Golden Hearts Games also built its brand around a charitable-giving hook, an idea it has quietly shelved. Its current official sweepstakes rules do not mention donations or charities at all, and the pause has been in place since mid-2024 with no announced return.
The two fully blocked states: Michigan and Washington
Residents of Michigan and Washington cannot open a Golden Hearts Games account at all, according to the operator's own eligibility rules, verified 2026-07-30. This is a shorter exclusion list than many sweepstakes-casino brands, several of which block a dozen or more states outright.
Washington's exclusion fits a broader pattern across the sweepstakes-casino category, covered below: Washington's state gambling regulator treats purchasable virtual currency that a player has to buy more of to keep playing as a thing of value under state law, which is why most sweepstakes operators, not just Golden Hearts Games, block Washington outright.
The 11 states where you can play but cannot redeem
California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Nevada, New York and Tennessee sit in a middle tier. Golden Hearts Games lets residents of these 11 states open an account and play with Gold Coins, the no-cash-value practice currency, but will not let them redeem Sweeps Coins for cash or a prize, per the operator's own rules verified 2026-07-30.
This Gold-Coin-only tier also spans very different real-money iCasino situations. Connecticut and New Jersey are both live, regulated real-money online casino states in their own right. Maine has authorized internet gaming by statute but does not yet have a live market. Nevada's own online license only covers poker, not a general online casino. California, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New York and Tennessee currently have no regulated real-money online casino market at all. None of that changes Golden Hearts Games' own Gold-Coin-only rule in each of those states; the sweepstakes-eligibility tier and a state's separate real-money licensing status are two different things.
The charity angle Golden Hearts Games no longer talks about
Golden Hearts Games built part of its identity around donating to charities when players chose the option, a feature the operator paused on 2024-07-31 with no resumption date announced since. Its current official sweepstakes rules, last updated 2026-06-30, do not mention donations or charities anywhere and instead list seven separate ways to acquire Sweeps Coins, none of them a donation option.
Why sweepstakes casinos block certain states in the first place
Washington's exclusion is not unique to Golden Hearts Games. The Washington State Gambling Commission points to Kater v. Churchill Downs, in which the Ninth Circuit held that if a player runs out of virtual chips and has to buy more to keep playing, that virtual currency counts as a thing of value under Washington law, RCW 9.46.0285, the same legal category real-money gambling chips fall into. Sweepstakes operators that let players purchase more Gold Coins to keep playing, including Golden Hearts Games, tend to block Washington outright rather than argue the point state by state.
That legal theory explains why a state can appear on Golden Hearts Games' blocked or Gold-Coin-only list regardless of whether it separately licenses real-money online casino gambling. A state being excluded from this sweepstakes brand is a statement about how that state's gambling statute treats purchasable virtual currency, not a statement about that state's real-money iCasino market one way or the other.
How to confirm your own eligibility before you sign up
- Do not rely on a review site's state list, including this one. Confirm directly in Golden Hearts Games' own account-creation flow, which checks your location and will tell you immediately if you are blocked.
- If you are in one of the 11 Gold-Coin-only states, do not assume a working account means you can redeem. Check the redemption section of the current rules specifically; the account works normally right up until you try to cash out.
- If you moved recently, re-check eligibility. Access is tied to your current location, not the state you originally signed up from.
- Recheck periodically if you play regularly. Sweepstakes-casino eligibility lists are not fixed the way a state's real-money gaming law is, and Golden Hearts Games can add or drop a state without notice to existing players.
Where this applies
- Golden Hearts Games: Golden Hearts Games confirms a free Gold Coins and unplayed Sweeps Coins welcome bonus exists on signup but does not publish the exact amounts on its logged-out pages, so check the number shown in your own signup flow rather than a figure quoted elsewhere (confirmed 2026-07-30).
Frequently asked questions
Which states does Golden Hearts Games block completely?
Michigan and Washington. Golden Hearts Games' own eligibility rules, verified 2026-07-30, do not allow residents of either state to create an account at all.
Can I play Golden Hearts Games if I live in California?
Yes, but you cannot redeem. California is one of 11 states, along with Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Nevada, New York and Tennessee, where Golden Hearts Games allows Gold Coin play but does not allow Sweeps Coin redemption.
Is Golden Hearts Games' charity-donation feature still active?
No. The operator paused it on 2024-07-31 and has not announced a resumption. Its current official sweepstakes rules, last updated 2026-06-30, make no mention of donations or charities.
Does being blocked from Golden Hearts Games mean my state has no legal online casino option?
No, the two are unrelated. Michigan, for example, is fully blocked from Golden Hearts Games' sweepstakes model but separately runs one of the seven state-licensed, live real-money online casino markets in the country through the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
Sources
- Golden Hearts Games (operator terms, retrieved 2026-07-30): Golden Hearts Games' own eligibility rules fully block account creation only in Michigan and Washington, and permit Gold Coin play with no Sweeps Coin redemption in California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Nevada, New York and Tennessee; its official sweepstakes rules, last updated 2026-06-30, list seven ways to acquire Sweeps Coins and no longer mention the charitable-donation feature paused since 2024-07-31.
- Washington State Gambling Commission: The Ninth Circuit in Kater v. Churchill Downs held that if a user runs out of virtual chips and wants to continue playing, she must buy more chips to have the privilege of playing the game, and treated that virtual currency as a thing of value under RCW 9.46.0285.