Sweepstakes casinos provide a safe and legal casino experience to players who live outside the few US states where online gambling is legalized. They let you play casino games and win cash prizes without spending a dime.
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For the past decade or so, sweepstakes has been the buzzword for gaming fans all around the US. Despite the huge hunger for online casino-style games, the majority of states have been slow in passing gambling laws, and the sweepstakes model stepped in to fill this gaping hole.
Sweepstakes casinos allow US players from 40+ states to enjoy casino games legally. They look like regular online casinos, act like regular online casinos, but don’t require making deposits. In other words, you can play online poker, blackjack, roulette, or skill-based fish games and win real cash prizes while at it.
The short answer is yes. For a longer one, let us don our legal hat.
Gambling in the US is a complex issue divided between federal and state laws. Each state can run gambling activities and decide what actually qualifies as gambling. As things stand, traditional online casinos are legal in only 6 US states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia.
To stay on the legal side in the majority of states, sweeps casinos cannot use US Dollars anywhere on their website. Instead, they operate with their own set of currencies like Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins. The former are used to play at sweepstakes sites for fun, while the latter can be redeemed for real cash prizes or gift cards.
The trick of the sweepstakes trade is that you cannot purchase SC. Instead, you’ll receive free SC as a gift or as part of GC bundles.
Currently, sweepstakes casinos are legal in 46 US states. The restricted states include Washington, Michigan, Nevada, and Idaho. In all the rest, you are free to register, verify your profile, play sweepstakes casino games, and withdraw real cash prizes with no problems.
They may look like real money online casinos from the outside, but sweepstakes casinos have a few tricks up their sleeves that make them more player-friendly. Let's look at some of the crucial features of online sweeps casinos:
No Purchase Necessary: In order to stay compliant with the law and not be considered gambling, sweepstakes casinos don’t require you to make a deposit to play. You can do so on your own accord by purchasing GC bundles, but the point is that you don’t have to.
No-Deposit Bonuses: Unlike regular online casinos, sweepstakes gaming sites regularly give you no deposit bonuses. Particularly generous are the new sweepstakes casinos that are fighting their way to the top. And the best part? You can play at a sweepstakes casino for fun or real money prizes, depending on whether the casino offers include sweeps or gold coins.
Virtual Currencies: Since they cannot use the US Dollar, sweeps platforms use token currencies like gold coins (played with for fun), sweeps coins (played with for real cash), or any other virtual currency they could come up with. The casinos themselves decide the exchange rates between currencies.
Skill-Based Games: In addition to luck-based games created by some of the best software providers in the industry, sweepstakes platforms feature a selection of skill-based games where you can test yourself to the limits. Fish games are the most prominent of these, but they are not the only ones.
Social Events: At the core, sweeps casinos are social platforms where you can play sweepstakes games, meet other players, and participate in high-prize tournaments. The casinos are very active on social media and throw all kinds of events throughout the year.
Sweepstakes casinos in the US have reached the level of popularity undreamed of only a couple of years ago. However, not all online sweepstakes casinos deserve your attention. Some of them are nothing but money grabs that you'd do best to steer clear of.
Because there's so much variety and even potential risks, CasinoBee experts take extra care when reviewing online sweepstakes casinos. They spend a better part of their day testing casinos for their games, bonuses, currencies, and payout security. Here's what we look at:
Playing at dubious sweepstakes sites carries a risk you shouldn’t be comfortable taking. We make sure to recommend safe and secure sites with mechanisms in place to protect user data. To get our vote, top sweepstakes casinos need to use the latest SSL encryption protocols, have secure payment services, and undergo regular independent audits.
Since bonuses can radically change the way you play and experience sweepstakes casinos, their quality and variance command special attention in our rankings. We test bonuses each bonus separately, giving precedence to sweepstakes promotions that include free sweep coins.
Games make a casino tick, and we consider the quality, variety, and number of games to play at sweepstakes casinos. We make sure that our recommended casinos have plenty of slot games and live casino games to satisfy most tastes and feature a few specialty titles like fish games. The quality of game providers also enters the equation.
Sweeps casinos don’t require you to purchase anything in order to play, but you can do so on your own accord. Likewise, payment methods are needed to redeem winnings. We take a detailed look at all available payment methods and evaluate their reliability, limits, and overall safety.
Operating in something of a legal gray area, it is super important that you have someone to turn to in case things go south. We make sure to recommend sweeps casinos with best-in-class customer support, including 24/7 live chat.
Sweepstakes online casinos cannot use US Dollars anywhere on their site as that would render them illegal. For this reason, payments in online sweepstakes casinos are handled somewhat differently than what you’d find in real money casinos.
Since they are entirely online, you can’t expect to have PayNearMe or similar deposit methods available. Still, the majority of other methods, such as Visa credit card or Mastercard, work like a charm. Here’s a quick rundown of payment methods available in the most reputable sweeps casinos around the US:
You’ve probably seen sweepstakes promos that promise 1,000,000 GC + 5 Free SC + 10 Diamonds and wondered what all that meant in the world. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.
Since sweepstakes platforms cannot use US dollars, they had to develop some other currencies to use on their websites. The two main currencies going around are gold coins (GC) and sweeps coins (SC).
Gold coins have no real value outside the casino’s ecosystem and can be used to play for fun and fun alone. You can purchase them in bundles and play casino-style games with them. Every casino sets its own GC value, and with all those zeros flashing around, gold coins can look like your worst inflation nightmare. That’s why we always suggest you get a grip on their actual worth before purchase.
On the other hand, sweeps coins (or sweeps cash) often have a 1:1 US Dollar ratio and are redeemable as cash prizes. In other words, by playing through SC, you can win and redeem real cash prizes. But here’s the rub: you cannot purchase SCs but receive them as free gifts when you purchase GC bundles. This helps sweepstakes stay on this side of legal in most US states.
And Diamonds? They are yet another currency that casinos can use to make things more interesting. You’ll also find other names for GC, such as free coins and the like.
Bonuses are definitely the strong point of the best online sweepstakes casinos. More often than not, new sweepstakes casino players will receive no-deposit welcome bonuses from which you can earn real cash prizes. That’s right, no-deposit promotions include both gold coins AND sweeps coins, but you can’t just take the welcome bonus guerilla-style and run away with it. You’ll have to play through your SC before being able to redeem cash prizes.
Apart from the no-deposit welcome bonus, other types of promos include:
And that’s just scratching the surface. We haven’t even mentioned Spin Wheels where you’ll receive random rewards, or the Piggy Bank bonus that’ll help you save a portion of your wagers.
Like with real money casinos, the hallmark of an excellent sweepstakes platform is the variety and the quality of games in its portfolio. In many respects, the games found in sweepstakes casinos are the same as those at real money operators, and you can play them via mobile phones or other handheld devices just as well. They are all free to play using gold coins but can also be played for real money prizes using sweeps cash.
And as for variety, you’ll want to see the following:
The presence of leading providers determines the quality of a casino. Some of the best in business include Pragmatic Play, Belatra, 3 Oaks, Betsoft, Spinomenal, and KA Gaming.
That’s all good if you only want to play for fun. However, things get a little more complicated if you’re planning to play for real cash prizes. In that case, you have to verify your account by providing legal documents like a personal ID or driver’s license and proof of address by providing your latest utility bill. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to verify your account in most sweepstakes online casinos:
The whole process can take 1 to 3 days, depending on the casino. After that, you’ll be able to play through and redeem SC as real cash.
Top sweepstakes casinos are a godsend for people living outside the 6 US states where online gaming is legal. On top of that, sweepstakes have a few trump cards over their real-money counterparts. Just how do sweepstakes differ from regular online casinos, find out in the table below:
| Casino | Best Feature | No Deposit Bonus | Other Bonuses | Available Games |
| High 5 | Generous no deposit bonus | 250 GC, 5 SC, 600 Diamonds | Daily Bonus, Bonus Drops, Referral Bonus | Slots, Live Dealer Games |
| BetRivers | Excellent games | 250 free VC$ | Daily Wheel, Daily Free Credits, RushRace Slot Tournaments
|
Slot, Table Games, Live Dealer Games |
| FunRize | Fantastic app | 75,000 FC | Loyalty Program, Funrize Wheel, Invite Friends Reward, Races | Slots, Fish Games |
| Jackpota | 24/7 customer support | 7,500 GC + 2.5 free SC | Daily Login, Refer-a-Friend, Free Coins Giveaway, SC Jackpot, Weekly Slots Tournaments | Slots, Live Casino, Slingo |
| NoLimitCoins | Top-of-the-line payment security | 100,000 GC and 100 SC | Daily Wheel, Bingo Balls, Refer-a-Friend, Email Reward Draw, Daily Tournaments | Slots, Fish games, Jackpot games |
| FunzCity | Daily CC bonuses and referral bonus | 125,000 FC | Daily Rewards, Deposit Bonuses, No Deposit Bonuses | Slots, Fish, Jackpot |
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