Arkansas has been one of the more interesting states to watch this past year. Lawmakers took two solid swings at a sweepstakes ban in 2025, and both attempts collapsed before reaching the governor’s desk, leaving AR players in a comfortable spot with no fresh bills loaded into the 2026 session.
Read on for our top-rated AR sweepstakes casinos this June 2026, where the law sits today, and how taxes shake out when you cash out.
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How We Rate
Currently, you can still play sweepstakes casinos from within Arkansas. The state’s only real attempt to change that fell apart in 2025. HB 1861 and SB 524 paired a sweepstakes ban with iGaming legalization for Arkansas’s three retail casinos. Both were withdrawn within weeks after Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, AG Tim Griffin, and Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester signaled opposition.
Although the House Judiciary Committee recommended the bill for interim study, the 2026 session has produced no follow-up so far. This means that major brands still accept you and your fellow gamers from within the state.
Below, we walk through what the law allows and where you really stand as a player:
| Are sweepstakes casinos illegal in Arkansas? | No. No state law bans sweepstakes, and no agency has taken action against them. |
| What happened with the 2025 ban bills? | Both HB 1861 and SB 524 were pulled within weeks of being filed. The bills tied the sweepstakes ban to legalizing online casinos for Arkansas’s three retail venues, and the iGaming piece collapsed under opposition. |
| Why did the iGaming piece get killed? | Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, AG Tim Griffin, and Senate leadership opposed it. Oaklawn Racing Casino, one of the three retail casinos, also pushed against it. |
| Is Arkansas trying again in 2026? | Not yet. The 2026 session is the long one, so there’s still time, but no replacement bill has been filed. The House Judiciary Committee did recommend interim study, so a 2027 attempt is more likely. |
| Has any agency gone after sweepstakes sites in Arkansas? | No. No cease-and-desist letters, no AG opinion. The state did send cease-and-desists to pick’em-style DFS operators in 2024, but sweepstakes have been left alone. |
| Can I sign up to a sweepstakes site from Arkansas? | Yes. All major brands still accept Arkansas players. |
| Can I get in trouble for playing from Arkansas? | No. Arkansas gambling law targets the people running illegal games, not the people playing them. No player has been charged. |
| Could the sites I use leave Arkansas suddenly? | Unlikely. Without state pressure or an active ban, sites have no reason to pull out. Watch the 2026 session for any replacement bill. |
| What legal gambling alternatives do I have in Arkansas? | The three retail casinos (Saracen, Oaklawn, Southland) and their online sportsbook apps. No legal online casinos exist in Arkansas yet. Sweepstakes are still your only online casino-like option. |
| Can I use a VPN to play on sites that block Arkansas? | No. Sites check your location every time you log in and close accounts that try to fake it. Almost no major sites block Arkansas anyway. |
| Do I owe taxes on Arkansas sweepstakes winnings? | Yes, federal and state. Sweepstakes Coin redemptions are taxed as prizes (not gambling winnings). Operators issue Form 1099-MISC if you receive $600 or more from them in a tax year. Report on Schedule 1 as “Other Income.” Arkansas taxes them at the state’s graduate rate (top 3.9%). |
Sweepstakes casinos that pulled out of Arkansas
Compare Arkansas to its neighboring states.
No, because Arkansas offers no online casino licensing as of 2026. With no license to hold, sweepstakes sites operate under federal sweepstakes law instead.
Yes, Arkansas is very accessible to sweepstakes players right now. With no ban and no enforcement, all the major brands still accept Arkansas players. There is no legal online casino in the state, so sweepstakes are your only online casino style option. So, your choice is broad, essentially covering the full market.
Because it was chained to a far bigger fight it couldn’t win. HB 1861 and SB 524, in 2025, paired a sweepstakes ban with legalizing online casinos for the state’s three retail venues. Governor Sandoval, AG Griffin, and Senate leadership all opposed that iGaming expansion. With the larger piece sinking, both bills were withdrawn within weeks of being filed. So the sweepstakes ban never failed on its own, it went down with the package around it.
Because the same bill also threatened that casino’s own business. The 2025 legislation did not just ban sweepstakes; it would have legalized online casinos statewide. Oaklawn, one of Arkansas’s three retail venues, fought that, fearing online play would cannibalize its floor. So, it opposed the package, even though that package targeted its sweepstakes rivals. For Oaklawn, legal iGaming was the bigger threat, and killing it was worth leaving sweepstakes alone.
