Global Poker is the only poker room that is able to legally offer players in almost all US states the opportunity to play poker online with the chance to win real money.
How have they done this? By implementing the sweepstakes model. Instead of using real money as your buy-in when entering tournaments, you use virtual currency in the form of Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. The latter can be used to redeem cash prizes, as we will see in more detail below.
Global Poker in a nutshell - How it works
The driving force behind Global Poker’s success since 2016 is that it is the only registered sweepstakes poker site in the US. Real money poker rooms are only legal in a small number of US states. Sweepstakes poker, on the other hand, is legal in all US states with the exception of Washington. You will still find many comparisons online showing several sweepstakes poker sites in their list. Most of the time this is because social casinos offer video poker and other variants that effectively let you play a good round of poker on their platform.
If you have ever used a sweepstakes casino, such as Chumba, which is owned by the same parent company as Global Poker, then you will find the model familiar. Rather than playing with real money directly, players enter tournaments using two different types of virtual currency - Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins.
Gold Coins vs Sweeps Coins
In order to play at Global Poker, you don’t make a deposit and start playing like you would on a conventional gambling site. Instead, you can purchase Gold Coins in packages. These Gold Coins have no real money value and cannot be withdrawn. Moreover, they can only be used to play in rooms and tournaments for the purposes of entertainment.
So where does the real money element come into it?
Every Gold Coins package that you can purchase also comes with a Sweeps Coins bonus. These coins can be used to enter promotional tournaments and can ultimately be used to redeem cash prizes at a reasonable exchange rate. This, therefore, means that you can legally play online poker for the chance to win cash without technically betting any real money directly.
How is it legal?
Under US law, operators aren’t allowed to charge players to enter sweepstakes - entries can only be given away for free. By selling Gold Coins, which have no value, and adding the Sweeps Coins as a free extra bonus, Global Poker is working perfectly within the confines of the law. As we said before, it is the exact same model that is used by the best social casinos in the US.
Winning prizes and cashing out
Although the process of winning prizes is slightly different from that of a real money online poker site, the tournaments are easy enough to get to grips with. And the better you get to know the site, the easier things become. Moreover, the process of cashing out is very straightforward.
Rather than withdrawing money as you would on a gambling site, you instead use your Sweeps Coins to redeem prizes. You simply need to head to the “Redeem” section of your website and then enter the amount of Sweeps Coins that you wish to trade in for real money. You can choose to redeem your full balance or just some of it, it’s entirely up to you.
You then need to select your preferred payment method and enter the details of the account where you wish to receive your funds. In most cases, this will be the same account that you used to make your previous purchase. Once you confirm the transaction, your payment will be processed and the Sweeps Coins will be removed from your Global Poker account.
The final word on Global Poker
Global Poker has built its success upon a unique and legal model that has yet to be imitated. It provides poker players across the US the chance to play poker and, more importantly, keeps people away from overseas sites, which are not legal in the US and highly unrecommended. If conventional online poker isn’t yet legal in your state but you want to play for the chance to win real money, then it’s definitely worth giving Global Poker a try.
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Global Poker FAQ
🃏 How does Global Poker work?
Global Poker is a unique website that works on a totally different model from a normal poker site. You can read more about it in this article here at Strafe.com.
🇺🇸 In what states can I play Global Poker?
A full list of the states where Global Poker is legal is contained within this article. Hint - it’s legal in way more states than a conventional poker site.
🔞 How old do I have to be to play at Global Poker?
The minimum age for playing at Global Poker may vary between states. For full details please head over to Strafe.com and consult our review.
