Last updated: October 31, 2026
If you work with Stake.us as an affiliate, a game supplier, a payment partner or a competitor, “is it legal?” has stopped being a yes-or-no question. The brand tells players it is a social casino available in “most states”. Meanwhile one state regulator has called its product illegal gambling, Florida’s attorney general is suing it, and it has added 16 states to its excluded list since February 2025.
This guide sets out where Stake.us stands in October 2026: how the sweepstakes version of Stake differs from Stake.com, the full 50-state status, the dates Stake.us left each state, the lawsuits against it, and what all of that means for the businesses around it. It is written for the industry, not for players, and it links to no sign-up offers.
The short answer: Stake.com, the real-money crypto casino, is not legal in the US and blocks US players. Stake.us, its sweepstakes version, operates in 27 states as of October 31, 2026, after leaving Oklahoma on October 30, and excludes 23 states. No US state licenses or approves it. It runs on the argument that sweepstakes law, not gambling law, applies to it, an argument that Illinois regulators and the Florida Attorney General have both rejected.
Is Stake legal in the US? Stake.com vs Stake.us
“Stake” is two separate businesses with two separate legal positions in the US.
| Stake.com | Stake.us | |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Real-money crypto casino and sportsbook | Dual-currency sweepstakes casino (Gold Coins and Stake Cash) plus poker |
| Operator | Medium Rare N.V., licensed in Curaçao | Sweepsteaks Limited, a Cyprus company with its registered office in Larnaka |
| US status | Not available; the US is on its restricted list | Available in 27 states, excluded in 23 |
| US licence | None | None; it says it does not need one |
| Minimum age | Not offered to US players | 21+ under its terms |
| Governing law | Curaçao | Delaware, with mandatory arbitration |
Stake.us’s 21+ rule is its own policy, not a state requirement; for how it compares with the minimum ages for licensed casinos, sportsbooks and lotteries, see our legal gambling age by state table.
Both brands come from the group founded by Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, which launched Stake.com in 2017 and Stake.us in 2022. That shared ownership and branding is the reason US regulators treat Stake.us with more suspicion than an unknown sweepstakes start-up: the same name is attached to an offshore real-money casino that US players cannot legally use.
So when someone asks “is Stake legal in the US”, the accurate answer has two parts. Stake.com: no, anywhere in the US. Stake.us: it operates openly in 27 states, but that is not the same as being licensed or confirmed legal, and the list of states where it can operate keeps getting shorter.
How Stake.us claims to be legal
Stake.us uses the same legal model as every other US sweepstakes casino. Most state gambling laws need three elements: a prize, chance and consideration (paying to play). Stake.us keeps the prize and the chance and argues that it removes consideration:
- Gold Coins are sold in packages and are play-only, with no cash value.
- Stake Cash comes “free” as a bonus with Gold Coin purchases, through daily bonuses and promotions, or by post. Its terms give 5 free Stake Cash for a handwritten postcard sent to a Dallas, Texas address, which is the alternative method of entry (AMOE) that the “no purchase necessary” argument depends on.
- Stake Cash won in play must be played through three times before it can be redeemed, and it redeems “at an implied rate of 1 Stake Cash per 1 USD”.
That last point answers a common question directly: 1,000 Stake Cash is worth $1,000 at Stake.us’s own implied rate, once it has cleared the 3x playthrough and any minimum redemption threshold. It is also the point regulators focus on. When a “free” token converts to dollars at one-for-one and arrives with every purchase, states increasingly treat the purchase as the wager. In the Florida Attorney General’s words, if a service “takes real money like a casino, and pays out like a casino, it is a casino.”
For a fuller explanation of the dual-currency model and how the 2025 and 2026 state laws dismantle the “no consideration” argument, see our sweepstakes casino legal map.
Which states is Stake.us legal in? The 50-state table
Stake.us’s restricted-states help page (dated July 10, 2026) and clause 2.1(b) of its terms list the same 22 excluded states; Oklahoma became the 23rd on October 30, 2026, when Stake.us stopped play there ahead of the state’s ban (Covers). The terms also exclude any state where local law bars you from playing, and limit the service to “the continental United States of America and Hawaii”. The table below combines Stake.us’s own list with each state’s legal position on sweepstakes casinos.
Table last verified: October 31, 2026.
How to read it: “Available” means Stake.us accepts players there. It does not mean the state has approved the product. “Excluded” states are split by the reason: a statute, existing gambling law or regulator action, or a business decision by Stake.us.
| State | Stake.us status (Oct 31, 2026) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Available | No sweepstakes-specific law or action |
| Alaska | Available, with a caveat | Not on the excluded list, but the terms limit play to “the continental United States” and Hawaii; check eligibility case by case |
| Arizona | Excluded | Added in 2025 after Arizona Department of Gaming warnings to sweepstakes operators; no statute |
| Arkansas | Available | 2025 ban bill (SB 524) withdrawn on March 20, 2025 |
| California | Excluded | AB 831 ban, effective Jan 1, 2026; see online gambling law in California |
| Colorado | Available | No action found |
| Connecticut | Excluded | SB 1235 ban, effective Oct 1, 2025; Stake.us left in February 2025 |
| Delaware | Excluded | Business choice (regulated iGaming state), February 2025 |
| Florida | Available, under AG lawsuit | Sued by the Attorney General on Aug 19, 2026; redemptions capped at $5,000 per day |
| Georgia | Available | No sweepstakes statute or action |
| Hawaii | Available | All gambling banned, but no sweepstakes-specific action; 2026 bill deferred |
| Idaho | Excluded | State constitution; excluded since launch |
| Illinois | Excluded | Illinois Gaming Board cease-and-desist, Feb 4, 2026; excluded from May 2026 |
| Indiana | Excluded | HB 1052 ban, effective July 1, 2026 |
| Iowa | Available, regulator has new powers | SF 2289 (2026) lets the Racing and Gaming Commission act against “illegal sweepstakes”; no express ban |
| Kansas | Available | No action found |
| Kentucky | Excluded | Excluded since before 2025; the AG sued VGW in June 2026 |
| Louisiana | Excluded | AG opinion (2025), then HB 883 and HB 53, effective Aug 1, 2026 |
| Maine | Excluded | LD 2007 ban, July 2026 |
| Maryland | Excluded | Regulator cease-and-desist letters (2025); ban bills not yet enacted |
| Massachusetts | Available | 2026 ban bill failed |
| Michigan | Excluded | Gaming Control Board treats sweepstakes casinos as unlicensed gambling |
| Minnesota | Available | Ban bill passed the Senate, died in the House (May 2026) |
| Mississippi | Available | Ban bills failed in 2025 and 2026 |
| Missouri | Available | HB 1251 filed, no hearing; a Missouri class action against Stake.us is pending |
| Montana | Excluded | SB 555 ban, effective Oct 1, 2025 |
| Nebraska | Available | No action found |
| Nevada | Excluded | Unlicensed gaming law |
| New Hampshire | Available | No action found |
| New Jersey | Excluded | Left Feb 2025; A 5447 ban signed Aug 15, 2025 |
| New Mexico | Available | A federal class action against Stake.us was filed there in Oct 2025 |
| New York | Excluded | S 5935 ban, Dec 2025; excluded since launch |
| North Carolina | Available | Retail sweepstakes terminals banned; online sites not addressed |
| North Dakota | Available | No action found |
| Ohio | Available | HB 298 would legalize iGaming and ban sweepstakes; in committee |
| Oklahoma | Excluded from Oct 30, 2026 | SB 1589 ban from Nov 1, 2026; Stake.us stopped play on Oct 30, and players can still log in to redeem balances |
| Oregon | Available | No action found |
| Pennsylvania | Excluded | Business choice (regulated iGaming state), Feb 2025; HB 2801 ban bill introduced Sept 2026 |
| Rhode Island | Excluded | Business choice (regulated iGaming state), Feb 2025 |
| South Carolina | Available | No sweepstakes-specific action |
| South Dakota | Available | No action found |
| Tennessee | Excluded | AG cease-and-desist letters (Dec 2025), then SB 2136 ban, May 2026 |
| Texas | Available | No sweepstakes ban; the Legislature next meets in January 2027 |
| Utah | Available | All gambling banned by the constitution; no sweepstakes-specific action |
| Vermont | Excluded | Added July 2023; no statute |
| Virginia | Available | 2026 ban bill failed; a Virginia federal class action is in arbitration |
| Washington | Excluded | Online gambling ban (RCW 9.46.240) |
| West Virginia | Excluded | Business choice (regulated iGaming state) after AG subpoenas, Feb 2025 |
| Wisconsin | Available | No sweepstakes statute or action |
| Wyoming | Available | No action found |
Counted together: 27 states available, 23 excluded. Of the excluded states, 10 have a sweepstakes-specific ban (California, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Oklahoma, whose ban takes effect on November 1, 2026), 4 are closed by older gambling law or enforcement (Idaho, Michigan, Nevada and Washington), 4 followed regulator pressure without a ban (Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky and Maryland), and 5 are business decisions (Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia).
Why the numbers in other guides don’t match
Many pages ranking for this question still give 17 restricted states and 33 legal ones. That list dates from mid-2025 and misses California, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Tennessee and now Oklahoma. One widely read Texas guide, updated in August 2026, still says Stake.us is “restricted in 17 other US states”, and a state-list page updated in September 2026 gives 22 excluded states but still says Stake.us is legal in “32” or “30+” states, which is more than 50 minus 22 allows. None of the pages reviewed on October 11, 2026 mentioned the Oklahoma exit. If you run a geofence, a compliance checklist or affiliate targeting off one of those lists, it is out of date.
When Stake.us left each state: the exit timeline
Stake.us’s terms carry a version history. Every version since February 2025 has been an “addition of further state to ‘Excluded Territories'”. Matching those dates to the order states appear in clause 2.1(b) and to news coverage gives this timeline:
| Terms version and date | State(s) added | What prompted it |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2023 | Washington, New York, Nevada, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan | Long-standing gambling law and enforcement |
| v5, July 5, 2023 | Vermont | Not stated |
| v9, Feb 20, 2025 | New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island | Exit from regulated iGaming states amid bills and AG subpoenas |
| v10, Feb 28, 2025 | Connecticut | Ban bill moving (enacted June 2025) |
| v11, Apr 28, 2025 | Maryland | Regulator letters and ban bills |
| v12, July 14, 2025 | Louisiana, Montana | Louisiana AG opinion; Montana SB 555 signed May 2025 |
| v13, Aug 12, 2025 | Arizona | Regulator warnings |
| v14, Dec 19, 2025 | Tennessee | AG cease-and-desist letters |
| v15, Dec 30, 2025 | California | AB 831 effective Jan 1, 2026 |
| v16, May 19, 2026 | Illinois | Illinois Gaming Board cease-and-desist (Feb 4, 2026) |
| v17, July 1, 2026 | Indiana | HB 1052 effective July 1, 2026 |
| v18, July 10, 2026 | Maine | LD 2007 |
| Announced Oct 2026, effective Oct 30, 2026 | Oklahoma | SB 1589 effective Nov 1, 2026 |
The pattern is useful if you are planning around Stake.us. It exits before or on the day a ban takes effect (Montana, California, Indiana, Oklahoma). It usually leaves after a regulator letter even when no statute exists (Arizona, Maryland, Tennessee before its law, Illinois). And it does not wait for a court ruling. Illinois is the exception that shows the lag: the Gaming Board’s letter is dated February 4, 2026, and the exclusion came in mid-May. In Oklahoma, Stake.us told players they “will still be able to log in and redeem any balance”, with no fixed deadline given.
Is Stake.us legal in Texas, California, Illinois and the other big states?
Texas
Yes, Stake.us operates in Texas, and Texas has no sweepstakes-casino ban. Real-money online casino play is illegal under Texas Penal Code Chapter 47, and Stake.us relies instead on Chapter 622 of the Business and Commerce Code, the state’s promotional sweepstakes law. The 2025 bill SB 517 targeted retail game-room machines and never got a floor vote. The Legislature meets only in odd-numbered years, so nothing changes by statute before the January 2027 session. Stake.us also uses a Dallas address for its mail-in entries. For the wider picture, see our Texas gambling law guide.
California
No. California’s AB 831 banned online dual-currency sweepstakes games from January 1, 2026, and Stake.us added California to its excluded list on December 30, 2025. AB 831 also reaches anyone who knowingly supports operation or promotion, which includes affiliates, payment processors and content suppliers. Our guide to online gambling in California covers the law in detail.
Illinois
No. On February 4, 2026, the Illinois Gaming Board sent Stake a cease-and-desist letter addressed to “Stake (stake.us)” in Larnaka. It said its staff had observed Stake offering Illinois users slots, table games and sports wagering on January 12, 2026, concluded that “Stake (stake.us)’s activity constitutes illegal gambling in violation of Illinois law”, and warned that failing to block Illinois residents “may subject you, your affiliates, and business partners to civil or criminal penalties”. Illinois has no sweepstakes statute; the letter relies on the Criminal Code’s gambling provisions and the Prizes and Gifts Act. Stake.us excluded Illinois in May 2026. More in our Illinois online gambling guide.
Florida
Stake.us still operates in Florida, but it is the most exposed of its open states. On August 19, 2026, Attorney General James Uthmeier sued Stake and VGW in Hillsborough County Circuit Court (SBC Americas). Florida is asking the court to bar them from operating in the state, to make them give up money earned there, and to impose civil penalties under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The AG also named payment and promotion partners and, in September, wrote to Google, Meta, Reddit, Snap and TikTok about sweepstakes ads. Stake.us’s terms already cap Florida redemptions at $5,000 per day, the only state-specific prize rule in its terms. Background is in our Florida online gambling guide.
Georgia, Wisconsin and Missouri
Stake.us operates in all three, and none has a sweepstakes-specific law or a regulator action against it. Missouri’s HB 1251 was filed but never heard. Missouri is also where one of the first player class actions against Sweepsteaks Limited was filed, in October 2025 (Killham v. Drake). Open does not mean approved: each of these states bans unlicensed gambling in general terms, and nothing stops an attorney general from making the same argument Florida is making.
Kentucky
No. Kentucky has been on Stake.us’s excluded list since before 2025. The state has a record of suing offshore operators, and in June 2026 Attorney General Russell Coleman sued VGW, arguing that sweepstakes coins work like casino chips.
Indiana
No. Indiana’s HB 1052 made dual-currency sweepstakes casinos illegal from July 1, 2026, with $100,000 civil penalties enforced by the Indiana Gaming Commission, and Stake.us excluded the state that day. See the Indiana entry in our sweepstakes casino legal map.
Oklahoma
No longer. Oklahoma’s SB 1589, enacted when the Legislature overrode the governor’s veto in May 2026, bans online sweepstakes casinos from November 1, 2026. Stake.us stopped play for Oklahoma users after October 30 and said they can still log in and redeem balances.
The lawsuits against Stake.us
Apart from the state actions above, Sweepsteaks Limited faces a series of private suits, most of which pair Stake.us with the celebrity streamers who promoted it. All of these are allegations, and Stake.us has denied the claims in the player suits.
- October 27, 2025, Missouri: Killham v. Drake names Sweepsteaks Limited, Drake and Adin Ross.
- October 29, 2025, New Mexico federal court: a similar suit against the same defendants.
- December 31, 2025, Virginia federal court: a RICO class action against Sweepsteaks Limited, Drake, Adin Ross and George Nguyen. It alleges that Stake.us presented itself as a social casino while Stake Cash bundled with Gold Coins worked as real-money wagering. A Stake.us representative called it “a nonsense claim”.
- April 22, 2026: a further class action naming Stake, Kick and several streamers.
- July 30, 2026: US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the arbitration clause in Stake’s user agreement sends the dispute with Stake to a private arbitrator, and paused the claims against the other defendants until that is resolved.
The arbitration ruling matters to anyone weighing Stake.us’s legal risk. Private player suits may not end up as public court judgments on whether the model is legal. That leaves the question with state attorneys general and legislatures, which is where the pressure is building.
Is my money safe on Stake.us?
That question is really about protection, and the honest answer is that Stake.us players have none of the protections a licensed US operator must provide. No state regulator holds player funds to a segregation rule, handles complaints or can force a payout. Disputes go to arbitration under Delaware law with a Cyprus company. When a state closes, Stake.us has so far let players redeem balances, as in Oklahoma, but that is a policy choice, not a legal guarantee. For affiliates and partners this is a reputational point too: describing Stake.us as “safe” or “100% legal”, as several ranking pages do, is a claim no regulator stands behind.
Are Stake.us winnings taxable?
Yes. Prizes redeemed from Stake Cash are taxable income under federal law even though Stake.us does not call them gambling winnings. Sweepstakes operators generally report qualifying prize payouts on Form 1099-MISC rather than the W-2G that licensed casinos issue; for 2026, the IRS W-2G instructions set a $2,000 minimum reporting threshold for most gambling winnings. For how a different 18+ product category is taxed, see our guide to Kalshi taxes.
Which gambling apps are legal in the US, if not Stake?
The legal alternatives are state-licensed operators, and they are licensed state by state. Sports betting is legal in 39 states plus DC, and real-money online casinos are live in only seven: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia (see our US gambling laws by state map). That is why Stake.us left most of the iGaming states in February 2025. A sweepstakes brand operating next to licensed casinos draws complaints from licensees and regulators, and several of the 2025 and 2026 bans were pushed by the licensed industry and by tribes. Pending bills in DC, Ohio and Pennsylvania pair online casino legalization with a sweepstakes ban, the approach recommended in the NCLGS model iGaming bill.
What Stake.us’s status means for your business
| Your role | What to do now |
|---|---|
| Affiliate or media buyer | Drop all 23 excluded states, including Oklahoma, from targeting and content now. California, New York, Tennessee and Oklahoma laws reach “promotion” or “facilitating”, and Illinois warned Stake’s “affiliates and business partners” directly. Expect Florida ad inventory to tighten. |
| Game studio or aggregator | Check which of your titles appear on Stake.us and confirm it geoblocks every ban state. New York’s law reaches gaming content suppliers and puts a New York licence at risk. |
| Payment processor or bank | Florida named payment partners in its action. Screen against the 23-state list, and treat Florida as an active litigation state. |
| Licensed operator | Stake.us is not a like-for-like competitor in your states; it left all seven iGaming states. The competition is in the 27 states where Stake.us still operates, none of which has legal online casinos. |
| Sweepstakes operator | Stake.us’s exit dates are a practical benchmark: it leaves on or before a ban takes effect and within about four months of a regulator letter. |
What to watch next
- November 1, 2026: Oklahoma’s SB 1589 ban takes effect, with felony exposure for operators and facilitators. Stake.us stopped play there on October 30.
- Florida v. Stake: the first attorney general lawsuit against Stake.us in a state with no ban. A ruling would test the sweepstakes argument directly.
- Pennsylvania HB 2801: already excluded by Stake.us, but its $50,000 to $500,000 fines and supplier reach would affect partners.
- 2027 sessions: Texas, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi and Virginia are the large open or borderline states to watch. Any new ban will move the table above.
Stake.us’s status changes every few months, and this page will follow it. For every other sweepstakes brand, see the full sweepstakes casino legal map.
This article is general information and analysis, not legal advice. State positions change quickly; confirm current law with qualified counsel before making decisions.
