Why are some money-earning games not available in my state?

States classify cash-prize tournaments differently — some treat them as gambling, others as games of skill. Game operators self-restrict access in states where the law is ambiguous or where state AGs have signaled enforcement risk. The restrictions are operator-driven, not state-bans-per-se, and lists change as case law develops.

Are money-earning games legal in California?

Yes — California allows skill-based cash-prize games. All 10 games we cover (Mistplay, Solitaire Cash, Bubble Cash, Swagbucks Games, Blackout Bingo, Pool Payday, 21 Blitz, Bingo Cash, JustPlay, KashKick) are available to California residents. The state has no specific anti-skill-game statute.

Are money-earning games legal in Texas?

Yes — Texas allows all 10 games we cover. Texas's gambling statutes target house-banked games, not peer-to-peer skill tournaments.

Are money-earning games legal in Florida?

Yes — Florida allows all 10 games we cover. Florida hasn't restricted any of the Skillz or Papaya cash-prize tournament titles as of May 2026.

Are money-earning games legal in New York?

Yes — most of the games we cover are available in New York. New York's general gambling statutes haven't been applied to skill-game tournaments by the AG's office. Note: this is separate from NY's EWA enforcement posture against MoneyLion and DailyPay; the AG has not signaled similar action against skill-game operators.

Which money-earning games work in the most states?

Mistplay (no state restrictions — Android-only loyalty rewards), Swagbucks Games (no state restrictions — non-tournament earn), JustPlay (no state restrictions — passive Android), KashKick (no state restrictions — US-only offerwall). All four avoid the skill-vs-chance classification because they don't involve cash entry into tournaments.

Which state has the most restricted money-earning games?

Arkansas and Louisiana have the highest number of restricted games (7+ each, across both Skillz and Papaya operators). Arizona, South Carolina, Iowa, Delaware, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington also have meaningful restrictions on at least one operator.

Do state restrictions update? How do I know if my state status changed?

Yes — Skillz and Papaya update their state-restriction lists periodically as case law or AG guidance shifts. We re-verify this page monthly against vendor support articles. The most authoritative real-time source is the in-app region notice that appears when you try to deposit cash from a restricted state.

Money-Earning Games · Legal Map

Money-Earning Games by State 2026

Which cash-prize games work in your state — verified against operator support pages for all 10 major money-earning apps. Lists change quarterly; we re-verify monthly.

Verified May 21, 2026 against Skillz + Papaya support disclosures

Quick Answer

No state restrictions

Mistplay, Swagbucks Games, JustPlay, KashKick

Most restricted (AR, LA)

7+ games blocked

Skillz restricted states

AZ, AR, CT, DE, IN, LA, ME, MT, SC, SD, TN

Papaya restricted states

AZ, AR, IA, LA, MD, SC, WA

Important: Papaya Gaming bot lawsuit (2024)

A US federal jury in SDNY awarded Skillz a $420M judgment against Papaya in 2024, finding that Papaya used liquidity bots and tailored bots in its cash-prize tournaments to engineer 'predetermined outcomes.' A separate $15M class-action settlement was reached with affected players. We continue to cover Papaya games for completeness, but we do NOT recommend cash-tournament entry until Papaya releases independently audited bot-free play data. Free practice modes are unaffected by this disclosure.

Source links

All 50 states × 10 games availability matrix

Green check = available; red X = restricted (operator self-restricts cash play).

State	Mistplay	Solitaire	Bubble	Swagbucks Games	Blackout Bingo	Pool Payday	21 Blitz	Bingo	JustPlay	KashKick
Alabama (AL)
Alaska (AK)
Arizona (AZ)
Arkansas (AR)
California (CA)
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Hawaii (HI)
Idaho (ID)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Iowa (IA)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Maine (ME)
Maryland (MD)
Massachusetts (MA)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Mississippi (MS)
Missouri (MO)
Montana (MT)
Nebraska (NE)
Nevada (NV)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New Mexico (NM)
New York (NY)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Oregon (OR)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode Island (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Utah (UT)
Vermont (VT)
Virginia (VA)
Washington (WA)
West Virginia (WV)
Wisconsin (WI)
Wyoming (WY)

"Available" means the operator permits cash play in that state. Free practice modes are universally available. International users see different restrictions (most apps are US-only).

In a restricted state? Try the WalletGrower verified offerwall

We pre-filter for state-compatible games on our offerwall — you'll see only what works where you live. All games are non-cash-entry (Mistplay-style loyalty rewards), so state restrictions don't apply.

See verified games for my state

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

Per-brand restricted-state lists are pulled directly from operator support disclosures (Skillz support, Papaya support). We re-verify monthly via the monthly-walletgrower-accuracy-audit scheduled task. State classification of skill vs chance games is an evolving area of law — these lists will change.

Updated May 21, 2026.