How Sweepstakes Casinos Actually Work
Two currencies, one of which is not money and one of which can become a prize. Once that distinction is clear, the rest of the model is simple.
The Two Currencies
Where the value sitsA sweepstakes casino runs on a promotional model rather than a gambling licence. You are never required to buy anything. Instead you receive two separate balances, and only one of them has any redemption value.
Gold Coins
Play currency. Every headline figure you see advertised, the half a million and one and a half million totals, is almost always this. Gold Coins can be spent in the lobby indefinitely and cannot be converted into anything. That is why every review on this site scores them at zero.
The prize currency
Usually written as SC or given a branded name. This is the balance that can be redeemed for a prize once it reaches the operator minimum. It arrives free with signup, with daily bonuses, through promotions, and as a bonus attached to coin purchases, but it can never be bought on its own.
From Signup To Payout
Four stagesRegister and verify
Name, address, date of birth and usually a document check. Doing this before you play means verification is not sitting in the way of your first redemption.
Collect the free credit
Signup credit, then daily login bonuses, promotional entries, mail-in routes and social giveaways. This is the only currency worth tracking.
Reach the floor
Operators will not process a redemption below a minimum balance, between fifty and one hundred coins across the operators we tested.
File and wait
Redemptions go to bank transfer, card or a gift card equivalent. We measured between twenty-two and seventy hours from filing to funds.
What Trips People Up
Common misreadingsReads well, means little
- A million coin headline that credits two usable coins
- A percentage match on a purchase you do not need to make
- VIP points that convert to play currency only
- Any figure quoted without naming the currency
Worth reading closely
- The usable credit figure on its own line
- The redemption floor in the cashier terms
- Whether daily bonuses are guaranteed or wheel-based
- Which states the operator excludes
See all 18 reviews
Funded accounts, cleared floors and timed payouts, recorded the same way for every operator.