Sweepstakes casinos, which many people refer to as social casinos or social gaming sites, are a risk-free alternative to regular (real money) online casinos, and they are currently taking large parts of North America by storm.
Just like regular casino sites, sweepstakes casinos also typically offer a wide range of bonuses to entice new players to sign up, and they also offer frequent bonuses to retain existing members and keep them from playing at other rival sweepstakes casinos.
If you want to learn more about sweepstakes casinos and discover what types of bonuses you can typically claim on today’s safest sites, and, more importantly, how you can get the most out of any bonuses that you decide to claim, you’ve come to the right place.
What are Sweepstakes Casinos, and What Types of Bonuses do They Have Worth Claiming?
Sweepstakes casinos are just like regular online casinos, except that in a sweepstakes casino, deposits aren’t necessary. In other words, you will never be pressured into depositing money, and you don’t necessarily need to deposit real money to play any of the games available on your chosen site.
Instead, these popular gaming platforms typically run on a two-coin digital currency model. You can use this virtual currency (which is native to that site alone) to play their games. It cannot be exchanged, transferred, or withdrawn because it has zero monetary value in the real world.
When you sign up for a sweepstakes casino, you will automatically qualify for a guaranteed welcome bonus, which includes a certain amount of Gold Coins and Sweep Coins. However, there is a big difference between these two digital coins.
On most sweepstakes casinos, although you aren’t gambling real money, you can still play to win various real-world prizes, such as the following
- Cash prizes
- Branded merchandise
- Vouchers for your favourite online stores
- Luxury vacations
- Brand-new cars
- The latest electronic gadgets
Unfortunately, the Gold Coins can’t be used to win any of these prizes, but your Sweep Coins can. If you run out of Gold Coins while playing any of your favourite games, the good news is that you can top them up for free in various ways, but if you run out of Sweep Coins, they won’t be topped up for free.
Instead, you can purchase more Sweep Coins in bundles/packages, usually costing as little as $5, $10, or $20.
To purchase these coins for a chance to win real-world prizes, you can use various secure online payment methods, such as Visa, Mastercard, bank transfers, prepaid cards, mobile wallets like Apple Pay, or digital wallets (aka eWallets) like PayPal. Some sites even accept cryptocurrencies.
To top up your free Gold Coins whenever you run out, simply get in touch with the player support when logged into your account and ask them politely to credit your account with more coins. You can also get more coins by taking part in daily log-in bonuses, or by subscribing to weekly or monthly newsletters and finding free coins sent directly to your email inbox.
You can also win more free coins by participating in on-site challenges or by entering prize draws and raffles either on-site or on their social media channels.
What are the Main Bonuses Up for Grabs on Sweepstakes Casinos?
The three main types of bonuses you will typically come across on today’s best sweepstakes casinos are matching deposit cash bonuses, no deposit cash bonuses, and free spins bonuses. The most lucrative of all is the sweepstakes casino no deposit bonus, which can be unlocked without having to make a cash deposit into your account.
You can also typically find plenty of loyalty rewards bonuses, refer-a-friend bonuses, cashback bonuses, free online slot machine tournaments, free table and card game tournaments, and more.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Sweepstakes Casino Bonuses
To ensure you always get the most out of any bonuses you decide to claim on your favourite sweepstakes casinos, you should always take your time to read the terms and conditions attached to those offers, because they will always explain what you must do to ensure you don’t miss out.
Too many players fail to read the Ts and Cs, which often leads to disappointment and frustration. They only take a minute or so, at most, to read and check all that’s required of you. For example, some bonuses are only available for a limited time, so check the expiration date and take advantage of the bonus before your time runs out.
Ts and Cs also tell you how much you must wager before you can withdraw your bonus winnings. Average wagering requirements (which some operators and players refer to as turnover, rollover, or playthrough requirements) are considered to be between 30x and 50x times the initial bonus amount.
If there’s anything in the terms and conditions you aren’t quite sure about, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the friendly and professionally trained customer service support agents on your chosen site. They should be able to point you in the right direction and answer your questions for you promptly.
Conclusion
Although sweepstakes casinos aren’t considered gambling sites, it’s still good practice to gamble responsibly as if you were playing on a real money casino site.
In other words, devise a sensible spending budget before purchasing any bundles/packages of Sweep Coins, and never log in to play while tired or intoxicated. Avoid chasing your losses, take regular session breaks, and always learn the rules/odds/payouts before playing a game for the first time.
