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Playing at a free online casino to win real money sounds like the stuff dreams are made of, but there are indeed gaming operators out there that offer this unique service – sort of.
These sites are known as sweepstakes casinos, which offer Vegas-inspired games that can be played for free using virtual coins that can later be redeemed for cash prizes. Sweeps games are as close as you’re going to get to a free real money casino, but there’s a thing or two you’ll want to know about them before you start betting.
Well, yes and no. One defining feature of sweepstakes casinos is that they don’t allow you to place real money bets. However, what you can do is play casino-style games using two different kinds of virtual coins, one of which can be swapped for prizes that have a real-world value.
The best free online casinos with cash prizes offer gameplay in Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. These can be defined as follows:
You can accumulate both kinds of coins for free by claiming free to play casino real money no deposit promotions and playing through your existing coins to build up a bigger balance. With Gold Coins, if you start running really low, you can also make a cash deposit to buy more – though this can’t be achieved with Sweeps Coins.
Sweepstakes casinos enjoy a slightly different legal status to regular real money casinos in the US. There are two reasons for this:
This is good news for Americans, as it means many of the best sweepstakes casinos are not subject to state-level licensing regs and are legal to play across most parts of the US. Depending on the operator, sweeps sites are ordinarily legal in all 49 states besides WA.
Almost every free to play casino has a no deposit promotion available for new customers. As cash isn’t directly accepted by sweeps casino games, your bonus will be granted in either Gold Coins, Sweeps Coins or a combination of both.
Once you’ve received a bundle of coins, you can basically treat your preferred sweeps site as a free online casino to win real money prizes at. You can do this by playing through your Sweeps Coins to accumulate more, and later cash these out in prize form.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the kinds of prizes that are up for grabs with different sweeps casinos can vary, but generally you can expect to get your hands on the likes of gift vouchers, event tickets and merchandise as opposed to USD prizes.
The best way to play at a free online casino and win real money is to familiarize yourself with the various ways you can accumulate coins for free. These include:
Every good free sweeps cash casino will offer you a sign-up bonus on registration. This will usually be made up of some free Gold and Sweeps Coins, which you can play through to accumulate more.
Daily and weekly coin reloads are common among sweeps sites, as are one-off promo codes shared via social media. Keep an eye out for special offers that’ll grant you more coins without you having to pay.
The quickest way to collect more coins is to play regularly – very regularly. There are lots of free to play slots for real money prizes, but you should choose your games carefully, as some games offer a higher return to player (RTP) percentage than others, enabling you to build up more coins to be in with a chance of unlocking bigger and better prizes.
If you run out of Gold or Sweeps Coins when playing at these sites, you do always have the option of buying more, though this should probably be considered a last resort if being able to play for free is your top priority.
So, the ideal online gaming scenario of being able to play at casino-style games for free with a view to accumulating prizes isn’t as much of a fantasy as you might think. Sweepstakes casinos are alive and well – and there are several sweeps sites offering free slots games with no download requirements, as well as app-based competitors, too. But before registering, there’s a few things you’ll want to remember.
Firstly, you won’t be able to directly put down wagers using USD. Secondly, while sweepstakes casinos are ordinarily available in most US states bar WA, you’ll need to check with your preferred provider that they definitely offer sweeps games in your state. And finally, it’s important to use all avenues available to you to collect free coins if you don’t want to have to make any cash deposits to keep on playing.
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