Winning at sweepstakes requires little more than having good luck (or so the story goes). But how awesome would it be if you could convert some of those free “sweeps” coins into real money? Well, there are a growing number of casinos that offer both traditional sweepstakes games and .
In other words, some sites combine the best elements of traditional and social casinos. All the fun is free but, if you amass enough “sweeps” coins through playing or purchasing them, you can actually redeem those for gift cards and other prizes that have real cash value. Our experts have even identified a few sites we consider the best free play sweepstakes casinos. Check out our list below.
Top Free Play Casino Sites – Our Ranking
#1 loterry Roulette – The Best Site for Free Play Slots & Games
Country: USA, incl. Michigan & West Virginia
Welcome Bonus: 300% up to 3000 Sweeps Coins (plus 10 Free Sweeps Coins) and 30 free spins
Highlights:
- Dozens of classic and video slots
- Table games, video poker, and bingo
- Social casino with lots of extra features
- 30 free spins on sign-up
- No purchase necessary to play
- Great mobile app
Choosing the best free play sweepstake casinos in the US is a tough job, but one site that consistently ranks near the top is Pulsz Casino, now available in an expanding number of states, including Michigan and West Virginia. What makes Pulsz different from many other social and free play online casinos is that they also operate a traditional VIP casino club known as Loterry Casino. Members of Loterry Casino can purchase discounted tickets for some of the best jackpot lottery games in the world, including Mega Millions and Powerball.
Even better, members of Loterry Casino can choose to link their accounts to Pulsz Casino—and start playing hundreds of free virtual slot machines and other casino games. All the fun is free, but players who want to amass more “Pulsz Credits” (PCs) can purchase more through multiple payment methods, including Visa, MasterCard, Trustly iDebit, paysafecard, Skrill, and Neteller. PCs cannot be redeemed for cash or prizes, but every Pulz player automatically receives a few “Sweeps Coins” (SCs) every day, as well as through various promotions and contests. And yes, Sweeps Coins can be redeemed for cash and prizes.
Every new Pulsz player receives 250,000 FREE Golden Chance Scratch Cards and 30 FREE Spins on Signature Slot “Royal Crown.” They also receive 10 FREE Sweeps Coins just for creating a new account. (Note that while Pulsz welcomes players in most US states, Sweeps Coins are not available in all jurisdictions.)
One of the nice things about the Pulsz Casino platform is that it was designed by experienced gamblers who understand what features and game options are important to serious slot machine enthusiasts. Every game has multiple paylines that can be selected and wagered credits or coins, plus multiple spin speeds, autoplay options, and detailed game stats. Best of all, many of the Pulsz slot machines look and feel like their real-money counterparts at , with bonus games, free spins, wild symbols, and more.
While Pulsz only offers a handful of table games (blackjack, roulette, Super Stylish Wheel), they make up for this by offering dozens of video poker variations, bingo variants, and a unique “crane machine” game where you can “win” plush toys and other animated prizes. As with most social casinos, most of the games at Pulsz can be played on a desktop PC or Mac or via their downloadable iOS/Android apps, although a few titles are mobile-only.
How to Choose the Best Free Play Online Casino Sites
If you enjoyed Pulsz, you’ll be happy to learn there are dozens of similar social and free play casinos that allow American players to enjoy “free Vegas” casino gaming. Most of these sites are legitimate and reputable, regulated by the Connecticut State Lottery, Malta Gaming Authority, or other respected governmental organizations.
Unfortunately, a few unlicensed operators have begun using the “social casino” business model to scam unsuspecting players, so it’s important to use trusted online resources to vet any new casino sites you may not have heard of before. Here are three free sweepstake casinos that have passed our security tests with flying colors.
Every state regulates sweepstakes and lotteries in some manner, but each sets its own rules regarding international lotteries and private membership organizations (PMOs) that offer sweepstakes and online casinos. This is why some sites may be accessible in your area, while similar sites are not. Are free casino apps with real money rewards legal in the US? Yes and no.
The only nationwide regulation of online casino and social casino sites comes from the Federal Wire Act, which forbids anyone from knowingly providing wire communication facilities for the transmission of a wager or bet… or the resulting information. Since this law was passed in the 1960s, long before the internet and smartphones were invented, various federal courts have ruled that it only applies to traditional for-money casinos.
Free play and social casinos fall into a regulatory gray area, especially since these sites often accept payment processors based in other countries. This is one reason why many free play sites change their terms of service every few months and may be unavailable in your region one week and accessible the next. It’s also wise to check the latest gambling laws in your state, as sweepstakes laws vary from coast to coast.
With those caveats in mind, here are four factors we always consider before recommending any new social or free play online casino to our readers.
Reputation and Security
It’s difficult to judge the reputation of a relatively new site like Fun Mode Casino or HoHo Casino, as these operations have been around for less than five years. We rely heavily upon player reviews and feedback when evaluating lesser-known casinos. We also check to ensure that their games and RNG software have been certified as fair by independent testing laboratories like eCOGRA.
Bonuses and Promotions
What’s the point of playing at a social or free play casino if you don’t get extra free play or sweepstakes coins as bonuses? We look for sites that offer plenty of freebies simply for signing up, as well as daily login bonuses, achievement prizes, and other free coin opportunities. Many sites also offer seasonal promotions and giveaways during holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.
Gulfport Casinos You Need to Check Out This YearGame Variety and Quality
Just because a site offers “free” casino games doesn’t mean they’re worth playing. We prefer social casino platforms that license slot machine titles from well-known providers like NetEnt, IGT, WMS, or Novomatic—or have their own stable of exclusive games. It’s also important that a site offers a wide variety of games beyond slot machines, such as blackjack, roulette, video poker, scratchcards, and keno.
Payment Options and Redemption Process
Most social and free play casinos give away sweepstakes coins liberally through bonuses, achievements, and other perks. The trick is converting those SCs into real rewards. That’s why we prefer sites that have a proven track record of allowing their players to redeem their coins for gifts, prepaid cards, and other goods that have significant cash value. Ideally, players should be able to choose from a variety of gift card denominations.
How Do Free Play Online Casinos Work?
Unlike real-cash online casinos, which are tightly regulated and only licensed in a player’s country of residence, free play social casinos operate in a bit of a grey area. While most states still outlaw all forms of online gambling, very few specifically address “social gaming” sites where nothing of real-world value is being won.
Instead of real money, all action takes place with units of play money, “fun dollars,” or “gold coins.” Some sites use two separate balances, while others use a single balance that may be comprised of gold, silver, and bronze coins. Regardless, these coins have NO REAL WORLD VALUE and CANNOT BE REDEEMED FOR PRIZES.
That’s okay, though, because players at social casinos can amass huge quantities of play money and never beat the house. These sites also offer another currency that can be accumulated and then exchanged for gifts, merchandise, charitable donations, or restaurant gift certificates.
These secondary coins are earned in much smaller quantities, typically through purchases, promotional offers, achieving certain goals, or through “offer walls” in which viewers watch short videos or try free games from other developers. Players must accumulate a certain number of these premium coins to qualify for a prize redemption, and must usually pay an additional amount (e.g., $1.99) to cover the cost of mailing their gift certificate code.
Some social casinos, like Old School Casino and Friends Poker, eschew premium currencies altogether, instead using gold and silver coins to determine your skill level. As you play, you can earn bonus coins and power-ups that only impact your session’s gold and silver totals—not your real coin balance. While this system can help less experienced or less successful players enjoy the game longer, it obviously prevents anyone from redeeming free coins for prizes.
What Can You Win and Redeem?
Those premium coins can be redeemed for a surprisingly diverse selection of products and services, ranging from restaurant and retail gift certificates, to concert and sports event tickets, to magazine subscriptions and charity donations. One of the most popular prizes is the various denomination of Visa and MasterCard gift cards, which can be used to fund your real-money online gambling account.
Many sites also run occasional special events, where they partner with a particular developer to offer that studio’s entire library of games absolutely free (to continue playing after a set number of free spins, players must purchase more). Other promos might allow you to roll the cumulative total of all your gold coins from all your social casino accounts into a single drawing, where thousands of lucky players win big bundles of FREE SLOT’S REAL MONEY ALTERNATIVE.
Sweepstakes casinos like Gloria Moon and Chumba take a slightly different approach, giving players two types of “coins”: free “Gold Coins” that have no monetary value, and FREE “Sweeps Coins,” which can be redeemed for actual cash prizes. There are plenty of ways to acquire free Gold Coins, including purchasing “Game Pack” deals that start at just 99 cents, or connecting to the site’s social media profiles.
You do receive some free Gold Coins just for signing up, but the main way to build up your bankroll is by purchasing more. This is also the only way you can acquire those coveted Sweeps Coins, which are awarded randomly based upon the amount and type of purchases made. For the best coin-to-SC ratio, look for the bigger “Value Packs” that cost $9.99 or more.
Once you’ve acquired at least 100 Sweeps Coins, you can redeem them for cash prizes via a secure request form. It can take several weeks to receive your funds, as the social casino must first verify your account information and redemption request. Sweeps Coin cashouts are typically issued as electronic transfers, but may also be sent via check or a range of gift cards from popular retailers.
New Live Casinos to Try Out in 2023 - YoYo Casino Takes the Lead!How to Play at Free Casino Apps With Real Money Rewards
The best part about free play and sweepstakes casinos is how easy they are to join and begin playing. Just follow these simple steps.
- Time Needed: 00:10
- Tools Needed: Laptop or mobile
- Software Needed: Email
How to Join a Free Play Casino Step 1
Visit the Right Sites
There are many safe and reputable free play and sweepstakes online casinos. You can trust our experts to separate the best from the rest.
How to Join a Free Play Casino Step 2
Create a New Account
It only takes a minute or two to enter your email address, create a password, and confirm your account.
How to Join a Free Play Casino Step 3
Receive Your Welcome Bonus
Most social casinos welcome new players with free coins and other gifts, along with bonus coins for achieving various goals.
How to Join a Free Play Casino Step 4
Play Hundreds of Free Games
Slots, blackjack, roulette, and more. The best free play sites have dozens of ways to play and win for free.
How to Join a Free Play Casino Step 5
Win Sweeps Coins
Winning from the free coins takes time, but if you accumulate enough, you can redeem them for gift cards and other prizes with real cash value.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Free Play Casinos
As with all forms of online gambling, there are advantages and disadvantages to playing at free play and social casinos. The following charts illustrate some of the key positives and negatives of playing free online slots and other casino favorably compared to their real-cash brethren.
Pros and Cons of Free Play Casinos
- Caption Name
- Bigger Bang for Your Buck * More Spins = More Fun * Win Free Prizze!
- Image
The Difference Between Social Casinos and Sweepstakes Casinos
At first glance, social casinos and free casino apps with real money rewards seem identical. Both offer versions of blackjack, roulette, slots, and other casino favorites—with one important difference.
Social casinos feature two distinct types of currency. The first is a local currency that has no monetary value and can be accumulated in virtually unlimited amounts. This local currency is sometimes divided into bronze, silver, and gold coins, or some similar scheme, but such divisions serve no purpose other than to provide higher targets for players.
The second type of currency can be accumulated through purchases, promotional offers, and various achievements, and can actually be redeemed for gifts, charitable donations, or other goods and services that have real-world cash value. Sometimes, fewer of these premium coins are required to qualify for better prizes.
Sweepstakes casinos, on the hand, eschew local currency entirely and focus solely on two types of “casino chips.” The first, such as Gloria Moon’s “Gold Coins,” hold true to their name and can be used to wager on all manners of casino games. These Gold Coins hold no monetary value, but are replenished regularly through various means.
The other type of coin found at sweepstakes casinos are the sites’ “free Sweeps Coins.” These can almost always be redeemed for various prizes, including electronic transfers and paper checks. The conversion rate isn’t equal—it takes tens of millions of Gold Coins to receive even a modest SC reward—but regular players can eventually build up sufficient balances to collect cold hard cash.
The Best Free Play Casino Games
All casino games have varying levels of popularity at free play and sweepstakes casinos, depending upon the whims of the players, the availability of branded games, and the marketing and promotional efforts of the platform operator. Below are the six most common free play online slot machines and casino table games.
- Slot Machines
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that free online slots are the most popular free play casino games. Even though players can never reach the jackpots, the dazzling lights, exciting sounds, and frequent wins keep fans coming back for more. Classic slot machines with three reels and a single payline are popular, as are more modern video slots with five reels, multiple rows, and scores of win lines.
Many social casinos license specific brand-name slot machines from major developers like NetEnt and WMS, while others feature exclusive games that can only be played for free. Several social casinos also feature “tournaments” where the top players share free play coin bonuses based upon their wagers over a set period of time.
- Blackjack and Other Table Games
Most social casinos feature one or more variations of blackjack, including single deck games, Spanish 21, and Blackjack Match. These games often come with interesting side bets, such as Buster, Paired Blues, Lucky Lucky, and Top/Bottom. Video poker titles are also quite popular among free casino app users, with Jacks or Better being the most common variant.
Other popular table games include roulette, craps, and baccarat. Given the high house edge found on most roulette layouts, it’s somewhat surprising that so many players enjoy spinning the wheel for free. A few social casinos even offer innovative lottery-style games that simulate the experience of playing some of the biggest multistate jackpot lottery games in the world, such as Powerball and Mega Millions.
- Scratch Cards
Most states sell physical scratchcard tickets, but only a few dozen offer lottery-style online scratchies. That creates a large demand among online casino patrons for virtual scratchcards, which can satisfy the urge to rapidly scan the screen in search of winning symbol matches. The best social and free play casinos feature dozens of scratchcard variations, some of which offer bonus mini-games or other interactive features.
- Bingo and Keno
A relative few free play casino sites feature bingo and keno, but these games remain popular with older demographics who remember them from their youth. While few social casinos offer an extensive array of bingo variants, most have half a dozen or so keno games that allow players to select their own numbers and wager amounts.
- Video Poker
Full pay tables in video poker games consume coins at a prodigious rate, which is why few real money online casinos feature the game. Free play and social casinos, on the other hand, see full pay video poker as a badge of honor, with several platforms featuring multiple variations of full pay Deuces Wild, All American Poker, Joker’s Wild, and other popular video poker titles.
- Virtual Sports and Sport Picks
Most people think of online casinos when contemplating free play and social platforms, but several notable operators have branched out into other betting arenas. Virtual sports sites use computer generated images to simulate sporting events, including auto racing, soccer, basketball, ice hockey, greyhounds, and thoroughbred horseracing.
These simulated games occur every couple of minutes around the clock, allowing enthusiastic bettors to wager on numerous outcomes, including winner, podium finish, over/under points scored, and correct score. Less scientific, but equally popular, are the various “Sport Picks” games that allow players to wager on the results of fictional sporting contests between cartoon characters.
Free Casino Apps with Real Money Rewards for Mobile
Nearly nine out of ten Americans carry a powerful computer in their pocket or purse, yet surprisingly few social and free play casino operators have developed suitable mobile interfaces for their platforms. One exception is Chumba Casino, which provides native apps for both iOS and Android devices that allow players to access all their favorite games from the palm of their hand.
The iPhone, iPad, and Android apps feature the same selection of free Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins games as found on Chumba’s desktop site, as well as all the latest promotions, achievements, and limited-time offers. If you already have an existing Chumba account, you can simply log into either mobile app and continue playing where you left off. Otherwise, it only takes a minute or two to register a new profile right from your phone or tablet.
Best of all, all deposits and withdrawals are supported on the mobile apps, so you don’t need to fiddle with your laptop or desktop PC to redeem your free Sweeps Coins for cash prizes. Note that while Chumba’s mobile apps are very responsive, have excellent touchscreen support, and run smoothly on low-end devices, your actual experience will depend upon the age and speed of your phone or tablet. Also, like most online casinos, Chumba does not currently support multi-tabling on a single account.
The Best Free Casino Apps with Real Money Reward for USA Players
Age: 18+ Region: Worldwide (void QC, ON, NV)
newest online casinosChumba Casino stands above the crowded field of social and free play online casinos thanks to its FREE SLOT’S REAL MONEY ALTERNATIVE and innovative lotery games, which let eligible players around the world win actual cash prizes.
- Get 2,000,000 Gold Coins + 2 Free Sweeps Coins
- Refer a friend +16GC; 21+; your ne eligibility: State 18+; Country exclusions apply
- Winnings from Sweeps Coin awards contributed to Service by third parties, e.g. survey sponsors, are provided in electronic fund transfer or mailed check only; game availability and restriction may apply
18+ | New UK players only | Min £10 deposit. 100% up to £100 Welcome Bonus received as Bonus Credit. 35x wagering requirements apply to Bonus Credit. Due to laws in your country, bonus winners must complete a verification process before bonuses or winnings can be withdrawn. Bonus policy and terms of website apply.
Best Gambling Apps in the World Right Now (2023)Our experts agree that Kheimerdingeren is the top free casino app with real money rewards, but there are plenty of other respectable sites worthy of your consideration. The following seven social and free play casinos all have something unique to offer, whether it be exclusive branded slot machine games, bonus free coin offers for Facebook followers, or the ability to redeem your free play coins for real goods and services you actually care about.
The History and Future of Free Play and Sweepstakes Casinos
The roots of modern sweepstakes casinos stretch back to 2010 and the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which made it illegal for offshore online casinos and sportsbooks to use American banks to process customer transactions. That didn’t make online gambling itself illegal, just the methodologies used to conduct that gambling, which allowed the fledgling online casino industry to continue operating in the United States for another decade.
Enter social gaming and the burgeoning world of smartphones and tablets. Companies like Winview, Big Bucks, and Crowd2Care developed fun, free slot machine games that could be monetized through various microtransactions, enticing enough that players spent hours playing without ever making a purchase.
Several companies, most notably Ignition Casino and Pulsz Casino, signed partnership agreements that licensed popular slot machine brands from land-based casino operators and video game developers, giving them a significant competitive advantage. Other sweepstakes sites turned their attention to Facebook and Twitter, using their social followings to dispense generous free coin offers to their loyal customers.
By the mid-2010s, dozens of free play and social casinos had sprung up, attracting millions of daily active users and billions of dollars in annual revenues. Some sites began experimenting with premium currencies that could be purchased with real money, and which could themselves be redeemed for gift cards, cash prizes, and charitable donations.
This gave rise to a whole new genre of “sweepstakes casino” that eschewed all local currency in favor of free coins that could be converted into redeemable prizes, but the core concept remained: People loved free online slots and other casino games, and were more than willing to spend a couple of bucks to keep the fun going.
Today, free play and social casinos remain popular throughout North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, giving players countless hours of enjoyable entertainment simply unable to resist. The rise of cloud gaming platforms and 5G wireless networks promises even more sophisticated virtual slot machines and other casino games that run smoothly on even the oldest smartphones and tablets.
