Global Poker Exiting NY – Redeem Your Sweeps NOW!

VGW Holdings, the parent company of Global Poker, has revealed that it is ending Promotional Play (Sweeps Coins) for its New York customers. Sweeps Coins represent the only way of obtaining real money winnings from the site, so this effectively means that NY residents will be restricted to play money games. The news was announced in an email to customers on May 29, 2025.

More About the Global Poker Setup

Global Poker straddles an odd line between traditional offshore poker sites and state-licensed online poker operators. It offers cash games, sit n' gos, and tournaments where users can win valuable cash prizes, just like other poker sites, but it claims to not be hosting real money gaming, exempting it from various state anti-gambling laws.

Global Poker Website

Allegedly, customers who purchase chips are buying play money Gold Coins only. As an incentive, Global Poker grants them a certain number of Sweeps Coins with their purchases. These Sweeps Coins can be used to buy into games that pay out in Sweeps Coins and can eventually be redeemed for bank transfers and gift cards. Global Poker, however, classifies these profits as sweepstakes winnings.

In order to maintain its story that Sweeps Coins are not real money, Global sells a few packages of Gold Coins alone without any corresponding Sweeps Coins included. Furthermore, it offers a way for users to mail in envelopes to claim a small number of Sweeps and also gives out tiny amounts of Sweeps every day that a player logs in to the website.

Global Poker New York Timeline

In the email sent to its NY users, Global outlined a series of key dates pertaining to the restrictions on customers within the state. This same information appeared in a pop-up window shown to New Yorkers upon logging into the Global Poker platform:

Message From Global Poker to New Yorkers

Starting June 2, New Yorkers were blocked from collecting any new Sweeps Coins. They can no longer receive Sweeps with their purchases of Gold Coins, via login bonuses, through the generation of new postal request codes, or by claiming bonus Sweeps offers. They can still, however, play with their existing Sweeps and potentially win more at the tables.

Beginning July 2, New York users will be blocked from the Sweeps Coins tables. On this date, no more mail-in requests for Sweeps will be processed either. Still, affected users will retain the ability to exchange their Sweeps for redemptions.

Aug. 1 marks the date on which Sweeps prize redemptions will end for the State of New York. After this date, all Sweeps Coins in New York players' accounts will effectively become worthless because redemption will be impossible.

What About VGW's Other Brands?

Besides operating Global Poker, VGW also runs Chumba Casino and Luckyland Slots. They all operate using a similar sweepstakes model. The main difference is that Global hosts peer-to-peer poker games in addition to casino fare whereas Chumba and Luckyland lack poker rooms and focus entirely on casino games, like slots and blackjack.

Home Page of Chumba Casino, One of Global Poker's Sister Sites

According to the information we've seen, VGW is also withdrawing Chumba Casino and Luckyland Slots from New York. Affected customers were sent emails similar to the ones received by Global Poker users.

Reason for Departure

Regarding its reasons for exiting the New York market, Global's email said only:

We understand this news may be disappointing, and want to assure you that this decision wasn’t made lightly—it was carefully considered based on several business factors.

These “business factors” may include the fact that there's a bill (S5935) going through the legislative process in New York that would ban online sweepstakes gambling games of the sort that Global Poker offers. Under the provisions of this bill:

… It shall be unlawful for any applicant, licensed entity, gaming employee, key employee, individual investor or investment firm, board member, or any other person or entity to operate, conduct, or promote online sweepstakes games within the state of New York.

It may appear that Global Poker is acting out of an overabundance of caution given that the bill has not yet passed into law. However, decision makers at rival sweepstakes gaming operators have made similar departures from New York recently, so it's likely that they're privy to knowledge that's not yet available to the general public. In March 2025, High 5 Casino decided to leave the Empire State, followed by McLuck and Hello Millions in April. Clubs Poker abandoned the state at around the same time VGW made its announcement.

Global's Reach Diminishing

Originally claiming to be legal in all 50 states when it launched in February 2017, Global Poker has since withdrawn from several states. It currently blocks residents of eight states from complete access to its Sweeps poker products.

Some recent departures for Global are Connecticut, which it exited in September 2024, and Delaware, which the company left in April 2025. In both cases, Global Poker received notifications from state authorities who felt that its business was contrary to state law. In the case of New York, we haven't seen anything indicating that the Gaming Commission had any such communication with Global Poker, but there is the possibility that it happened and neither party made this fact public.

When it first opened its doors for business, Global Poker's sweepstakes model was a unique selling point and represented a creative way of circumventing gaming laws. However, a growing number of jurisdictions are now declaring its business philosophy to be unsound. In 2025, Montana, Connecticut, Nevada, and Louisiana have all either passed legislation outlawing online sweepstakes casinos or have such bills awaiting their governors' signatures.

This trend shows no signs of reversing anytime soon. Thus, Global's prospects for future growth seem tenuous at best, and the firm may find itself fighting a slowly losing battle with regulators over the coming years.

Other New York Poker Sites Beckon

There are still a number of offshore poker websites that welcome New Yorkers. According to both state and federal law, individual players are not subject to any legal penalties for patronizing these sites. Therefore, whether you're a Global Poker customer looking for a new poker home or simply someone interested in playing poker from the State of New York, you have options available.

Perhaps the best internet poker room for New York residents is BetOnline. You can get a poker bonus of 100% up to $1,000 with your first deposit. Click the button below to get started:

For more info about BOL, check out this thorough BetOnline Poker review. If you are curious about other NY-friendly online poker options, look to this page about the best New York offshore poker sites. If you reside elsewhere in the country, head over to this guide to online poker in the USA.

June 8, 2025 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief