Best Sweepstakes Casinos with Real Money Prizes

The concept of sweepstakes is new even to the most experienced iGaming-enthusiasts. Online casinos have borrowed it to bring free online casino games with cash prizes in all states.

Exclusively legal under US federal laws, the sweepstakes model allows businesses and online platforms to offer prizes across state lines without requiring a license. They can remain legal by not requiring participants to make a purchase to participate.

The terminology applying to sweepstakes might confuse you, but sites like Chumba Casino used this concept to create an online gambling model that is a hybrid of social and real money casino gaming. Unlike with offshore casino sites, you don’t break any laws by playing online sweepstakes games for prizes. And in contrast to state-licensed casinos, sweepstakes gambling sites are legal in all states with a few exceptions.

If you are over 18 years old and interested in playing free online slots, table games, jackpots, bingo, keno, scratchies, poker, or else, you should continue below for details.

Code: CAS150

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$6000

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Code: BETCASINO

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Deposit / Withdraw:

Code: CAS150

★★★★★ 5/5

20%

Daily Cashback

Min Deposit: $5

Promo code: CAWELCOME100

★★★★★ 5/5

$2000

300% Welcome

Min Deposit: $25

Promo code: WILD250

★★★★★ 5/5

$6000

+100 Free Spins

Min Deposit: $20

Promo code: WILD250

★★★★★ 5/5

$5000

Welcome bonus

Min Deposit: $20

Promo code: WILD250

★★★★★ 5/5

$3000

100% Bonus

Min Deposit: $25

How Sweepstake Casinos Work

Understanding the sweepstakes casino model is crucial if you plan to play on these platforms. Knowing how these work can help you play games and cash out prizes without issues or pressure. Below we break down every important aspect tied to these platforms, but the concept is simple: You use virtual currencies to play free or real money casino games legally in all US states.

Legal States & Requirements

Online sweepstakes casinos are open to all players over 18 years old and based in the USA. The only state that’s excluded due to legal precedent in Washington, D.C. There, Big Fish Social Casino lost a multimillion case against its players, and free online casinos do not come near it.

Each platform has the right to restrict access to more states, with Idaho and Wyoming often excluded.

New York and Florida allow sweepstakes casinos, like Texas, Arizona, California, etc., but they have a maximum winning cap of a single win at $5,000.

Sweeps Coins & Gold Coins

Sweepstakes casinos remain legal by incorporating two currencies instead of real money. You can play all the casino games in the world there, but you are betting with either of these instead of USD.

✨ Gold coins are the free-to-play currency. Such coins can be purchased in packages ranging from $0.99 to $199. Such coins can be used to play but cannot be redeemed for cash prizes.

💎 Sweep coins are the premium/real money currency. You cannot directly buy sweeps coins, which are instead provided as a bonus for your gold coins purchases. Each sweepstake casino will offer free sweeps coins through bonuses upon your daily login or for mailing them.

As a general rule, if you buy a gold coin package that amounts to $10, you will receive 10 SC; this means that you are essentially purchasing a money currency cloaked to keep these sites within legal requirements. Likewise, each sweepstakes coin can be exchanged for $1 by redeeming over the minimum threshold. This is usually placed at 50 or 100 SC.

Remember that some sweepstakes casinos might brand gold and sweeps coins according to their theme. Their purpose is the same, though. Here are a few examples:

WOW Casino – wow coins
Fortune Coins Casino – fortune coins
ZitoBox Casino – zito coins
Funzpoints – premium and standard funzpoints
Gambino Slots – GCoins

No Purchase Necessary

The no purchase necessary is a statement all legal sweepstakes casinos highlight and must comply with. Essentially, players must not be required to spend money to have a chance at winning. For this reason, all sweepstakes casinos provide the following:

Free sweeps coins on registration
Daily sweeps coins when you log in
Free to enter contests and tournaments awarding sweeps coins
Free SC for sending them a mail

As a result, you can win real money without spending any. Players have the option to receive sweeps coins through purchase bonuses and regular promotions, but they are not compelled to participate in these.

5 Best Sweepstakes Casinos with Prizes

The above are the features all legal sweepstakes casinos incorporate on their platforms. In our view, this new gaming model is ideal for players who don’t want to spend much or are located outside the legal gambling states.

Still, finding the right sweeps cash casino is important since their bonuses, offerings, games, and quality of services range. Below, you can find information on our favorite sweepstakes online casinos USA.

Chumba Casino

Chumba was the first sweepstake casino in the USA, launched in 2012 by Virtual Gaming Worlds. The site is licensed by the MGA and provides 100 free-to-play games. New players get 2 million gold coins, and 2 sweeps coins after registration. A first purchase bonus is also available when you buy one of the gold coin packages.

The site is available in an instant play format on all desktop and mobile devices. The predominant niche covered here is slots, including classics and progressives. You can play these using SC or GC and win real prizes.

Global Poker, Scratch Carnival, and LuckyLand Slots are all Chumba sister sites with similar services but a different range of games. All titles are powered in-house by VGW.

Pulsz Casino

Pulsz was launched in 2021 and was an instant hit. It is powered by independent iGaming vendors and features over 300 online slots. These range from progressives to Megaways and bonus buy games to high RTP slots. A few table games and scratchcards are also available to play at Pulsz Casino.

You get 2 SC and 5,000 GC when you sign-up on Pulsz. A VIP program, tournaments, and referral bonuses are also available after your first purchase, which is boosted by a 300% bonus.

Pulsz Bingo was also recently established, where you can play similar slots and free live bingo games. These include Bingo Blast, Route 66, and Empire State Bingo.

Fortune Coins Casino

A new project that Americans have welcomed, Fortune Coins features an $8 no-deposit bonus and 140,000 gold coins after signup. Additional promo codes apply on your future deposits, with regular contests also running on social media and onsite.

You can play slightly over 40 slot machines at Fortune Coins, each with a unique bonus feature. All games create the potential to win a massive progressive jackpot, growing by the stakes placed across the whole site.

A fish gambling game, a lucky wheel game, poker, and blackjack are some other titles available to play at Fortune Coins Casino.

WOW Casino

WOW Casino is a brand-new operator with a gaming catalog exceeding 300 slots. The games are products of Betsoft, Pragmatic Play, and Revolver Gaming. This means you cannot go wrong with any of the slots available to play.

After registration, new players receive 5,000 Wow Coins and $2 worth of sweeps coins. A few ongoing tournaments and ten table games are also live at WOW Casino, boosting this new site to our top list.

SweepSlots Casino

SweepSlots is still in its infancy, but it makes it to the top for two main reasons:

A $100 no-deposit bonus in the form sweeps coins
Over five games in its catalog exceed 98% RTP

The casino is easy to use and supports payments via Skrill and crypto. The games at SweepSlots are powered by Casino Web Script, an award-winning provider.

Still, the range of options is small here, with two dozen slots and a few table games. Though they deliver quality, we expect more to be added soon.

Sweepstake Casinos to Avoid

There are many other sweepstakes casinos you can play from home.

Initially, this model was incorporated by internet café sweepstakes, which still carry a terrible reputation. The popular software systems such venues employed have recently transitioned online. Such sites are worse than offshore casino sites, often featuring games that hold 50% of the profit. They also make it hard to register and cash out.

We blacklist such operators and urge you to avoid them. Some such platforms you are likely to encounter include:

Riversweeps Casino – doesn’t pay out
Vegas-X Casino – rigged games
Orion Stars Casino – offers games without a license
TigerisHome – worst gaming software system available
BitBetWin – a platform that facilitates all dodgy sweepstakes games
Golden Dragon – fish game software that sketchy operators employ

Sweepstake Casinos Benchmarking Process

The process we follow when rating sweepstakes casinos is not as rigorous as with real money online casinos. That’s because such sites are practically free and do not require an iGaming license or officially tested games to operate. However, some elements help us determine if an operator is legit and whether you should play there. These include:

🛡️ Operating company – a sweepstakes casino must be operated by an American-based, registered, and legitimate company.

🎲 Games software – we always prefer sweeps cash casinos powered by gaming vendors producing games for real money casinos. There are many sweeps cash casino sites powered by NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Playtech, etc. There, you can enjoy better and more games than on sites powered by proprietary software.

💰 Cash prizes – a few sweepstakes casinos pay out prepaid vouchers, cards for retail shops, or prizes for redeeming coins. Our team prefers operators who allow users to redeem sweeps coins for cash.

🏦 Banking – although your deposit and withdrawal options will be more limited than on real money platforms, we ensure that our recommendations will provide at least eWallets, cards, prepaid, and a few other payment options.

📱 Mobile experience – like online casinos develop apps and optimize their websites for gaming on the move, sweepstakes casinos also cater to your needs. A perfectly optimized mobile casino site is a good sign, but dedicated apps pierce through our hearts.

The top five sweeps cash casinos we listed aren’t the only ones that meet the above standards. Sites like PCH, Golden Hearts Games, High 5 Casino, BetRivers.net, Rush Games, and Skillz Games are other top sweepstakes casino sites.

Sweepstakes Casinos vs. Other Gambling Options

Americans have a few different options for gambling online. Each comes with different features and benefits, with none being perfect.

The following table provides a comparison to help you decide whether sweepstakes casinos are the correct route for you.

How to Play at Sweepstake Casinos

Understanding what we have covered so far is the hard part. Getting down to business and betting on your favorite casino games at a sweepstakes site is simple. Much simpler than with real money casinos.

To begin, you can tap on one of the operators listed on our banners. This way, you will visit the online casino and instantly qualify for their no-deposit signup bonus. To get it, you must first register.

The requirements are basic, including a username, full name, address, currency, and birthday. You can streamline the process by loading the information through your linked social media account.

Your account should be up and running in minutes, and you can begin playing with the free coins provided.

Before making a purchase or redemption, the casino will ask you to verify the provided details. That’s the standard KYC procedure required on all platforms. Provide the documents, which should be reviewed within 72 hours, and you won’t have any delays in future deposits and withdrawals.

If you face any problems, live chat or email support is available in every online casino highlighted here. The most common banking options you will find include bank cards, Skrill, and eCheck. The latter is the most widespread redemption method for amounts exceeding $2,000. Other options might also be supported depending on where you play, such as PayPal, Trustly, and crypto.

Sweeps Casino Games

So what games can you play at sweepstakes casinos? Indifferently to whether you are playing with gold or sweeps coins, you will be able to play most of the titles. When playing for free, ads might pop up from time to time.

All sweepstakes casinos feature online slots. The actual games will depend on the software providers of the site and whether they are developed in-house. For instance, sites like Chumba Casino create their own games and fall under the classic category. A few paylines, free spins, scatters, wilds, and five reels. When playing on sites like Pulsz Casino and WOW Casino, you can find online slots that are powered by Pragmatic Play, Betsoft, Greentube, Microgaming, NetEnt, Relax Gaming, etc. This means you can play Megaways, bonus buy, multiway, extreme ways, link and win, and other modern video slots.

Progressive jackpot games are also popular with sweepstakes players. Some games feature fixed jackpots, while a few titles carry progressive prizes. These can pay six figures in sweeps coins. The fireshot series at Chumba is worth trying out, while all games at Fortune Coins share the same progressive pots.

You can also play video roulette, poker, and blackjack at most sweepstakes sites. Don’t expect too much variety, just a few options from each niche. Unless you go with Global Poker, which is a sweepstakes poker site where you can compete against other players.

Free online bingo rooms are available at Pulsz Bingo and Golden Hearts Games.

Fish arcade games are also popular with Americans, but only Fortune Coins provides a real money one – Emily’s Treasure. Definitely worth a try.

Other gaming options you can find across our recommended sites include keno, scratchies, and wheel games.

For live dealers or alternative types of games, you should check out social casinos highlighted on this page or play at real money online casinos.

Useful Terminology

Some terms you might be used to at online casinos are not permitted on sweepstakes casinos. This is so they comply with federal laws, and the following dictionary can help you get accustomed to the basics.

Deposit = Purchase
Withdrawal = Redemption
Stakes/Bets = Participate
USD = SC
Free Play = GC
No purchase necessary = No deposit needed
Play = Enter
Wager = Spin
Casino Games = Casino-style games
Exchanged = Converted or Traded
Sweepstakes casinos = Promotional sweepstakes
Real money = Cash prize
Online casino = Social gaming

FAQ 🙋‍♂️

Are sweepstake casinos legal in the USA?

Yes, sweepstakes casinos are only legal in the US and Canada. Washington, D.C., and Quebec are the only excluded areas.

What are the best sweepstakes casinos?

Opinions range, but Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, Fortune Coins, Pulsz Casino, and Global Poker are generally considered the best sweepstakes casino sites in the USA.

Can I win real money at sweepstakes?

Yes, you can exchange sweeps coins for real money. You must have wagered these per the site’s terms and conditions and meet the minimum withdrawal threshold, usually set at 50 SC. Verification is required before your first redemption.

Which is the best sweepstake casino?

In our view, Fortune Coins is the best sweepstake casino site. It provides excellent in-house games you cannot play anywhere else, including a multiplayer fish game. It offers an $8 no-deposit bonus to new players, and you can play poker, blackjack, keno, and more games aside from slots. All Fortune Coins games also share a progressive jackpot.

Are sweepstakes casinos free?

Yes, no purchase is necessary to play sweepstakes casino games online, although some restrictions might apply in the free mode. There are several daily and welcome bonuses to add virtual coins to your account, with which you can play without spending any money.

Are there bonus codes for sweepstakes casinos?

Although not essential, some sweepstakes casinos release bonus codes. Typically, you can use our links to register for an account, and the bonus sweeps and gold coins will be credited instantly. Follow-up promotions are also available, with or without bonus codes, in the form of free spins, daily bonuses, tournaments, VIP prizes, and social media contests.