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Oklahoma legislature overrides governor’s veto of sweepstakes casino ban

Legal Writer

Publish Date: May 18, 2026

Fact checked by: Matt Moreno

Key Points

SB 2136 is now law in Oklahoma after the state legislature voted to override a veto on Thursday.
Statute will take effect Nov. 1, 2026.
Sweepstakes casinos face options of exiting Oklahoma or trying to thread narrow path to compliance.

Oklahoma is officially the 10th jurisdiction in the United States of America with some form of explicit restriction on the operation of online casino-style games that award prizes with a dual-currency sweepstakes system. The state legislature overrode Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto of the legislation in question on Thursday.

Sweepstakes casino websites still selling digital currency packages to people in Oklahoma have several months to chart their future course before they might face penalties related to violating the new statute. Continuing to operate in Oklahoma appears more complicated than winding down business there.

Legislature breaks with Oklahoma governor on sweepstakes casino ban

The Oklahoma legislature has continued a pattern of deviating from Stitt on matters related to gaming, as it took the opportunity to override his veto of SB 1589 on May 14. The House of Representatives voted 68-19 to override Stitt’s veto, while the Senate followed with a 34-10 vote in favor of the override.

With those votes, SB 1589 is now enacted and its tenets will take effect on Nov. 1, 2026. Stitt stated that his veto of the bill was due to the legislation’s “vague and broad approach," while he insisted that “Oklahoma can protect consumers without adopting criminal penalties that reach beyond the problem they are intended to solve.”

The new statute has two primary effects, both of which aim to curtail Oklahomans’ access to online sweepstakes casinos. There is a manner in which the websites could legally operate on a diminished basis within Oklahoma’s borders, though.

Sweepstakes casinos have five months to weigh options

Oklahoma law now explicitly outlaws online casino games that use a dual-currency system. Anyone who operates such games online, promotes them, or provides services to the websites risks violating the state’s gambling laws.

That violation is a Class C felony; convictions of it come with potential fines of up to $2,000 and/or incarceration. One way to avoid that issue is to discontinue the dual-currency model, instead operating on a single-currency system that focuses solely on social play.

That may still leave some vulnerability to prosecution depending on the courts' interpretation of Oklahoma law. A cleaner option for sweepstakes casino operators is to geofence Oklahoma out of their service area, revoking access to the games for people in the state.

Another path is more involved but could ensure compliance with Oklahoma law.

Could Oklahoma be a proving ground for tribal partnerships?

The statute carves out an exception for social online casinos that tribal gaming authorities provide for people on their sovereign lands within Oklahoma’s borders.

In theory, a sweepstakes casino could partner with such an authority to make its games available on the associated tribe’s territory. However, such a partnership could require an amendment to the tribe’s compact with Oklahoma and the U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

Forming such a partnership would likely give the tribal partner a significant share of any revenue, so sweepstakes casino operators may not be interested for that reason. There may also be technical issues in geofencing the games to be available only on the tribal territory.

Sweepstakes casinos still selling digital currency packages to people in Oklahoma have five months to consider these options. Oklahoma has joined the 20% of U.S. states that restrict their operation.

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