The US has complex gambling laws, which is why traditional online casinos are prohibited in many states. The intricate landscape, however, has given rise to online sweepstakes casinos, which have now been in existence for over 10 years. This particular breed of gaming platforms utilizes a distinctive model to operate in the country, which begs the question – are sweepstakes casinos legal in the United States?
We’ll answer this question and explain in-depth the licensing and legal framework for sweepstakes in the United States of America.
Below, we’ve discussed the top-rated sweepstakes casinos in the US. It’s important to note that the legal status of these gaming sites varies from state to state.
| Casino | Illegal States | Minimum Age | Top Features |
| Sweepslots | Washington, Delaware, Idaho, and Kentucky | 18+ | – Free daily rewards
– User-friendly interface – No purchase is required to play |
| TaoFortune | Michigan, Idaho, Washington, DC, Wyoming, and Utah | 18+ | – Round-the-clock customer support
– Excellent ongoing promotions – Daily rewards
|
| Stake.us | New York, Vermont, Washington, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, and Nevada | 21+ | – Extravagant signup bonus
– Titles from top game software – No real money purchases are required |
| Sweeptastic | Michigan, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington | 18+ | – Large game library
– Generous signup bonus – Crypto-exclusive promos |
| LuckyBird | Kentucky, Michigan, Washington, and Nevada | 18+ | – Mobile-friendly games
– Live chat is available – Distinctive ways to use your virtual token |
At the top of our list, we’ve got Sweepslots, a social sweepstakes casino that was launched in 2021. It has gained the trust of many players across America, and it’s easy to see why. The platform offers a range of exciting sweepstakes casino bonuses, including a signup bonus of 10,000 Gold Coins plus 300 Sweeps Coins. Additionally, you get to enjoy free daily bonuses as a registered player.
The platform has partnered with some of the best sweepstakes casino software providers, such as Relax Gaming, Dragon Gaming, and Realtime Gaming. So, you can expect to play high-quality games on this site, including popular progressive jackpot slots like Rich Pirates, which are available in 46 US states.
Owned and run by AI Development LLC, this social casino comes with several impressive features. The gaming website is home to a decent game selection, powered by top hitters in the industry, including NetGame Entertainment. US players can choose between two gaming modes here, namely, Tao Coins Mode and Secret Coins Mode. This essentially lets you have total control of whether to play for fun or the chance to redeem real prizes such as cash prizes or vouchers.
This online sweepstakes game site also has an impressive bonus/promotions program. As a new player, you’ll be given a welcome bonus of 128,000 Tao coins. While the signup offer isn’t extravagant, it’s enough for you to explore what the casino offers for free.
Ongoing promotions available to American players are Refer-a-friend, Magic Box, and Newbie trail offers. You can legally access these offers in 47 US states, therefore, be sure to take advantage of them to accumulate more coins.
Stake.us is a popular and legitimate crypto sweepstakes casino site, with excellent online casino-style games that you can play and redeem prizes for cryptocurrency. The gaming platform has more than 950 titles, including, table games, slots, and live dealer casino games from top-rated software providers such as BGaming, Pragmatic Play, and Evoplay among a few others.
Upon registering a new account, you get up to $25 SC and 250,00GC, which you can access and use in 45 states, providing you’re 21 years or older. After getting onboard, you can earn an extra $30 SC and 10,000GC by just signing in daily for the next 30 days of account registration.
What makes this USA sweepstakes casino even more appealing is its 5% rakeback bonus. The offer basically awards back 5% of all your losses every week.
Sweeptastic casino came into the gaming arena in mid-2023, under the administration of Heuston Gaming Limited. Despite being the new kid on the block, it features a large game library of 1000+ titles. These range from table games to video poker, sweepstakes slots, and jackpots designed by top dogs such as Booming Games, Betsoft, Gameart, BGaming, and Wazdan.
The social online casino greets its new players with 27,777 Lucky Coins plus 100 Sweeps Coins welcome bonus, and is available in 47 US states for players over 18 years. In addition to that, existing players enjoy a variety of ongoing promos, which boosts your lucky coins balance. For example, the daily login bonus activates once a day to give you 3,000 LC during the ‘Happy Hours’.
You can also earn free LCs and SC by participating in tourneys, contests, and special challenges that the casino hosts on social media and its official website.
LuckyBird came to birth in 2022 – owned and operated by Atlantic Management B.V. This free sweeps cash casino boasts a massive library of more than 2,100 games powered by Play’n Go, Betsoft, Playson, and 3 Oaks. There is a rich selection of jackpots and table games comprising poker, blackjack, roulette as well as live dealers. You can access and play these games for free in 45 US states.
Regarding the casino’s bonuses; new players get 100% of the deposit plus 150 free spins. You can access the welcome bonus via a browser on mobile and PC. Other promotional offers you can take advantage of at LuckyBird casino are no deposit bonuses daily rewards, free spins, and even tournaments.
We are aware of the importance of fairness, trust, and entertainment value when selecting an online sweepstakes casino. As such, we’ve got a particular process for how we rate sweepstakes casinos through which we evaluate, test, and rank each of the casinos we recommend on our pages:
Currently, almost every state in the US, allows you to play at sweepstakes casinos. US online gambling laws are more concerned with wagering real money on games of chance. Sweepstakes, however, don’t have the element of real cash wagering, therefore, the usual laws don’t apply.
For example, New York only allows sweepstakes to operate legally due to the lack of the element of consideration (monetary expenditure). Simply put, all the sites provide free-to-play sweepstakes casino games with no purchase required.
Here’s a full list of US states where you can enjoy various games on the best sweepstakes casino sites:
| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas |
| California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware |
| Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Illinois |
| Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky |
| Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts |
| Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri |
| Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire |
| New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina |
| North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon |
| Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota |
| Texas | Tennessee | Utah | Vermont |
| Virginia | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming |
Still in a bid to address the subject – are sweepstakes casino legal, we’ll explain how these gaming platforms can operate in this country lawfully. The US gambling laws state that three elements must be present for what’s considered illegal gambling. These include consideration, chance, and the opportunity to win real cash prizes.
Under the sweepstakes operating model, these social casinos utilize two virtual currencies (Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins), meaning no cash entry activity is present in sweepstakes – thus compliant with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While you can redeem SCs for real-world prizes, GCs can only be used to play for fun.
Sweepstakes are subject to regulation by federal and state laws alike. Exactly so, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversees the activities of the social casinos. For example, they require the casinos to include certain info in their T&Cs such as odds, what the prizes are and their value, and how players can redeem prizes.
At the state level, the State Attorney General (AG) is the authority mandated to oversee online sweepstakes activities.
Still in a bid to address the subject – are sweepstakes casino legal, we’ll explain how these gaming platforms can operate in this country lawfully. The US gambling laws state that three elements must be present for what’s considered illegal gambling. These include consideration, chance, and the opportunity to win real cash prizes.
Under the sweepstakes operating model, these social casinos utilize two virtual currencies (Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins), meaning no cash entry activity is present in sweepstakes – thus compliant with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While you can redeem SCs for real-world prizes, GCs can only be used to play for fun.
Sweepstakes are subject to regulation by federal and state laws alike. Exactly so, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversees the activities of the social casinos. For example, they require the casinos to include certain info in their T&Cs such as odds, what the prizes are and their value, and how players can redeem prizes.
At the state level, the State Attorney General (AG) is the authority mandated to oversee online sweepstakes activities.
Still in a bid to address the subject – are sweepstakes casino legal, we’ll explain how these gaming platforms can operate in this country lawfully. The US gambling laws state that three elements must be present for what’s considered illegal gambling. These include consideration, chance, and the opportunity to win real cash prizes.
Under the sweepstakes operating model, these social casinos utilize two virtual currencies (Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins), meaning no cash entry activity is present in sweepstakes – thus compliant with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While you can redeem SCs for real-world prizes, GCs can only be used to play for fun.
Sweepstakes are subject to regulation by federal and state laws alike. Exactly so, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversees the activities of the social casinos. For example, they require the casinos to include certain info in their T&Cs such as odds, what the prizes are and their value, and how players can redeem prizes.
At the state level, the State Attorney General (AG) is the authority mandated to oversee online sweepstakes activities.
Comparing the availability of these two, we would say that Sweepstakes beat the real money online casinos by a mile. Sweeps are available in 48 states, while their counterparts are available in just six states. This has seen sweepstakes casinos popularity grow by leaps and bounds.
From our extensive analysis experience, we can even argue that you get bonuses with better T&Cs at Sweeps than you would at a typical online casino. Similarly, traditional gambling requires an initial deposit, while sweepstakes require no deposit to play – and you still earn real cash prizes.
Due to their legal operational model, these game websites remain in business, and new sweeps casinos for the USA are launched regularly. They offer games of chances with the potential to earn real cash prizes, but no purchase is required to participate.
They work by awarding players sweeps coins through free bonuses, often in specified small amounts. Top social casinos give you the option to get more SCs for free, by providing alternative methods of entry. They comprise daily bonuses, no deposit bonuses, leaderboards, social network giveaways, mail-in requests, special events, contests, and more.
Via the contests, you can win and redeem real-world cash prizes among other prizes. Note, the outcome of these sweepstakes is based on a random drawing, which complies with the set regulations.
Now you understand why are sweepstakes casinos legal across most of the states in the USA, and how you can find the best site to join for free. They simply thrive because their operation model isn’t considered illegal gambling. By using virtual tokens such as Sweeps Coins and Gold Coins, they allow players to enter and enjoy casino-style games for free.
Still, a few states consider Sweepstakes activities illegal such as Idaho, Washington, and Michigan. Therefore, you’ll do well to understand the legal landscape within your state before attempting to join any online sweepstakes casino to play.
Yes, sweepstakes are legal in almost all US states, where traditional online casinos aren’t.
Players can legally join and play at sweepstakes casinos and redeem real cash prizes or vouchers.
Online sweepstakes operate legally in Texas as long as no purchase is required to enter and the casino is compliant with federal and state laws.
Sweepstakes in the UK are governed by the Gambling Act 2005. Under the Act, a promotion or competition isn’t considered illegal if no purchase is needed to enter or if it meets the skills test.
