The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) announced on Thursday that it has worked with the state Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to issue more than 60 cease-and-desist orders to platforms that it believes are offering illegal online casino and/or online sweepstakes gaming in the state.
“The letters notify recipients that the IGB has reason to believe they are offering games of chance over the internet that award money or other things of value without the required licensure, in violation of Illinois criminal law,” said IGB in a statement. Its website shows 65 C&D letters have been sent to online casinos and sweeps.
While the exact content varies from letter to letter, the gist is that the IGB and AG’s office believe all the recipients are violating the Illinois Criminal Code by offering unlicensed gaming. Illinois law allows licensed riverboat casinos, land-based casinos, sportsbooks and video gaming operators to offer gambling products. Online casino gaming is illegal under state law.
“Illegal online gambling operations threaten consumer protections, undermine responsible gaming safeguards, and are antithetical to the public’s interest in regulated gaming,” said IGB Administrator Marcus Fruchter. “The IGB will continue to evaluate all available regulatory and law enforcement tools to combat illegal gambling and to protect Illinoisans.” Raoul vowed to continue to work with the IGB to hold “illegal” operators accountable.
A who’s who of social gaming
The list of cease-and-desist letters includes many of the biggest names in sweepstakes and social gaming, including
- ARB Interactive’s Modo
- B-Two Operations’ Hello Millions and McLuck
- VGW’s Chumba Casino, Global Poker and Luckyland Slots
- Yellow Social Interactive’s Pulsz
- Fliff
- Fortune Coins
- High 5 Casino
- Jackpota Casino
- Kickr
- Legendz
- Sportzino
- Stake.us
- WOW Vegas
- Yay Casino
- Zula Casino
- and dozens more
ARB Interactive, B-Two Operations, VGW and Yellow Social Interactive are all members of the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA), an advocacy group representing what the organization calls Social Plus games. Leaders from SGLA and VGW frequently testify in state legislative sessions against bills that propose banning sweeps, arguing that they should not be tarred with the same brush as offshore caisnos and advocating for regulatory frameworks rather than bans.
SGLA Managing Director Sean Ostrow said in a statement in response to the IGB C&Ds that the fact its members were targeted along with offshore gambling websites indicates “a fundamental misunderstanding” on how the likes of VGW and ARB do business. “SGLA would welcome the opportunity to work constructively with Illinois regulators, Attorney General and lawmakers to ensure our industry continues to provide legal, safe entertainment for adults while maintaining the highest standards of consumer protection,” he added.
Illinois, like many other states, maintains that sweepstakes and social gaming platforms bypass state gambling laws using dual- or multi-currency models. The operators tend to argue that players are able to play for free, meaning their products should not be equated to real-money gambling.
The C&D letters warn that operators will face civil or criminal penalties if they do not block access to Illinois residents.
Does sending C&Ds work for states?
Numerous states have sent rafts of cease-and-desist orders to a wide range of gaming operators, ranging from sweeps to offshore casinos and sportsbooks to prediction markets.
Illinois hit nearly a dozen offshores with orders this time last year, and also issued shutdown orders to leading prediction markets offering sports event contracts, including Kalshi and Crypto.com. In the case of prediction markets, the recipients have sometimes fought back in court, albeit not in Illinois.
That is yet to happen with social gaming operators. In many instances, companies like VGW often either pull out of a market after receiving a C&D or alter their model in the state to remove the real-money element of play.
In New York, for example, before the state passed a legislative ban on sweepstakes gaming last year, its attorney general reported that a round of 26 C&Ds to social gaming companies offering real-money gaming yielded a 100% compliance rate. In that case, the recipients included many of the companies Illlinois has now targeted.
Sweeps bans on table in several states in 2026
Meanwhile, legislative efforts to ban the vertical entirely continue across the U.S. After around half a dozen states passed prohibitions in 2025, including California, New Jersey and New York, there are 2026 bills to ban sweeps active in at least seven more as of the time of writing.
A similar proposal was made in Illinois last year, but did not make it past committee discussion in the legislature. Meanwhile, a bill filed by Rep. Edgar Gonzalez in the state this year would legalize online casino gaming.
