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State database · MT · verified 2026-10-03

Sweepstakes laws in Montana

Montana's SB 555, in effect since October 1, 2025, adds online casinos that take bets and pay out in any form of currency to the state's definition of prohibited internet gambling.

Disclosure: this site's publisher, Luck Incorporated LLC, operates Chance Infinite, one of the apps in these databases. Its entry is built from its own documents under the same rules as every other entry. This is reference information, not legal advice; official rules and statutes control.

Last verified October 3, 2026. On October 16, 2026 an automated check re-opened 14 of its 16 sources and changes since then are listed under Recent changes. Every line below cites a document; numbers in brackets point to the source list.

Status
Law in force
Sweepstakes-casino law
SB 555 (Laws 2025, ch. 626), effective October 1, 2025
Enforcement actions on record
0
Ranked free apps open to residents
5 of 6
Sweepstakes-casino brands and Montana
17 exclude it, 1 limits it, of 18 tracked

The law

SB 555 (Laws 2025, ch. 626)

Cited as Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-112(23), 23-5-123, 23-5-154, 23-5-162(3); enacted May 13, 2025 (Signed by the governor on May 13, 2025 and assigned chapter 626 on May 16, 2025, per the legislature's bill record (S2). The act has no effective-date section, so Mont. Code Ann. 1-2-201(1)(a) sets October 1 following passage (S4).); effective October 1, 2025. [S1]

Amends the definition of internet gambling in Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-112(23) to include online casinos by whatever name known, including any platform, website or application that knowingly transmits or receives gambling information, allows consumers to place a bet or wager using any form of currency, and makes payouts of any form of currency. Online casinos that do not allow the use of currency of any kind are stated to be permitted. The act also revises the disposal of gambling fines to the credit of the Department of Justice, changes advertising for or soliciting participation in an illegal gambling enterprise from a misdemeanor punishable under 23-5-161 to a crime punishable under 23-5-161 and 23-5-162, the misdemeanor and felony penalty sections (S14, S15), and adds 23-5-162(3), which makes a person who purposely or knowingly operates an illegal internet gambling site in the state subject to felony liability (under 23-5-162(1), a fine of up to $50,000, up to 10 years in prison, or both, per violation) (S5). The enacted text does not use the words sweepstakes or dual-currency.

“The term includes online casinos, by whatever name known, which constitute internet gambling and therefore are prohibited.”

Players: The amended text has no provision written specifically about players. The new felony subsection, 23-5-162(3), applies to a person who operates an illegal internet gambling site.

Bills

  • HB 639 (2025 session): failed House third reading; later recorded as died in process, March 7, 2025. [S7]
    What the bill does

    Would have revised the definition of internet gambling to include online casinos, using the online-casino language later enacted in SB 555, and would also have added cryptocurrency to that definition (S6). It passed the House committee and second reading, but the third-reading vote on March 7, 2025 is recorded as not passed; it then missed the transmittal deadline and was recorded as died in process on May 20, 2025.

Rules for any sweepstakes in Montana

  • When a free promotion is not gambling (Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-112(14)(b)(i), (38)): Montana's definition of gambling excludes promotional games of chance, which the statute defines as schemes for distributing property among people who have not paid, or are not expected to pay, valuable consideration and who have not bought, or are not expected to buy, goods or services for a chance to win. [S3]
  • Purchase-based entry (gift enterprise) (Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-112(17)): The statute defines a gift enterprise as a gambling activity in which people qualify for a prize by purchasing or agreeing to purchase goods or services; a promotional game of chance is listed as not being a gift enterprise. [S3]

Free sweepstakes apps open to Montana residents

Our ranked apps, by what each one's own official rules say about Montana. Chance Infinite is operated by this site's publisher.

AppOur rankMontana
Chance Infinite1, 81/100Open
Coinnect2, 71/100Excluded
Prizes by GAMEE3 (tied), 54/100Open
Winsome Rewards3 (tied), 54/100Open
PCH+5, 51/100Open (app listed unavailable)
PCH Lotto6, 48/100Open (app listed unavailable)

Sweepstakes casinos and Montana

What the 18 sweepstakes-casino brands in our database say about Montana in their own documents. These lists give no grade; some of these brands pay SweepstakeReport a commission through the links on their fact sheets. We do not judge whether any brand may operate in Montana, and documents change often.

193 casinos' terms exclude Montana: see which.

Regulator

Montana Department of Justice, Gambling Control Division

Notes

Read the 5 research notes
  • The Gambling Control Division's Sweepstakes FAQs document (PDF last modified March 20, 2026) says no purchase is necessary to participate in a sweepstakes and that consideration, or paying to play, is what converts a sweepstakes into a raffle (S8). The Division's FAQ page states that the only legal online gambling in Montana is nonprofit raffles sold online and that no other form of internet gambling is legal in the state (S9).
  • The Montana Legislature's session list shows the 2025 regular session and a next regular session beginning January 4, 2027, with no 2026 session listed (S10). The 2025 bills we found on the subject are SB 555 (enacted) and HB 639 (failed).
  • Operator documents retrieved on October 3, 2026 list Montana among excluded states, for example Chumba Casino's Sweeps Rules version 26.1 (S11), McLuck's Terms of Service version 2.6 (S12) and Stake.us Terms version 18.0 (S13). These documents do not state a reason for the exclusion.
  • Timeline check: our crackdown timeline gives May 23, 2025 as the signing date, while the legislature's bill record shows Signed by Governor on May 13, 2025 and chapter 626 assigned on May 16, 2025 (S2). The timeline describes dual-currency online casinos as defined as prohibited internet gambling; the enacted text does not use the term dual-currency and instead reaches online casinos by whatever name known that take bets and pay out in any form of currency (S1). The timeline's October 1, 2025 effective date matches Mont. Code Ann. 1-2-201(1)(a) (S4).
  • Basis for the status label: the amended definition reaches online casinos, by whatever name known, that let consumers bet using any form of currency and make payouts of any form of currency, and it exempts only online casinos that do not allow the use of currency of any kind (S1). The text, the April 3, 2025 fiscal note (S16) and the Department of Justice pages we found do not name sweepstakes or dual-currency casinos, and we found no Montana court ruling or agency document applying the definition to a named sweepstakes casino.

What we could not establish

  • No Montana regulator or Attorney General action aimed at online sweepstakes casinos was found. Site searches on dojmt.gov for sweepstakes, sweepstakes casino, online casino and internet gambling on 2026-10-03 returned Gambling Control Division FAQ, history and licensing pages and unrelated scam-tip and human-trafficking posts; we did not read every Department of Justice press release.
  • Trade-press reports that the Department of Justice sent enforcement notices to operators around October 2025 could not be matched to a primary document and are not used.
  • The SB 555 fiscal note (as introduced, April 3, 2025) is image-only; we read it from page images. It says the bill would enhance the Gambling Control Division's ability to combat illegal online casinos and describes the new definition as covering online casinos that allow visitors to gamble with cryptocurrency; it does not mention sweepstakes (S16).
  • The legislature's public bill pages (bills.legmt.gov and laws.leg.mt.gov) served a bot-check script to our requests; bill status and text were taken from the legislature's own API at api.legmt.gov.

Common questions

Does Montana have a law on online sweepstakes casinos?

Yes. SB 555 (Laws 2025, ch. 626), cited as Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-112(23), 23-5-123, 23-5-154, 23-5-162(3), took effect October 1, 2025. This page quotes the text and links the statute.

Which ranked free sweepstakes apps accept Montana residents?

Per their own official rules, Chance Infinite, Prizes by GAMEE, Winsome Rewards, PCH+ and PCH Lotto accept residents of Montana, and Coinnect excludes it. Chance Infinite is operated by the publisher of this site.

Do sweepstakes casinos accept players in Montana?

Of the 18 sweepstakes casino brands in our database, 17 exclude Montana and 1 limit it in their own documents, last verified October 3, 2026. Documents change often, so read the current terms first.

Sources

  1. S1 Montana Legislature, SB 555 (2025), enrolled bill text, An act generally revising gambling laws, retrieved October 3, 2026
  2. S2 Montana Legislature, SB 555 (LC2686) bill status history, retrieved October 3, 2026
  3. S3 Montana Legislature, Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-112, Definitions (MCA 2025), retrieved October 3, 2026
  4. S4 Montana Legislature, Mont. Code Ann. 1-2-201, Statutes, effective date (MCA 2025), retrieved October 3, 2026
  5. S5 Montana Legislature, Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-162, Criminal liabilities, felony (MCA 2025), retrieved October 3, 2026
  6. S6 Montana Legislature, HB 639 (2025), introduced bill text, retrieved October 3, 2026
  7. S7 Montana Legislature, HB 639 (LC0888) bill status history, retrieved October 3, 2026
  8. S8 Montana Department of Justice, Gambling Control Division, Sweepstakes FAQs, retrieved October 3, 2026
  9. S9 Montana Department of Justice, Gambling Control Division, GCD Frequently Asked Questions, retrieved October 3, 2026
  10. S10 Montana Legislature, Legislative sessions list, retrieved October 3, 2026
  11. S11 VGW Games Limited (Chumba Casino), Chumba Casino Sweeps Rules, version 26.1, retrieved October 3, 2026
  12. S12 B-Two Operations Limited (McLuck), McLuck Terms of Service, version 2.6, retrieved October 3, 2026
  13. S13 Sweepsteaks Limited (Stake.us), Stake.us Terms and Conditions, version 18.0 (version table publish date 10/07/2026), retrieved October 3, 2026
  14. S14 Montana Legislature, Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-154, Soliciting participation in illegal gambling activity prohibited (MCA 2025), retrieved October 3, 2026
  15. S15 Montana Legislature, Mont. Code Ann. 23-5-154 (MCA 2023), text before SB 555, retrieved October 3, 2026
  16. S16 Montana Governor's Office of Budget and Program Planning, via Montana Legislature, SB 555 fiscal note, 2027 Biennium, as introduced (April 3, 2025), retrieved October 3, 2026

Related: All 50 states and DC · The crackdown timeline · The app database