Online Social Casinos in the US

Online social casinos have gained significant popularity in the US, especially since the pandemic, due to their accessibility and entertainment value. These platforms offer a casino-like experience with free games such as slots, blackjack, roulette, and poker, using virtual currency called “gold coins” instead of real money. Gold coins can be obtained for free through bonuses or purchased.

Key Features:

Types of Social Casinos:
- Free Social Casinos: Purely entertainment-based with no real-world rewards.
- Non-Cash Prize Casinos: Offer redeemable points for perks like hotel discounts or show tickets.
- Sweepstakes Casinos: Allow winnings to be redeemed for real money or prizes.
Legality:
- Fully legal at the federal level in the US as long as no real money gambling is involved.
- Sweepstakes elements are restricted in some states, such as Washington and Nevada.
Game Offerings:
- Popular games include slots, blackjack, roulette, bingo, keno, and scratchcards.
- Some platforms feature unique games like fish shooter games.
Social Elements:
- Include features like tournaments, contests, and chat options to foster a community.
Optional Purchases:
- Players can buy gold coin packages, but free bonuses and promotions often provide sufficient coins.

Advantages:

Accessible across the US, with most platforms requiring players to be at least 18 years old.
A risk-free way to enjoy casino games without the potential downsides of real gambling.
Opportunities to try different games, engage socially, and participate in competitive activities.

Limitations:

No option to win real money in standard social casinos.
Sweepstakes casinos are subject to varying state laws.

Social casinos are an engaging way to enjoy casino games and connect with others without financial risk, serving as a bridge for those interested in casino-style entertainment.

More to Know

Since the pandemic, online social casinos have become quite popular in the US due to their widespread access, casino-style games, and social aspects. These casinos are not real gambling sites, so players don’t need to risk real funds, while they still get to play casino games.

However, what exactly are social casinos? Are they legal? Which states have them? What game types do they offer? You need answers to many questions, and we aim to answer them in this comprehensive guide. Keep reading to find out.

These websites offer casino-style games for free. In essence, they mimic the real money online casino experience but leave out the real money element. You can play slots, blackjack, roulette, video poker, and many other game types entirely for free.

These online platforms use fake virtual currency, usually called gold coins, which you can obtain for free through promotions or by purchasing them for real money. The fact that many players tend to make these purchases is the main reason these casinos are lucrative for their owners.

Online social casinos have other elements besides casino games and bonuses, including various social elements, like contests, tournaments, embedded chats for the player base, active social media channels, and more.

Some casinos even allow players to redeem winnings for real prizes, including money. This is where we enter the sphere of Sweepstakes Casinos, which we’ll cover in a separate sweepstakes casinos guide.

Pure social casinos that let you play only for entertainment purposes are fully legal on the federal level in the US. In other words, they are available in all states. However, when they come with sweepstakes elements, certain states will prohibit their use.

It’s worth adding that many with sweepstakes elements can still operate in some states where sweepstakes are illegal as long as they don’t offer those to players. In other words, you can only play for fun.

Gold Coins Explained

Even though social casinos are for entertainment purposes, you still need to win something in casino games. That’s where their virtual currency comes in, often called gold coins. These coins are awarded for free in larger numbers as soon as you register, through a welcome bonus.

Social casinos let you play with gold coins to win more of them. You can also obtain them for free through various bonuses and promotions, like daily login bonuses, contests, friend referrals, giveaways, competitions, slot races, prize wheels, and more.

Each promo has its own requirements and terms you need to respect to get the coins. For instance, daily login is typically a fixed bonus you get once a day just by logging in and claiming it.

Gold coins are also available for purchase via gold coin packages. These packages are optional, as you can still get a constant stream of free gold coins via promotions.

How to Purchase More Gold Coins

Social casinos always offer an option for players to purchase additional gold coins, if they happen to need them. The packages usually contain a fixed number of coins for a fixed price, and in most cases, you’ll find packages for as low as $1. For instance, a $1 package might offer 10,000 coins. The biggest packages will typically be up to $100 or $200.

Most social casinos allow you to make payments through several methods, including Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer, Trustly, PayPal, Neteller, and Skrill.

We’ve already mentioned the difference between standard social casinos and those with sweepstakes elements. Let’s elaborate on that further so you know exactly what types of social casinos are available in the US.

Completely Free Social Casinos

Social casinos designed purely for entertainment are completely free to use and offer no actual gains in the form of real money or real world prizes. They use gold coins and let you obtain them for free through promotions or by purchasing them via packages. We’re primarily discussing these in our guide.

Some of the more notable free social casinos are BetRivers.net, Big Fish, Double Down, Caesars Slots, and Slotomania.

Social Casinos With Non-Cash Prizes

These social casinos focus on allowing players to play for free and offering them opportunities to win non-cash prizes.

For example, Hard Rock Social Casino lets you play for fun and earn heart points, which you can then redeem for various rewards at physical Hard Rock Casino locations. There’s also Pop Slots, where you earn loyalty points, which lets you buy meal comps, hotel room discounts, cruises, and even tickets for various shows in Las Vegas.

Social Casinos With Redeemable Cash Prizes (Sweepstakes Casinos)

Sweepstakes casinos are the most popular form of social casinos, where you get to play both with gold coins and sweep coins, the latter of which can be redeemed for real money. We’ll cover these on a separate page, as mentioned, as they have a lot of nuances you need to know about, including their legality in select states.

Most of the more popular social casinos many of us know of belong to this category, including Funzpoints, Ding Ding Ding, Funrize, Chumba, Stake.us, Pulsz, McLuck, Fortune Coins, and WOW Vegas.

Social and real money casinos are the same in that they offer various casino games, while the main difference is that the former operate for free without real money and the latter with actual funds. However, this comes with a lot of other distinctions you should know about:

Social Casinos	Real Money Casinos
Completely free to play, purchases are optional	Require real funds to play casino games
Use virtual currency in games, typically called gold coins	Use actual funds in games, but might display them as coins in some cases
Available throughout the US as long as there are no sweepstakes elements	Available only in states where online gambling is legal (7 states)
Generally safe, and fewer players experience gambling problems	Safe to use but might lead to gambling issues if responsible gambling habits aren’t followed
A diverse selection of games, but might be somewhat limited	A more diverse selection of games from top-rated providers
No option to win real money, unless there are sweepstakes elements	Winning real money is available throughout the board

US social casinos strive to offer a wide range of casino-style games. Some have more and some fewer types of games, and there are several categories you’ll see the most. Let’s cover them.

Online Slots

Practically every social casino will have at least a dozen slots, but most will house more. They mimic actual slot machines and slot games in real money casinos. Most are technically free versions of real money online slots. Most will be video and classic slots, but you’ll sometimes also find jackpot games.

Blackjack

Some social casinos only have a few blackjack games. You usually get classic blackjack games, or 21. Some social casinos will have their own blackjack games that were developed in-house.

Roulette

Roulette games, such as American and European roulette, can be played, but usually in small numbers. They are typically the same as simulated roulette games in real money online casinos.

Video Poker

You’ll often find a couple of video poker games in the most reputable social casinos. Some of the more commonly found variants include Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, All American, and Aces and Eights.

Fish Games

Fish games, unique platform shooter games that involve a bit of skill to beat, are increasingly becoming popular in online social casinos. Many have yet to introduce them, while others usually keep a couple or more than ten fish games in their libraries.

Bingo

Some offer a few bingo-like and video bingo games, while others can be full bingo and slot sites with a primary focus on bingo. These sites are rare, but there are still a good number of social casinos with at least a few bingo releases.

Keno

A select number of social casinos include a few keno games in their libraries. These games are usually based on real-world keno games, where the goal is to accurately guess as many of the numbers drawn as possible.

Scratchcards

Scratch cards are casino-style games where the goal is to scratch off cards to uncover big prizes beneath. You’ll find games under this concept in many social casinos, but there will usually be only a handful of scratchcard releases.

Choosing the best involves analyzing sites based on the same criteria that social casinos share. Let’s examine these criteria, at least the most important ones, which we also use to rate social casinos.

Game Selection

The main criteria for determining the quality of a social casino is the game library. The selection of games should be large, at least a few hundred, which is a good number for a US social casino.

Moreover, the games should be diverse, covering a broad range of categories, not just slots, and high quality. They need to come from quality providers who are also a part of the real money casino industry.

Bonuses and Promotions

A good social casino should have a hefty welcome bonus with enough gold coins to keep the player entertained and able to test games for a while, without having to look for more ways of getting gold coins if they end up being unlucky in games.

If you decide to stay, you want to have a bunch of other bonuses and promotions, preferably a daily login bonus, constant tournaments and slot races, and other types of promos. The point is to have enough methods of getting more free gold coins without having to wait too long for your balance to get restored or resort to purchasing packages.

User Experience

Because they are largely free, social casinos can sometimes be of poorer quality. That’s why you need to pay attention to the site’s design and the user experience. You want an overall quality site that runs smoothly and fat, without many glitches.

The site should also be highly user-friendly, meaning it should be easy to navigate and understand, and it should be very mobile-friendly.

Payment Methods

Since there is always the option to buy more coins, it’s important that the payment system is designed well for those who want to use it.

This primarily means that it offers many payment methods, such as bank transfers, debit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay.

Customer Support

Customer support is not always necessary, but once you need it, you want a good system with trained and responsive professionals.

The top social casinos offer constant support via live chat, email, and sometimes phone. The agents respond quickly and are willing and equipped to answer your questions and fix your problems.

Once you’ve chosen a social casino, you’ll have to create an account to get started. Here’s how all of that works:

Visit the official site.
Click the Sign Up/Join Now/Play Now button.
Provide the personal information the site requires, like your name and email.
If required, verify your email by clicking the link in the automatic email sent to you.
Claim the welcome bonus. Many casinos will simply award it to you once you register.

This is all there is. However, bear in mind that if you decide to purchase coins, you’ll be required to complete the KYC (Know Your Customer) process. This means you need to upload more personal info and images of specific documents to prove your identity.

Some would say that social casinos don’t have a point because there’s no real money aspect and no actual prizes to strive toward. If you feel that way, sweepstakes casinos are probably the better choice for you, especially if you live in a state where real money online casinos are still illegal.

For others, these casinos are a useful way to have fun with casino games without risking real funds. They can try various types of games and decide which ones they might eventually try in a land-based casino.

Other than that, there’s the social aspect of talking to other players, making friends, and participating in contests and tournaments.

Can I win real money at social casinos?

No, you can’t. These casinos don’t let players win real money in any way. Sweepstakes casinos let you redeem certain types of winnings for real funds, but this is a different subject.

Can I withdraw coins from social casinos?

No, the gold coins you get for free, through playing, or by purchasing coin packages, are entirely virtual and connected to the site they are used on. In other words, you can only use them at the casino where you’ve obtained them without the chance of withdrawing them.

Is it legal to play at social casinos?

Yes, as long as no real money element is involved, you can enjoy social casinos on the federal level. Some states, like Washington, Idaho, and Nevada, only forbid sweepstakes play, meaning you can only use social casinos without any sweepstakes elements.

In which states are social casinos legal?

They are permitted on a federal level in the United States. The casino is allowed throughout the US as long as the player isn’t required to make deposits or real money purchases to experience games, and there are no sweepstakes elements like exchanging virtual currency for real money or real prizes.

How old must I be to join and play in a US social casino?

For the overwhelming majority, you need to be at least 18 years old to register and play. Some social casinos, like DingDingDing, only allow players 21 and above. Besides this, there’s always a chance that your state might have different rules, so it’s important to check this before joining, but expect all reputable casinos to be compliant so they won’t allow people to join if they are under these state-specific requirements.

What is the difference between social and sweepstakes casinos in the US?

Social casinos don’t let you redeem virtual currency for cash, while sweepstakes casinos do. Whereas social casinos only use gold coins with no value, sweepstakes casinos also use sweep coins, which are redeemable for real money and other real prizes.

Do I have to make a purchase to play in social casinos?

No, absolutely not. Purchasing coins is fully optional, while you can get them for free by playing with them and winning more and through various free bonuses. Moreover, many social casinos organize social media giveaways, contests, and tournaments where you can win free coins.

Do social casinos have dedicated apps?

Some do, some don’t. However, if you want to play on mobile, you’ll always have the chance, as all reputable casinos are optimized for use on modern smartphones through any browser.