Sweepstakes casinos are one of the big success stories in the online gambling world in recent times. They’re not quite a real money casino, they’re not quite a social casino, they’re right in the middle and that has proved a winning recipe. 

You can play for free, or you can go after Sweeps coins, which can be redeemed later for prizes or cash. While traditional online casinos are heavily regulated in the US, and legal in just a handful of states, these sweepstake sites are available in 46 out of 50 US states (*at the time of writing). 

More than 1 million active US players have helped sweepstakes casinos grow from a niche curiosity to an $11 billion a year juggernaut. It isn’t just availability, the best sweepstakes casinos have incorporated social elements like community leaderboards, social media contests, side missions and daily contests to bring a community vibe to casino gaming.

The likes of Chumba Casino, Wow Vegas and McLuck have also evolved from small and simple slots-focused affairs into complete social casinos that are a match for the best online casinos out there, now offering the world’s biggest game providers, free to play table games and 1000’s of slots-style games.

You will often see social and sweepstakes casinos categorized together, and there is a certain amount of overlap. There are crucial differences, however, and you should be aware of them before you pick a casino to play at. 

Social casinos are just for fun. The virtual currency can’t be redeemed for cash or prizes and it’s just for the virtual world. Sweepstakes casinos, on the other hand, run a dual currency system.

Essentially you get Gold Coins, chips, or whatever the casino calls them, for free play. You can get these for free and never spend a dime to play at the casino.

You can also choose to play with the Sweeps coins that are given out as bonuses for extended play, or when you buy a package of Gold coins. These Sweeps coins cannot be purchased – but just earned, won or included as a bonus in the Gold Coins package – and once you have enough Sweeps coins then you can redeem them for prizes or actual money down the line.

Sweepstakes casinos have evolved into a real and serious alternative to the old-school real money casinos. You get high-quality games from the best providers, the full complement of casino games, live dealer sections and social elements, in a package that’s accessible in the US and Canada.

Now these casinos started out as simple platforms with a handful of games. They were essentially a loophole, allowing players to play casino style games for free. But now the sites have evolved – smaller sweepstakes casinos are still all about casual gameplay, but the major brands have put serious money into the tech, their own games and an experience that is even better than a traditional casino.

So, how do you pick the best one? When we review sweepstakes casinos, we look at a few key factors.

🎰 Game Variety

Gone are the days of generic, low-budget slots that were, at best, a tribute to the big names. The leading sweepstakes casinos have thousands of premium slots, table games and we’re even seeing live dealer games.

We’re also seeing the very best providers come on board, like Pragmatic Play, Betsoft, NetEnt and more. We recommend you go looking for casinos with these games, as the big software providers tend to work with reputable and solid casinos.

Also, many sweepstakes casinos develop their own exclusive games. Chumba Casino has given us Western Gold and Stampede Fury, McLuck teamed up with Spinomenal to create McLuck King, and there are more.

🎁 Sweepstakes Casino Bonuses

One of the major attractions with sweepstakes casinos is that you can play for free, and that’s largely down to the no-deposit bonuses. You’ll get a huge haul of free-play Gold coins just for signing up, and then the best sweepstakes casinos come with an arsenal of daily login rewards, daily challenges, giveaway promotions, social media bonuses and other ways to give you coins.

Of course, they welcome free players, but sweepstakes casinos make their money from the committed players that buy coin packages. If you’re likely to become a paying customer, which you will if you want to play the Sweeps coins system, then you should really shop around for the best bonuses.

Our pro tip is to always check the terms and conditions. Some sites give free sweeps coins, but really they’re tied to purchases and you will have to spend real money before you really want to.

🎉 Social Media & Community Features

Sweepstakes casinos thrive on social engagement, in fact it’s a major part of the marketing strategy. They rely on the likes of you and me to spread the love to your friends list, and their friends list, and this can be a lot cheaper than a paid advertising campaign.

Many sweepstakes casinos have Facebook-integrated games, in-app leaderboards, and community challenges. These add another element of fun and social competition to the gambling experience.

Big platforms run regular social media contests through their Facebook pages, where players can win substantial hauls of bonus coins or major prizes. The way these casinos have embraced social media could serve as a lesson to the whole igaming community. Their legal status under sweepstakes laws certainly makes this kind of promotion easier, as they don’t face quite the same advertising restrictions.

😍 User Experience

Again, modern sweepstakes casinos have gone to the next level in terms of the user experience and incorporated social and casual gaming elements that we’re more used to seeing on viral hits like Candy Crush, Angry Birds and Animal Crossing.

These casinos were built for a younger audience, with 52% of players in the 18-34 bracket, and the whole genre is relatively new. It grew up in the mobile first age and so it’s no surprise that sweepstakes casinos are some of the most satisfying to play on a smaller device.

Forget about lag, glitches and freezes. The best social casinos are butter smooth, and whether it’s an app or a responsive, browser-based casino, then the overall user experience might be a welcome surprise compared the old-school casinos.

🌟 User Reviews & Reputation

Unlike real-money casinos, sweepstakes casinos operate under sweepstakes laws, so they don’t have the same licensing and oversight. Essentially, then, the license a casino holds is relatively meaningless as a trust signal. Player reviews and online feedback take on much greater significance and we recommend you do your own research on sites like Reddit, casino forums and even Trustpilot before you play.

Look for repeated complaints about payout reliability, customer support, the fairness of the bonus and the game variety. Your fellow players could give you the insight you need to trust a sweepstakes casino, or not.

Sweepstakes casinos work differently, and that includes the bonus structure. Theoretically, you can play for free on sweepstakes casinos without ever spending a dime, just collecting the bonuses and continuing to play. Of course, that will give you limited daily play, but you can do it if you shop around and make sure you’re playing at a bonus heavy casino.

If you want to play with Sweeps coins and redeem for real money down the line, you’re probably looking for the deposit match bonuses and your priorities will be different. So, you need to know what your goals are before you go bonus shopping, but here are some of the most important bonuses you’ll find at social casinos.

No-Purchase Sign-Up Bonuses:

When you sign up at sweepstakes casinos, you’ll often get a welcome bonus that includes the two types of virtual currency: Gold coins and Sweeps coins. You can’t redeem Gold coins for real prizes or money, so the casinos can afford to be generous with these and you can often get 10,000 or more. Sweeps coins have potential prize value, so you might only get 2-5 of these to introduce you to the game mechanics, but you can get more when you buy coin packages and score gameplay bonuses.

Daily Login Bonuses:

The whole social element of sweepstakes casinos relies on massive numbers of returning players coming each and every day. Sweepstake casino daily log-in bonuses are normally in the form of Gold coins for free play, but some sites offer incremental rewards for consistent players who form the lifeblood of the casino. So, you can score Sweeps coins too.

Social Media and Giveaway Promotions:

Sweepstakes casinos need your engagement and they want to direct you to their social channels. You’ll often get Gold coin giveaways through contests, and Sweeps casinos are also partial to a referral bonus. Send your friends a code, or invite them to play against you, and you can score a huge haul of free play coins.

First Purchase Bonuses:

This is where things get serious, where you cross the line from being one of a huge number of free players and become a valuable paying customer. The casino wants to encourage this, and will give you a massive amount of Gold coins that can often amount to a 200 or 300% deposit match bonus. The casino wants to guide you towards the Sweeps coin set-up, too, so they will almost always include a solid number of Sweeps coins in the first purchase bonus.

VIP & Loyalty Rewards:

Sweeps casinos can teach the online gambling world a good few lessons about player retention, gamification and loyalty rewards. The VIP club members tend to get a world of privileges, constant supplies of gold coins and bonus offers.

Sweepstakes casinos are legal, but they definitely operate in a unique legal space that the regulators are looking at closely. As of now sweepstakes casinos are legal in all but a few US states, but the landscape is constantly changing and there have been calls to ban sweepstakes casinos.

Sweepstakes casinos are legal in 45 states, and only Washington, Nevada, Michigan, Idaho, and Kentucky have banned them. The restricted states already had specific laws in place that covered promotional gaming, or strict anti-gambling laws that also cover sweepstakes casinos. In Canada, Quebec and Ontario have laws that prohibit the sweepstakes casino model.

While they don’t require traditional gambling licenses, sweeps casinos do comply with federal sweepstakes regulations, state-specific gaming laws and all rules and laws regarding virtual currencies. The free-to-play model is an essential component, as without this the casinos simply couldn’t operate. Regulators also keep a close eye on the prize redemption procedures, and sweeps casinos must comply with Anti-Money Laundering regulations and implement significant Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance when it’s time to process redemptions.

Some states are currently reviewing their sweepstakes casino policies, with pending legislation that could affect availability in certain jurisdictions. Players should regularly check their local regulations, as operators may adjust their service areas based on changing legal requirements or business decisions.

Updated: 17 March 2025

A number of high-profile lawsuits have been filed against Sweepstakes casinos. In New Jersey in November 2024, Apple and Google were named alongside High 5 Casino, Wow Vegas, CrownCoins Casino, and McLuck.com in a class action lawsuit that accused them all of facilitating illegal gambling.

Chumba Casino parent company VGW Holdings has faced a number of lawsuits from gamblers, and was also named in RICO cases in New Jersey and New York. These cases accused VGW of running illegal gambling enterprises, using laws designed to fight organized crime.

In December 2024, a lawsuit was filed against High 5 Entertainment, alleging that the sweepstakes model is simply a pretext for unregulated gambling.

Major sweepstakes casino operators like VGW have successfully defended their business model in court multiple times, but the industry faces ongoing legal scrutiny and challenges. A growing number of class-action lawsuits, combined with increased attention from state regulators, could impact how these platforms operate.

Tech giants like Apple and Google, which provide crucial access through their app stores and payment processors, may also rethink their pro-Sweeps casino stance if the lawsuits mount up.

Sweepstakes casinos provide a legal way to enjoy casino games in territories that traditionally took a dim view of online gambling. You can play for free, you still get the chance to redeem your sweeps coins for real money and you get to enjoy a whole new world of socially integrated casino games that are every bit as good as the top online casinos in 2025.