Online Sweepstakes with Cash Prizes USA 2023: Best Sweepstakes with Real Money
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
One of the most eye-catching features of sweepstakes casinos is that despite the fact they are free to play, you can still win cash prizes. All casinos that offer online sweepstakes for cash prizes in the USA are not equal, however. Some have better welcome bonuses than others – like Stake.us that have an exclusive 5% rakeback offer when you use the code MIKBONUS.
So, in order to find the right one for you, you’ll need to compare the best features of what is available. This will take some research on your part, but there is also help at hand to narrow down a lot of options to a handy shortlist.
Top online sweepstakes for real money in the USA
- Stake.us – Offers the best overall promotions for new players
- Wow Vegas – Offers the best promotions for slots
- Golden Hearts Games – Offers the chance to help your chosen charity as you play
Compare online sweepstakes casinos for Cash & Offers
Win money playing at real money sweepstakes casinos
The aim of many players is to come away from a sweepstakes casino with a real money prize in some form. To do this, you will need to know the basics of how sweepstakes casinos work, and what you have to do to redeem sweeps coins.
How Does The Currency System Work?
A sweepstakes casino works using two different currencies, or three if you want to buy more coins at any point. The first of these are Gold Coins, which are typically shortened to GC on whichever casino you use, and are the most common coin.
Far less common is a Sweeps Coin, or SC for short. Some casinos like Stake.us rebrand these to fit in with the name of their casino, so SC at Stake.us are called Stake Cash.
The third type is ‘real money’ and you’ll need some of this in the shape of a card payment if you want to buy coins. This is not compulsory, however as social and sweepstakes casinos operate on the premise that you can play for free if you want.
How Does The Coin System Work?
These two virtual coins serve similar but slightly different purposes. Gold Coins can be used to play games normally, and if successful, you win more GC and can continue to play for longer. Playing with SC can be done in a similar manner, except instead of just playing for fun, you play in promotional or premium mode. Any winnings from playing with SC like this, subject to other conditions, can be traded for cash prizes.
How To Play Without Buying Coins?
You get a stash of these coins on registration, and then each day you log in after that. However, the amounts involved will vary depending on where you go. Not all daily top-ups or reloads will include both types of coins, and some sweepstakes casinos will only give you GC. You can also accrue more coins by taking part in social media promotions on the casino’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
How To Get Free Sweeps Coins?
You will get free sweeps coins at registration, and as indicated above, with some daily bonuses. The option for social media promotions also applies here too, but you can also add on-site promotions, but again that will depend on where you go. You can also, oddly enough, send a postal request in for free sweeps coins.
Best online sweepstakes for cash prizes in the USA
As you have just seen, a lot of the benefits of using and getting more sweeps coins for cash prizes depend on where you are playing. For that reason, you need to find the sweepstakes casino that fits your playing style the best. There are plenty to choose from, however, these are some standout examples to use as a starting point.
The Best Sweepstakes Casino: Stake Casino
Stake.us is a crypto casino that has gained popularity mostly due to the number of promotions it offers, especially to new players. They have an exclusive 5% rakeback offer for those new players when using code MIKBONUS at sign-up, and plenty more promotions once you are a regular player. This includes draws for a share of millions of GC and tens of thousands of free SC, with the amount you play defining the number of entries you have in that draw.
Your gameplay also contributes to your position in the VIP club program, where the lower tiers hand you monthly and weekly bonus drops, and the upper tiers get you daily bonuses, your own VIP host, and bespoke rewards. These rewards can be used to play the range of games at Stake.us, which has titles from big names like Pragmatic Play and Hacksaw Games, as well as some exclusive Stake Originals. This covers not just slots but also table games, and unusually for a sweepstakes casino, live dealer options too.
Pros
- Attractive 5% rakeback bonus with code MIKBONUS
- Easy to use site
- Live casino options
- VIP club with tiered rewards
Sweeps promotions attract players to Wow Vegas
Wow Vegas also turns heads, with great promotions for slots players. Like Stake.us, the site is easy to get to grips with, even if you haven’t played at a casino before – so it also ticks the box for a good place for beginners to start. There are no table games or live casino options at Wow Vegas, but that is because they specialize in slots and have over 300 titles available to keep players happy.
The focus here is on classic slots, again making the games accessible to new players, but there are also 16 Megaways slots, which have more ways of winning that are bound to appeal to new players too, even if they might need to use a few GC to see how it all works.
They can do this using the registration bonus and also the offers for players who wish to buy packs of coins.
Pros
- Simple site layout suits beginners
- 5000 Wow coins as well as SC in registration
- Megaways slots
- Easy sign-up process
Help charities when you play at Golden Hearts
In so many ways, Golden Hearts is not your usual sweepstakes casino. While there are a few slots and two table games, these are shuffled into a section called quickplay games, and it is clear these are not the focus of the site. That is all on Bingo, and there are four different types of games being run almost constantly, with just a few minutes to wait until the next one starts. As you might expect, all of these games can be played with both types of coins, some of which you are gifted as a bonus when you join.
This is where the charity element also comes in. By making a donation of at least $10 when you register, this starting haul of coins is doubled. This way you can help charities while playing for fun and possibly winning a cash prize for yourself.
Golden Hearts pros and cons:
Pros
- Helps charities
- Double your welcome bonus with a charity donation
- Bingo games running every few minutes
- Easy to use site
How to choose new sweepstakes casinos with real cash prizes
Those three selections cover many of the bases for sweepstakes casinos, but you might be looking for something slightly different. If you are, you need to pay attention to these key areas:
Game selection
Although a big selection of games might look attractive, it is not always the best option. You might need to see what the variety of games is rather than just end up scrolling through rows of very similar-looking slots. Also, you will come into this with preferences, so look to see if those are catered for, i.e. if you love roulette, check out the types on offer and if there is a live version available.
Offers and free sweeps
You are also looking to get off the best start possible, so a generous welcome offer is worth seeking out. Something like the 5% rakeback offer from Stake.us is a good benchmark to use, as it has a long-term benefit rather than just being a stack of coins. You should also look at daily bonuses, and if they include SC as well as GC, and the other promotions that can get you more SC.
Cash prizes
Those SCs are vital if you want to win a cash prize, so you need to look to see what the requirements are for turning SC into prizes. This includes how many times they need to be played through, and what the thresholds are for both gift cards and EFTs.
App Availability
When you think about playing slots and table games online, you might well have first thought about doing it on your cell phone rather than a laptop. If this is you, then you will want to know if there is an app and how it functions. One thing you need to remember here is that for many sweepstakes casinos, the mobile version of the site functions perfectly well, and the lack of an app won’t be a problem.
What to look out for on sweepstakes casino sites?
Those, however, are not the only things you need to consider. There is a further list of questions you need to ask when looking at a sweepstakes casino for the first time.
Security
This is the first question you need to ask, as even though you might not ever give the operator any money, they will have our personal data, so you need to ensure they are secure and what they do is legal. A sweepstakes casino will not need the same type of license as a regular casino, but there are rules they will still need to adhere to.
Usability
You also need to consider how the site is put together and how easy it is to do basic things, like find the game you want. You’ll also need to see how you can access your account details, and deal with any financial matters like purchases and redemptions. There are also page loading speeds to consider, and whether the site design is one you can get on with, or is just too busy or garish to look at every day.
Bonus offers
You might have already looked at the welcome bonus, but that is just the start. You need to see what happens when you are there for the longer term and if there are regular bonuses. These can be daily or weekly drops, or something involved with a VIP club if the casino has one.
Customer support
Even without payments and withdrawals to worry about at sweepstakes casinos, there will still be times when you need help to resolve a query. To make sure you are not caught out when you need answers, check to see what is available to help you, whether it be
- a help center for simple queries
- live chat for fast answers
- or an email for longer, more complicated problems.
Payment methods
You might not be able to make a deposit or withdrawal, but if you want to buy a coin bundle, then you will need to make sure your preferred payment method is supported. You need to see what is available and make sure you have more than one option for payments and redemptions should you win a prize.
The overall selection of games
All of this is no use if the games you want to play are unavailable. You may have already looked at the game selection, but you should also look at games you might want to play in the future. This might involve trying video poker or looking at more novel games like Dice, Crash, or Plinko that you never knew existed – but look enjoyable.
Terms of conditions
There is, finally, the T&Cs. Nobody likes reading the small print, but you need to check through this to make sure there is nothing there that excludes you specifically – like you live with an employee of one of the casinos, or you live in one of the few states where sweepstakes casinos are not allowed. You should also look for any red flags or unreasonable clauses that mean you might be better off steering clear.
What you need to know about ‘real money’ sweepstakes casinos
Looking for online sweepstakes for real money in the USA is not an easy task, as there is a lot to consider. Even though you can play for free, you need to look at the games selection, and what the sweepstakes casino gives you for signing up. Those two factors alone are likely to put Stake.us at the top of the list. But, there are things you need to make sure are right for you as well, like VIP clubs and flexible payment methods if you want to make a purchase.
Online sweepstakes cash prizes in the USA FAQ
Do all social casinos offer cash prizes?
There are plenty of social casinos around, but they do not all offer cash prizes. In general, regular social casinos use only one type of coin and are there purely for enjoyment. Sweepstakes casinos are a subset of social casinos and use another type of coin as well, which can be redeemed for cash prizes
What states can I will cash prizes at a sweepstakes casino
Because you are playing for free, you can play in many states where regular ‘real money’ casinos are not able to operate. That said, there are variations as you go from state to state that means out of all 50 States, players in Washington, Nevada, and Idaho are most likely to miss out. You should always check the T&Cs before joining, however.
Which is the best joining bonus for sweepstakes casinos?
Sweepstakes casinos offer bonuses to new customers, and which one is best will depend on your playing style. However, the 5% rakeback offer at Stake.us when you use the code MIKBONUS offers benefits in the long term, not just when you join up, so is likely to be suitable for all players.
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