Discover all the key details and essential information about gambling in Alaska. This guide provides a thorough overview, ensuring you’re well-informed about the state’s gambling scene.
While you can’t bet for real money in Alaska (more on that later), the Last Frontier allows social gambling and sweepstakes. If it’s snowy outside and you’re itching to place a wager – supposing you have a good enough internet connection – these are the best places to do that legally.
For Alaskans, Chumba casino stands out as an excellent choice with its selection of 150 play-for-fun games. Although the number of games isn’t large, they offer a great variety of genres. In addition to slots, this includes niche categories like Slingo and bingo and casino-style games like blackjack and roulette.
After a generous welcome bonus that consists of both Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins, Chumba rewards players with daily login refills and frequent giveaways through social media.
With a gigantic lobby of over 700 games and diverse categories, Pulsz casino is among the best-equipped sweepstakes sites to cure Alaskan boredom. You can try your luck with global hits like Stardust and earn Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins in weekly tournaments and Facebook contests.
There are many ways to have fun and win big at Pulsz casino. Yes, the welcome bonus is a bit stingy, but everything else is excellent, especially daily bonus offers and mobile apps.
The warm welcome offered by Fortune Coins casino is like a thaw for your freezing blood, providing a comforting and inviting experience. It’s a total of 1,400 Fortune Coins and 380,000 Gold Coins – enough to keep you busy for days. There aren’t many games, but if you like jackpots and fishing games, you’ll have everything you need.
This small but exciting selection also includes the industry’s first multiplayer sweepstakes fish game, alongside slots, table games, and other must-haves. You get fresh coins every day you log in.
Gambling laws in the United States are confusing, to say the least. Leaving a land-based casino site with a bag full of real money is illegal in over half the country, even though 48 states allow gambling in some form. The only states that prohibit all gambling activities are Utah and Hawaii.
That’s where sweepstakes casinos come in. Unlike play-for-money gambling sites, whether made of brick or code, sweepstakes casinos run on virtual currency and let you play for free.
Since you don’t have to wager real money or make any kind of purchase to enjoy sweepstakes games, this type of casino is regulated under a separate law and considered legal in states where gambling is banned. And yes, this includes Alaska. Here’s what all that means in practice.
While land-based gambling laws are meticulously defined, the Alaskan Code is less precise regarding online gambling: it doesn’t mention it specifically. However, the definition of unlawful gambling is phrased in a way that leaves little to no space for legal loopholes.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you are automatically banned from entering online gambling sites. In fact, only a handful of these casinos are specified as illegal in Alaska. Spot B, a casino offering horse racing betting, is a rare example. Most others operate in a “grey area.”
However, in theory, Alaska forbids both on-site and online gambling. In practice, this leaves you with few options to wager and win real money. A) you can play naive and roll the dice at international gambling sites that accept Alaskans, or B) you can play sweepstakes casinos.
Unless this is your first contact with gambling, you’re undoubtedly aware of the existence of offshore online casinos where gambling is supposedly legal despite your state law. Make no mistake about it: gambling is illegal in Alaska, even when you play on offshore sites.
One other thing. Due to the lack of consistent regulation, you can never tell which of these international casinos is legit. If you end up losing all your money in an online casino fraud, you’ll have nobody to turn to for help because gambling for money is a criminal offense.
As far as we know, nobody has ever been arrested for gambling on an offshore site in Alaska. Still, the law is clear, and there’s a significant amount of risk involved, so we vote against it.
Luckily, there’s always option B) – sweepstakes and social casinos. According to Alaskan law, sweepstakes are allowed as long as they provide free entry and you don’t pay consideration.
The gambling wasteland in Alaska is as vast and unutilized as the state’s unpopulated regions. The law forbids all games of chance. You’re not allowed to play casino-style games and video poker. Even classic table games are prohibited unless you play against your friends at home.
Obviously, you can’t run a casino, even on an Indian ground. Native sovereignty is different here than in the Lower 48, so Indians are not allowed to build tribal casinos in reservations.
Aside from this gaping absence of tribal casinos and except for dog sled races, which are legal because mushing is a long-enduring Alaskan tradition, the legalities of both traditional online gambling sites and sweepstakes casinos in Alaska are not much different from the Lower 48.
Alaska regulates illegal gambling under section 11.66.200 of the Alaska Code, which clearly states that by engaging in gambling, you’re breaking the state law. Officially, it is a “violation for the first offense and a class B misdemeanor for the second and subsequent offenses.”
In addition to this, the possession of a “gambling device” in Alaska constitutes a class A misdemeanor. In other words, you can be prosecuted for having a casino app on your phone.
Land-based gambling, online casinos, and lottery are all forbidden, except for bingo, daily fantasy sports, and some skill games. Another exception is charitable gaming.
The law defines gambling as “staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or future contingent event not under one’s control or influence.” Since sweepstake casinos run on virtual coins without any real value, they are technically not ilegal in Alaska.
If you want to run a background check on this (which we always recommend), or in case you get yourself in trouble with the law while gambling in Alaska, you can learn more about the governing regulations for online gambling and sweepstakes sites directly from the source – the Alaska Statutes.
Now that you know what’s allowed and what’s not, it’s finally game time. As an Alaskan seeking fun, you may find limited options elsewhere, but sweepstakes casinos offer a wide array of choices in casino games. From popular slots to classic games, there’s a diverse selection available to suit various preferences.
Judging by the offer and demand, online slots are arguably the most popular game type in sweepstakes casinos in Alaska and beyond. More than the game mechanics itself, players are attracted to the unthinkable variety of genres and themes that can take you anywhere from Egypt to Iceland.
You can find excellent slots and jackpots in Funzpoints casino and Gambino Slots.
Alaska is a state with a long poker tradition that has produced not one but two World Series of Poker winners. One of them, Perry Green, has even tried to pass legislation for the legalization of online poker in Alaska, but the Alaskan favorite card game remains illegal, except in sweepstakes.
In Alaska, you can play poker legally on Rush Games and Stake.us.
Table games are loved throughout Alaska but could be harder to find than slots. Games like roulette and blackjack are available on some sweepstakes slots, while baccarat is a rarity. Unfortunately, there aren’t many live dealer versions of popular table games.
Some great AL sweepstakes sites for table games are Sweepslots casino and LuckyBird casino.
You don’t have to pay to enter a sweepstakes casino, and that’s great for a couple of reasons. Obviously, you’re not risking your money. You can also try to test as many of these sites as you want. Time is the only obstacle, but don’t worry – that’s why we’re here.
There are hundreds of sweepstakes available today, so choosing the right one could feel like a chore. A detailed review can help you make a good decision; you can find reviews for virtually all these casinos on our site. Besides that, there are some things you should pay attention to:
The best casinos offer an immersive experience, and it’s precisely for that reason that you should always remember to check the operator’s license. Legit sweepstakes are certified by auditing companies like iTech, GGM Labs, and TST TestLabs, which guarantee fairness and player safety. Don’t let yourself get distracted before you make sure your actions are 100% safe and legal.
If you’re like most of us, game variety is probably the most crucial factor when considering a casino. You know what you like, so find an operator that can offer that particular game or category to you. If you’re a newbie, we advise you to go for quality over quantity. Some of the best sweepstake titles are signed by Microgaming, NetEnt, EGT, and Playtech, so start there.
There’s one apparent downside to playing sweepstake games – it’s no fun without enough sweepstake coins. You’ll be compelled to purchase coins if you don’t have enough juice. The best way to avoid is to select a casino that provides a generous casino bonus offer, enhancing your gaming experience.. Welcome bonuses, daily logins, free spins, and VIP programs can keep things exciting even when losing coins.
As a sweepstakes player, you need convenient payment options for two reasons – to buy sweepstakes coins and to withdraw your winnings from casinos that offer real money prizes. You’ll want to do both smoothly without your money getting stuck in between. Luckily, good sweepstakes casinos provide various options, including credit cards, online wallets, and online banking.
You can’t gamble away your money in a sweepstakes casino, but you can waste a lot of precious time. Every casino that recognizes gambling as a problem and goes one mile extra to provide responsible gambling options, such as time and spend limits and time-out features, is worth your consideration.
Compare Alaska with its closest neighbor states
The best sweepstakes casinos in Alaska are Chumba casino, Pulsz casino, FortuneCoins casino, WOW Vegas casino, and High 5 casino. Other AL sweepstakes casinos worth mentioning are McLuck casino, Gambino Slots, LuckyLand Slots, and Golden Hearts Games.
Yes, sweepstakes are considered legal throughout Alaska. Even though online gambling is not specifically regulated under the Alaskan Code, sweepstakes casinos are treated differently from traditional gambling sites because you don’t have to pay real money to enter.
It is possible to access sweepstakes casinos outside of Alaska. All neighboring states, as well as the vast majority of the Lower 48, allow sweepstakes casinos as long as they offer free, alternative means of entry (“AMOE”) to players.Â
The legal gambling age in Alaska is 19, so you must be 19 or older to play at Alaskan sweepstakes casino sites.Â
Because there is no personal state income tax in Alaska, there’s no tax levied on any winnings from sweepstakes casinos in this state.
