LuckyLand Slots Set to Shutdown in the US, Including Florida
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VGW confirmed in a shock email this past month that it will be shutting down its player-favorite LuckyLand Slots.
The site, along with its miniature companion app LuckyLand Lite, will officially close September 14, 2026.
This comes following the launch of VGW’s LuckyLand Casino in December of last year, as well as billionaire owner Lauren Escalante’s decision to step down as CEO and the recent legal controversies surrounding sweepstakes casinos in the US,
KingPrize.com casino and several other newly launched sweepstakes casinos are going to look to capitalize off the announcement, as LuckyLand Slots has an existing player base of well over 1 million users that will now need somewhere else to play.
The announcement has already led to backlash across X and Reddit from unhappy players, as many of them have been using the popular sweepstakes platform since its launch back in 2019.
Florida’s $1bn Sweepstakes Casino Market Remains Hot Amidst Shutdown of LuckyLand Slots
Florida happens to be one of the leading states in the US for sweepstakes casino action.
According to the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance, founded by VGW and other prominent sweepstakes operators, social sweepstakes casinos generated around $1.04 billion in Florida during 2025, accounting for 8.5% of the entire US market.
In the case of Florida, where sweepstakes casinos have become exceedingly popular over the past few years, such growth has been driven by Gen Z and Millennial players, many of whom discovered these casinos during a ‘boom’ period back when the COVID-19 quarantines were happening.
Over half a decade later and the US sweepstakes casino market is worth just over $9 billion and expected to reach just under $13.5 billion by the time 2031 arrives.
It’s safe to say the industry may take a short-term dip, though, with the upcoming shutdown of LuckyLand Slots, which seemingly came out of nowhere.
For the longest time, Chumba Casino and its sister site LuckyLand Slots have dominated the sweepstakes market, both holding significantly more market share combined than any other sweepstakes casino.
However, the executives over at VGW have ultimately made the call to end LuckyLand Slots before the end of the year.
The belief at the moment is that VGW will be focused on LuckyLand Casino moving forward, a fresh sweepstakes casino it launched in December of last year.
In the email sent to customers, it even had the message “Your favorite games aren’t going far– you’ll still find them on LuckyLand Casino.”
At the same time, VGW is also reportedly working on United Slots, which was originally set to launch earlier in 2026 but has yet to make it onto the market.
One thing for sure is that LuckyLand Casino and United Slots, if it's to successfully launch, will soon be getting an influx of fresh Floridianian players when September arrives and LuckyLand Slots officially closes its doors.
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Florida Recently Tried to Ban Sweepstakes Casinos
Despite how much revenue the Florida sweepstakes casino market is generating, state lawmakers recently attempted to have these new casino sites outright banned.
Earlier this year, Florida renewed its efforts to crack down on unregulated gambling and online casinos, including sweepstakes casinos, through its HB189 and SB2104 measures.
However, the legislative bills fell short back in May and Florida’s sweepstakes casino ban appears to be officially dead in the water.
It’s a rare legal win for sweepstakes operators like VGW, who have had to witness a growing number of states successfully ban sweepstakes casinos in the US since 2024.
New York and California have been two of the biggest states to ban sweepstakes casinos so far, with both Indiana and Maine also joining the list this year.
The general expectation is that Florida will once again attempt to ban or heavily restrict sweepstakes operators in the near future, but for now, at least, operators are in the legal clear.
The reason why so many states in the US are cracking down on sweepstakes casinos at the moment is because lawmakers argue the dual-currency coin models used by the likes of LuckyLand Slots and Chumba Casino mimic real-life gambling too closely and are intentionally designed to mislead consumers and avoid existing gambling laws.
Inside sweepstakes casinos, players are given the choice to play for free using ‘Gold Coins’ or potentially redeem prizes like gift cards and cash transfers using ‘Sweeps Coins’, with lawmakers now arguing that Sweeps Coins in particular are essentially serving as a substitute for real cash.
As it stands, sweepstakes casinos are still legal in 38 states, but that number is expected to drop a little further before the end of the year with yet more states pushing for bans.
The US Must Address “Grey” Area Gambling Problem
In the post-COVID economy, it’s clear to see that the US has a grey area gambling problem.
Much of this is being bolstered by sweepstakes casinos, while the recent rise of prediction market sites, which are heavily backed by the Trump administration, has also transformed the landscape.
Until grey-area gambling is properly addressed in the US, not just individual states, sweepstakes casinos, prediction markets, and other similar platforms will be able to keep operating largely uninterrupted.
In between time, VGW, which recently grew to over $7 billion annual revenue ahead of shareholder buyout, will no doubt push ahead with LuckyLand Casino and the soon-to-be-launched United Slots, leaving unhappy players in Florida with no option but to wave goodbye to their beloved LuckyLand Slots.