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Kickr’s GetGud Launch Could be the New ‘Mouse’ in the Online Gambling ‘Cat and Mouse Game’

Legal Writer

Publish Date: Jun 26, 2026

Fact checked by: Matt Moreno

Key Points

Kickr has launched GetGud.win months after shutting down online
GetGud operates on a sweepstakes model but only offers “skill-based” games
Skill-based element in games may present the next loophole that state legislators and regulators look to close

For gambling regulators and law enforcement in the United States, curtailing unregulated gambling is a constant game of adaptation to new systems technology. The newest iteration of laws and policies trailing innovation or workarounds may have just surfaced with the launch of GetGud.win, a new sweepstakes-based “skill games” website from the company that once operated Kickr.

The company shut down Kickr to avoid running afoul of lawmakers and officials cracking down on online sweepstakes gaming, and has a product that relies on novel concepts to evade potential enforcement. However, it may only be a matter of time before regulators act on GetGud’s concept, too.

GetGud’s “Voltroning” of skill games and sweepstakes prizes

The last day of Kickr in the U.S. was March 31, 2026, but the company behind the website, Kickr Games, promised at the time that it was shifting its resources to other projects. One of those emerged in late June, with that website being GetGud.

Upon launch GetGud offers a handful of games on the site that it calls “skill-based.” The site information states that it will be a destination for contests, head-to-head competitions between users, and tournaments wherein player performances rather than random number generators primarily determine results.

To award prizes to qualifying players, GetGud will rely on a similar dual-currency system with sweepstakes mechanics that Kickr utilized. That could mean the same scrutiny for GetGud that Kickr Games tried to avoid by closing Kickr.

Should that scrutiny arise, Kickr Games is likely to hang its defense on the skill element.

Why Kickr Games might argue that GetGud is exempt from gaming laws

To fit most U.S. jurisdictions’ definition of gambling, three elements are essential in the structure of a game. Those are chance, consideration, and a prize.

Sweepstakes casinos have stated that their games lacked consideration because users of the websites could, in theory, play the games for free. GetGud might be able to make the same claim but take its rationale a step further by adding that its games lack the element of chance as well.

However, the atmosphere for skill games and sweepstakes has been growing increasingly hostile in many U.S. jurisdictions.

State governments cracking down on skill games and sweepstakes websites

Over the course of 2025 and 2026, several U.S. states enacted laws that explicitly restrict sweepstakes casinos. Some of these statutes, including Tennessee’s, contain bans on dual-currency systems as well.

Even in states where there are not dedicated laws banning sweepstakes games explicitly, regulators have acted under existing statutes to curtail sweepstakes casinos websites’ activities. Cease-and-desist demands from the Illinois Gaming Board are a strong example of such actions.

Meanwhile, court cases and legislative developments in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have gone poorly for skill games distributors. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that skill game terminals meet the commonwealth’s definition of gambling devices, the same conclusion that the Missouri Supreme Court reached.

In Virginia, the Supreme Court issued a similar ruling in 2023, but the state legislature has sent a bill to Gov. Abigail Spanberger that would create a new regulatory framework for the devices. Spanberger may veto the measure, though, and it did not pass in the Virginia House of Delegates or Virginia Senate by veto-proof margins.

In all of these cases, the courts ruled that the skill elements in the games in question were not sufficient to override the chance components. Because consideration was present in the form of the money that players had to pay to play and prizes were at stake, all three standards for gambling were met.

The momentum that these developments have created is far from ideal for GetGud. Scrutiny could still come, and GetGud’s defenses might prove impotent.

How GetGud pushes the “cat and mouse game” further

The “cat and mouse game” in the U.S. has seen several iterations, including skill game terminals and sweepstakes casino websites. For those types of gaming, the windows of opportunity are beginning to close.

GetGud is taking a novel approach by combining ideas that have already been tried, hoping that the combination may stave off attention from lawmakers and regulators, at least for a time. They may escape such notice for a while.

However, GetGud could become a victim of its own success in that regard. If lawmakers and regulators don’t immediately take enforcement actions against GetGud, other enterprises may look to replicate the skill sweepstakes model, thinking that silence from authorities is tantamount to consent.

That growth in the category then would make the various companies operating in the space too significant to fly under regulators’ radars any longer. To continue with the metaphor, it’s the mouse getting brave and coming out while the cat is awake.

GetGud already has some offerings that might raise officials’ eyebrows, though.

GetGud games designed to appeal to sweepstakes casino players

At least two of the current games on GetGud resemble classic casino experiences in form and a third could be construed that way as well. The first of the two games that are likely to remind players of casino games is 21 Hustle, which borrows some concepts from blackjack games.

The other is Skills Slots, which visually mimics classic slot machines. A third less explicit casino-style game is Penalty Plinko.

Many casinos offer Plinko games but Plinko is also played outside of gambling venues. Skill Slots is a great example of how officials’ opinions could mean all the difference for GetGud, and it’s unclear to what extent GetGud will contest those interpretations.

Courts’ and regulators’ assessments, not GetGud’s marketing, will determine legality

In Skill Slots, the game field is a game grid with various symbols typical of slot machines. Players receive a number of moves to try to align the symbols in a correct fashion for prize activation.

GetGud gives players information on which alignments and symbols result in the best combinations. To play, users must purchase a digital currency package or complete other actions to receive play coins.

The movement of the symbols is based on player decisions. At the same time, a random number generator decides which symbols are in which positions on the game grid to begin each play.

Many U.S. jurisdictions have determined that a dual-currency system is tantamount to consideration. GetGud will offer prizes to people who play through their redeemable digital currencies.

The legality of GetGud’s games like Skill Slots, therefore, could come down to whether courts and regulators feel that the skill element is robust enough to invalidate the chance component. It may only be a matter of time before those opinions begin to emanate from state governments around the U.S.

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