Sweepstakes Casinos Are an Online Phenomenon, But How Do They Work?

Everyone knows about casinos. Whether it’s the glitz and glamour of a bricks-and-mortar establishment, or a licensed website or app in one of the handful of states where online casinos have been legalized, people know what to expect. 

There is another way to play online, though. It’s wildly popular, with over a million monthly players and billions spent every year, and is available in most US states. These are sweepstakes casinos, sites and apps that operate under promotional sweepstakes laws to allow players to play games for cash and other prizes. 

They’re undoubtedly a modern phenomenon, and this is everything you need to know about them. If you’re not already playing, you can do so by checking out https://www.vegasinsider.com/casinos/sweepstakes/new/ at Vegas Insider, where smart players get their edge. 

Gold coins and sweeps coins

You’ll find all the same kinds of games at a sweepstakes casino as you would at a regular online casino. This means slots, table games such as blackjack and roulette, and sometimes even live dealer tables. The big difference is the way that you place your stakes. 

With a regular casino, you swap your money for chips that have an equivalent cash value, or put your money directly into a slot game, and play. Anything you win, you receive directly. You can then choose to cash your winnings out. At a sweepstakes casino, things are a little different. 

There are two main currencies at a sweepstakes casino: gold coins (GC) and sweeps coins (SC). Gold coins have no monetary value, and are just used to play the games for fun. Many sites have a social aspect, though, and some players love showing off how high they can get their GC balance. You can either earn gold coins through regular logins and other promotions, or purchase gold coin packs. 

Sweeps coins work a little differently. You can’t buy these directly, and instead earn them via giveaways, login promotions, or as an add-on when you purchase gold coins. You play the games with them, just as you do with gold coins, except you can then exchange sweeps coins for prizes. And, yes, that includes cash. 

But do you win real money prizes at a sweepstakes casino? 

Yes and no. When you play using sweeps coins, you can win are more sweeps coins. Once you have enough, you can then redeem your sweeps coins for a range of prizes. 

Every sweepstakes casino has different redemption rules, so make sure to check out the one you choose to find out exactly how many sweeps coins you need in order to redeem a prize. Generally speaking, however, there are three levels or prize redemption. 

At the lower end, you can typically redeem 10 SC for a gift card. At around 50 sweeps coins you’ll be able to redeem for a prepaid debit card, and at about 100 SC you can request a cash transfer direct to your preferred payment method. 

One other key thing to look out for with sweeps coins is their expiry. Some void after a set period of time, usually in the months, while others can be lost after inactivity. These will all be laid out in your site’s terms and conditions. Either way, in order to keep coins active, and claim daily rewards, regular logins are recommended even if you don’t play.