Sweepstakes casinos, sometimes called social casinos, are currently taking the US by storm. They work in a very similar way to real money casinos but with a few key differences to ensure their legality.
Introduction to Sweepstakes Casinos: A Guide for New Players
If you’re a newcomer, the whole concept might seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. In this guide I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to get started, demystify some often-used terminology, and recommend some great sweeps casinos for you to try out.
SweepsPlays’ mission is to provide you with a complete sweepstakes casino resource. Our casino reviews break down every important aspect of what is required from a sweepstakes casino to ensure we are comfortable recommending you play there.
If you are as passionate about slots and games as our team you will find our tailored slots lobby provides an overview of online slots that are playable at sweeps casinos, along with sweeps casino recommendations that are also relevant to the game providers.
While we may receive financial compensation if you play at the sweepstakes we list, it is essential to understand that our content remains impartial to financial or outside influence and is based on our honest opinions, research, years of playing experience, and iGaming industry knowledge.
What Sweepstakes Casinos Are
Broadly speaking, a sweepstakes casino is an online platform where players can enjoy games (mainly online slots) using virtual currencies instead of real money.
This distinction allows the brand to operate under sweepstakes laws, meaning it can offer casino-style games legally in jurisdictions where real money casinos may not be permitted. The games offered must not be tied to skill-based performance to qualify, so you will find that sweeps casinos offer mostly chance-based games.
Instead of wagering cash, players use two types of virtual coins to play, but can potentially redeem winnings into real cash prizes. It also means that no cash investment is necessary to play, and this can suit more casual gamers well.
How They Differ From Standard Online Casinos
Licenses
Traditional online casinos require gambling licenses and are restricted to specific states. These licenses are issued by regulatory bodies such as the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement or the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Operators must meet strict requirements related to fairness, security, and responsible gambling to obtain these licenses. As a result, these casinos are only available in states where online gambling is explicitly legalized and regulated (such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan).
Sweepstakes casinos, on the other hand, operate under sweepstakes laws and technically no license is needed, which allows them to function across a broader range of jurisdictions.
You may still see that some sweepstakes sites have licenses, often from authorities outside the US, but these are generally not relevant to US law. It’s easier to remember that sweepstakes sites basically don’t require licenses. However, there are other ways we can assess a site’s legitimacy, and that’s one thing we always cover in our casino reviews here at SweepsPlays.
State Availability
As we mentioned, different US states have different laws when it comes to the legality of real money casinos and sweepstakes casinos. You’ll find states where one is allowed and not the other, and states where neither is allowed.
It’s a good idea to become familiar with your state’s laws, and we’ll give you an overview later on in this guide. However, just remember that the majority of US states allow you to play at sweepstakes casinos, whereas traditional online casinos are only legally available in six states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Also, it’s up to the platform in question to decide whether they want to operate in a specific region – while some sweeps casinos may be available in your state, others may choose not to be. We always cover legal states in our casino reviews, giving you an easy way to check on which platforms are available to you.
Promotions
Traditional online casinos offer bonuses to their players, but at sweepstakes casinos, these are more important to the whole experience.
When you sign up at a sweeps site you’ll receive an initial bonus for free, providing you with an amount of both currencies to start playing with. There’s usually a first-purchase bonus available too, which is a limited-time offer to purchase more coins at a discounted rate, if you want to.
Other ways to get hold of free coins are:
- Daily/login bonuses
- Jackpots
- Winning in races or leaderboards
- VIP programs
- Social media competitions
- Mailing in a written request for SC
Each of these will help you top up your balance of both currencies, in most cases without spending any money.
Sweepstakes Currencies
Everyone is familiar with how wagering real money at a casino works, but on a sweeps site, you’ll generally have the choice to play with either Gold Coins (GC) or Sweeps Coins (SC). Sometimes a platform will give alternative names to these coins, but their function will essentially remain the same. This format is generally credited to Chumba Casino, which launched back in 2012, and it’s been imitated many times since.
Playing with Gold Coins is often called fun play, as GC cannot be redeemed into real prizes – they are purely for the fun of playing. Many players like to experience the excitement of casino gaming but with zero strings attached; this is one benefit of sweeps casinos over standard ones. Gold Coins are generally quite easy to come by on sweeps sites via bonuses, so you have access to a good amount to play whichever games you choose.
Playing with Sweeps Coins is often called promotional play, as SC can eventually be redeemed into real prizes, usually at a rate of 1 SC to $1. In using SC to play games, you are not technically wagering real money. However, once you build up enough to meet the minimum redemption amount, you can submit a redemption request, potentially turning your SC into gift cards or real cash, if approved. SC are also available via various bonuses, but they are harder to come by than GC.
On a sweepstakes casino you can switch between GC and SC at any point – it’s up to you which mode you want to play in. You can also purchase more Gold Coins if you like, and these will generally come with some free Sweeps Coins bundled in.
By now you may have figured out that the main three ways to increase your balance are:
- Winning coins through gameplay
- Bonuses
- Purchasing coin bundles
Legal Overview
Sweepstakes casinos are part of an ever-changing legal landscape in the US. Due to their relative newness and rapid rise in popularity of late, many states are addressing them in a legal manner for the first time.
Rather than pointing out states where sweepstakes sites operate safely, it’s easier to point out states that have banned or restricted them in some way.
- Washington: Very strict laws on gambling meaning sweepstakes casinos cannot operate here.
- Idaho: Similarly strict laws, but some sweeps sites choose to operate here without offering players cash redemptions of any kind (fun play only).
- Michigan: Beginning in 2023, the Michigan Gaming Control Board fired shots against sweeps sites specifically, sending cease and desist letters to various operators. This effectively made sweeps casinos illegal, prompting other brands to withdraw from the state.
- Nevada, Kentucky, Wyoming, and Montana: Due to certain laws or previous court cases, some sweepstakes casinos have decided to play it safe and avoid these states. However, plenty of brands have remained operational here.
- Florida and New York: In both of these states, the maximum prize you can win is $5,000; any prize won above $5,000 is considered void.
If your state is not on the above list, it’s likely you’ll find many sweepstakes casinos operating there. However, it’s worth keeping tabs on the legal landscape, as many brands are engaged in litigation in various states and things can quickly change.
No clear, nationwide consensus has yet been reached on sweepstakes casinos, but the traditional casino industry is adding fuel to the fire. They view sweeps sites as an unregulated threat and are using trade groups and lobbying to attempt to marginalize the sweepstakes industry as a whole.
For now, you can rest assured that the majority of sweepstakes sites are operating legally, and if in doubt, you can always check out casino reviews to help assess a site’s legitimacy.
Key Sweepstakes Terminology
You can feel more confident playing once you’ve learnt some of the key phrases used at sweepstakes casinos. Take a look at our definitions below.
- Purchases: Buying coin bundles for use on the site in question. You can do this with a variety of online payment methods, just like you would with online shopping.
- Redemptions: Redeeming your Sweeps Coins into gift cards or cash. In the case of the latter, the amount will usually be transferred to your bank account.
- AMOE: This stands for Alternative Method of Entry, which refers to mailing in a physical letter or postcard to request free Sweeps Coins be added to your account. Sweepstakes sites offer this feature to maintain their status as a no purchase necessary platform, and further details can usually be found on the site in question if you want to try it out.
- KYC: This stands for Know Your Customer and refers to the process which sites use to verify the identity of their players. This is an essential step to ensure compliance with legal regulations, prevent fraud, and maintain the integrity of the platform.
- Play size: The amount of GC or SC you wager per spin. Games have different minimum and maximum limits, and, of course, you can easily adjust this depending on how much you want to wager.
- Progressive jackpot: A prize available to all players that grows bigger as more players play and try to win it.
- Slots: Slot machine-type games, and the main genre available at sweepstakes casinos. These are games of chance, and there are also various sub-genres within the slots category.
- Volatility: This refers to the level and frequency of payouts on a slot machine. For example, if a game is low volatility you can expect lots of smaller wins. On the other hand, a high volatility game will payout less often but in bigger amounts.
- RTP: This stands for Return To Player. It’s a theoretical percentage applied to each game that describes how much of a player’s wagers will be returned to them over time. The average RTP is around 96%, which means that over time, a player could expect to lose 4 SC for every 100 SC wagered. Legitimate sweeps casinos will allow you to see the RTP for every game they offer.
- Race: Typically refers to a type of competition or leaderboard event where players compete against each other based on their gameplay within a set time frame. These races are designed to encourage engagement and reward players who perform well or participate frequently.
What to Look for in Sweeps Casinos
Here at SweepsPlays, we assess a casino in five main areas.
Games
As a team of slot gaming experts, our primary focus is on the quality of slot games a casino offers. We cast a wide net to capture every detail, such as the developers behind the games, the RTPs being used, graphics, load speeds, bonuses, and available jackpots.
You can check out our Zula sweepstakes casino review where we awarded the site 95/100 for its game library! This is because Zula has a lobby with over 1300+ games of many different types and from various high profile developers. We’re talking slots of all genres, plus fishing games, war games, video poker, Keno, bingo and Slingo.
Bonuses
Next, we review bonuses and promotions. We want a casino that offers an excellent bonus for new players and follows this up with massive ongoing promotions that showcase its commitment to the no-purchase-necessary rule of all sweepstakes casinos.
Take a look at our Fortune Coins review to see why we awarded it a great rating for bonuses. The no deposit promo of up to 650,000 GC + 1,400 FC is amazing, even when you realise that 100 FC = $1 at redemption. OK, you do have to fulfil a few different steps, but it’s worth doing to get one of the best no-deposit bonuses around.
Safety
Once we determine a casino is worth a second look, we check its safety features. Here, we verify that the operator is trustworthy and known in the industry, while paying attention to how it handles and protects your data.
We awarded another perfect score of 100/100 in our Hello Millions review when it came to safety. This is partly because Hello Millions is part of B-Two Operations Limited, a longstanding company with multiple successful casinos in their portfolio. It’s also because the platform carries out all the required verifications and handles data securely.
Banking
The banking department is another crucial aspect of the casino, considering the end goal for many players is to redeem your SC winnings. We check if the operator supports unique payment options like cryptocurrencies and gift cards, zero transaction fees, and low minimum redemptions.
This category is harder to score well in, with many sites offering the bare minimum when it comes to payment methods. However, you can read our High 5 casino review where we awarded it 90/100 for banking. This was thanks in no small part to its array of options, including debit/credit cards, bank transfer, PayPal, Skrill and Trustly.
User Experience
We also verify that a casino offers an excellent user experience through navigation options, customer support services, and filters.
Read through our Jackpota review and you can see why it comes highly rated for UX. We took into account its easy-to-understand interface, mobile-friendly website, quick loading times, and great customer support.
Things to Know Before You Start Playing
Log in every day and shop around for more bonuses
What’s your budget? Are you willing to buy coin bundles, or would you like to mainly make use of bonuses? If it’s the latter, you should look for a site like PlayFame that has plenty of bonuses, including a login bonus for you to claim daily. Some sites are certainly more generous than others, so it pays to shop around. Also make sure to never skip a day to build up your coins from the daily bonus.
Coins come with a playthrough requirement
When a casino hands you a bonus amount of SC, it’s not as simple as taking that straight to the bank. There will always be a playthrough requirement, which requires you to wager those SC on games a certain number of times before they can be redeemed. If you’re lucky, it’ll only be a 1x playthrough requirement, like over at WOW Vegas.
Social casinos will ask for certain documents
In order to redeem your Sweeps Coins for real prizes, you’ll need to complete the KYC process on each platform you play. Players are usually asked to provide a photo of a government-issued ID (such as a driver’s license, passport, or state ID) and proof of address (such as a recent utility bill or bank statement). To prevent this holding up any quick redemptions you may want to make in the future, we recommend getting this process out of the way during/after registration.
Payment methods and limits vary
You can read through our reviews to find those sweeps casinos that offer the payment and redemption options which work best for you. Each review has a handy table showing which methods are available at a glance. If you want to be able to redeem SC into gift cards with a balance of only 10 SC, Mega Bonanza could be your best bet.
RTP matters
There’s no two ways about it – higher RTP games will pay out more to you over time. Any good sweepstakes casino lobby will let you view the RTP percentage before you start playing, so it’s often worth searching through titles to find the highest value. Anything over 96% is generally seen as a good RTP.
An example of a popular, high RTP game would be Money Cart 2 by Relax Gaming but you can check out our complete High RTP Guide for many more great slots to explore.
Social features can elevate your gaming experience
Many sweepstakes casinos integrate social elements, such as:
- Player leaderboards
- Tournaments
- Multiplayer games
- Chat features to connect with other players (Stake.us is particularly known for this)
If these elements are important to you, make sure to read through our reviews and find platforms that offer them.
Final Thoughts
So now you’re up to speed on how sweepstakes casinos work, their legality, and the terminology used, it’s time to pick one and start playing with that welcome bonus.
A great place to begin is with our sweepstakes casinos comparison page, featuring easy, at-a-glance charts and tables to help you figure out which platform is the best choice for you.
Author: Bogdan Lunkan
Updated:
Bogdan has been playing sweepstakes casino games before it was cool! He has achieved top VIP status on a number of sweepstakes casinos and regularly bets the max when playing his favorite slots. Bogdan takes you inside the mind of a high-stakes player, and following his tips, you too can redeem lots of sweeps coins.
Bogdan has been playing sweepstakes casino games before it was cool! He has achieved top VIP status on a number of sweepstakes casinos and regularly bets the max when playing his favorite slots. Bogdan takes you inside the mind of a high-stakes player, and following his tips, you too can redeem lots of sweeps coins.