The desk
News & explainers
These are dated editorial explainers from SweepstakeReport, not wire copy. We do not invent quotes, user counts, or events we did not verify.
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explainer · 2026-10-14 · casino facts checked October 3 to 14, 2026
Sweepstakes casino farming: the underrated daily routine, explained
The free daily rewards are the part of a sweepstakes casino players can use without buying. How they reset, what streaks and low-balance rules do, and what the casinos' rules ask of you, from their own documents.
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explainer · 2026-10-03 · 1099-MISC threshold now $2,000
Do you owe tax on sweepstakes app prizes? The 2026 rules
Sweepstakes app prizes are generally taxable income, per IRS Publication 525. For 2026 the 1099-MISC prize threshold is $2,000. Plus what each ranked app says in its rules about taxes and W-9s.
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investigation · 2026-10-03 · store builds last updated May 20, 2026
WYN Sweep's FAQ says no payment is needed. Its app sells entries.
The FAQ says no purchase or payment is required to win. The App Store listing still sells entry packs up to $9.99, and neither store build has changed since May 20, 2026.
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investigation · 2026-10-03 · terms and rules dated October 1, Maryland still absent
Modo's rules dropped Maryland six weeks after the ban bills died
Modo's own Terms and Rules dropped Maryland on May 29, 2026, six weeks after the state's ban bills died; the versions dated October 1 still omit it and add Oklahoma, and its support center now lists Maryland for Sweepstakes Coins play.
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court record · 2026-10-03 · hearing October 13, 2026
PCH's estate carries unsecured claims at $0 as fees pass $2.28M
PCH's estate still reports $0 paid and $0 allowed on general unsecured claims beside $2,282,867 in professional fees; a pro se motion to file a late claim, stated at $13 million, is set for hearing October 13.
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consumer notice · 2026-10-03 · law effective November 1
Oklahoma sweepstakes casino ban, Nov. 1: where operators stand
Oklahoma SB 1589 takes effect November 1. Of 18 sweepstakes casino brands whose documents we opened, three restrict Oklahoma and fifteen do not exclude it; only Modo has published an Oklahoma redemption date we found, November 1.
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picks · 2026-10-01 · 18 min
Top free-to-play sweepstakes picks for 2026
Picks from the published ranking by what you want: best overall (our publisher's app, disclosed, with its standing store-copy finding stated), skill games, a quick daily habit, a free arcade and entry by mail, then what to wait on, what to skip, and what free-to-play means at sweepstakes casinos.
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investigation · 2026-09-07 · terms dated January 12 to September 1
Pulsz tags five states 'GC only' and leaves Illinois untagged
Pulsz's own help page tags five states GC only and lists Illinois with no tag; the state's gaming board wrote to Pulsz in February and set no deadline.
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investigation · 2026-09-06 · rules dated August 12 to September 1
Blazesoft's free mail-in entry now needs a one-time Mail Code
Rules dated August 12 to September 1 tie the free letter to a one-time Mail Code on a waiting period they do not print. WinBonanza still takes the letter alone.
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explainer · 2026-09-05 · effective September 14
Google closes the ads funnel on sweepstakes casinos Sept 14
Three dated policy moves end in a certification wall that requires gambling licenses. What the closing funnel means for players.
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investigation · 2026-09-05 · GWY #23097 ends September 22
PCH now sells sweepstakes entries. Free entry is mail-only.
Memberships up to $150 a month are the ways to enter pch.com lists. The rules add one more: a mailed envelope worth 1,850 entries.
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consumer warning · 2026-09-04 · through September 14
The last days of LuckyLand Slots are a scam window
Urgency plus a dead app is the perfect impersonation setup. The rules that never bend, and the fake-check campaign already borrowing sweepstakes names.
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consumer notice · 2026-09-03 · deadline September 21
RealPrize and LoneStar players in Delaware have until Sept 21
Sweeps Coins ended in August and redemption requests end September 21, per the operator email quoted by Sweepsy. What Delaware players should do now.
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consumer notice · 2026-09-01 · deadline September 14
LuckyLand Slots players have until September 14 to redeem
The games are already off and balances do not transfer. What the operator's own closure notice says to do before redemption requests end.
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news desk · 2026-09-01 · maintained
The sweepstakes casino crackdown: a dated timeline
Ten state laws, two attorneys general lawsuits, hundreds of cease-and-desist letters. The record of America turning on the dual-currency casino, dated and sourced.
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data report · 2026-09-01 · free to cite
The state of the sweepstakes app category, 2026
Thirteen apps researched to the bottom, eight categories, one finding: three sell nothing at all. The full classification with evidence, licensed CC BY for anyone to cite.
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editorial · 2026-09-01 · 7 min
The new era of the sweepstakes industry has three apps
Envelopes gave way to coin casinos; now an ad-funded, no-checkout model is emerging. Three working examples. Two are ad-funded and hold our top two spots; the third is not, and widens the definition.
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roundup · 2026-09-01 · 9 min · updated monthly
The best free sweepstakes apps of 2026, ranked
Six apps pass a strict no-purchase test; most of the category does not. The ranking, the ones to skip by name, and why Chance Infinite currently leads.
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editorial · 2026-08-31 · 6 min
SweepstakeReport is now an apps-only ranking
We censused the category our first article said had one qualifier, reviewed thirteen apps, ranked six, and wrote down every exclusion. What changed, and why.
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editorial · 2026-08-31 · 8 min · rewritten same day
The top no-purchase sweepstakes app of 2026, in a field of five
Chance Infinite ranks first of the six apps that pass our no-purchase test. Rewritten in full, under a dated note, after the census killed our launch-morning field-of-one framing.
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editorial · 2026-08-31 · 8 min
What a free-entry sweepstakes app still has to prove
Playable tickets, a published draw, and a prize funded by ads can be a sweepstakes. They are not automatically a trustworthy one.
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editorial · 2026-08-28 · 7 min
A sweepstakes is not a gold-coin casino
If you have to buy coins, 'gold,' or a starter pack to play, it is not a no-purchase-necessary sweepstakes — no matter what the homepage says.
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explainer · 2026-08-25 · 6 min
How to read official rules without getting lost
Sponsor, eligibility, how to enter, prize, odds, and how they notify winners. Everything else is furniture.
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explainer · 2026-08-21 · 5 min
A purchase does not improve your odds. That is the entire genre.
If buying helped, it would not be a sweepstakes. It would be a lottery.
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explainer · 2026-08-18 · 5 min
The mail-in still matters
A postcard with your name on it is the least fashionable free-entry method, and the hardest one to fake.
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explainer · 2026-08-14 · 4 min
If they ask you to pay to collect a prize, hang up
Legitimate sweepstakes do not collect a processing fee, a tax prepayment, or a gift-card code from a winner.