross revenue from Kentucky HHRs now exceeds $1 billion annually.

In short, Kentucky essentially has an exclusive casino product controlled by the racing industry, with revenue flowing to purses, breed development funds, and track operators.

Churchill Downs, the state’s most influential gambling company, opposes legalizing online casinos in Kentucky and is a member of the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG). Any legalization bill would likely need the horse racing industry’s blessing to survive, and the industry is doing very nicely without online casinos.

Legislative Rules Raise the Bar for Online Casino Bills

Kentucky’s short sessions and legislative rules pose another challenge for online casino proponents. The Kentucky legislature meets for 60 days in even-numbered years and just 30 days in odd-numbered years.

Furthermore, revenue-raising bills in odd-year sessions require a three-fifths supermajority in each chamber (60 House votes and 23 Senate votes).

The bar is not insurmountable (Kentucky’s sports betting bill made it through in 2023), but it means any online casino bill that includes a tax component faces a supermajority requirement in half of all sessions, on top of the usual committee gauntlet.

Kentucky Already Has Online Gambling Experience

It’s not all challenges and obstacles for Kentucky online casino efforts.

Despite its reputation as a non-gaming state, Kentucky isn’t unfamiliar with online gambling. The state has been offering online lottery tickets since 2016 and online sports betting since 2023.

The Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation now handles all online sports betting licensing, geolocation standards, technical requirements, security rules, and sports wagering oversight. Meanwhile, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation has more than a decade of experience operating online accounts and instant play games.

Legalizing online casinos in Kentucky would still require significant political momentum, but the state would not need to build an internet gambling regulatory system from scratch.

Additionally, Kentucky’s licensed racetracks serve as natural licensing anchors for a future online casino market. In most of the states that have legalized online casinos, major gambling brands like BetMGM Casino, BetRivers Casino, and Caesars Palace Online must partner with local casinos or racetracks for licensure.

Revenue Potential of Online Casinos in Kentucky

Kentucky is a mid-sized state with an outsized gambling appetite.

The state has just 4.6 million residents, yet Kentuckians wagered close to $5 billion on sports in the first two years of legal betting. Annual sports betting tax revenue topped $40 million in 2025, roughly double the $23 million the state originally projected.

Kentucky racetracks support the “outsized” claim, with roughly $10 billion wagered annually on slot-style historical horse racing machines. Together, those figures make a strong case that Kentucky could support a competitive legal online gambling market.

To get a rough sense of the revenue potential of online casinos in Kentucky, consider that Michigan online casinos generated roughly $3.1 billion in gross receipts in 2025, or about $307 per resident.

If Kentucky’s online gambling market matures to a similar rate of around $300 per resident, gross revenue would reach near $1.38 billion. At a reasonable 20% tax rate, Kentucky online casinos would pay roughly $276 million to the state each year.

Extrapolating revenue numbers from one state directly to another is imprecise, but the results in every state with legal online casinos point the same direction: Kentucky would put up big numbers.

Kentucky Online Casinos FAQ