Sportsgrid Staff
Host · Writer - Published: 02/16/25
It’s no news that sweepstakes casinos don’t work the same way as traditional online casinos. Sweepstakes apps use Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins instead of real money to offer free gameplay to users, without any initial purchase being needed.
While most free sweeps apps reportedly “pay,” they’re not paying in the real sense of the word; all they do is let you redeem your Sweepstakes Coin (SC) winnings for real prizes after meeting certain requirements. In this guide, I’ll show you how SC redemption works at sweepstakes casinos before highlighting the best free sweepstakes apps with real prizes.
While sweepstakes casinos may look similar to traditional online casinos, the two do not work the same way. Regardless of your thoughts, you can’t play with real money on sweepstakes casinos; they use virtual currencies like Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins to provide games, allowing users to collect the virtual coins through bonuses and Gold Coin bundle purchases.
When you play with Sweepstakes Coins and complete specific redemption requirements, you could be eligible to request real prizes like gift cards or merch, as outlined by the site’s sweepstakes rules. In the following section, we’ll go more in-depth into prizes and redeeming Sweepstakes Coins on free sweeps apps like Stake.us.
I’ve said quite a bit about redeeming prizes on sweepstakes apps, but there’s more to the entire process, and I’ve written an entirely new section to explain. Here’s a step-by-step guide to redeeming Sweepstakes Coin winnings for real prizes at most sweepstakes casinos.
You’ll need an account to claim bonuses and play games on a sweepstakes app, so you want to sign up for an account with a legitimate sweepstakes casino first. Signing up for an account is often the most straightforward part: simply pick one of my recommended sites below, click the Sign Up or Register button on the site’s homepage, enter your details as prompted, and voila.
After signing up for an account, you’ll need to collect Sweepstakes Coins through bonuses and promotions to enable you to play sweepstakes games. The reasoning here is simple: sweepstakes apps only let you redeem Sweepstakes Coins, and since prize redemption is the goal here, you want to focus on bonuses that’ll get you more Sweepstakes Coins than Gold Coins.
Some Sweepstakes sites offer a generous helping of Sweepstakes Coins with their welcome bonuses—Stake.us, for example, offers 55 Stake Cash (Sweepstakes Coins equivalent) when you simply sign up for an account on the site with promo code SPORTSGRID. On many others, you may not have to enter social casino promo codes, but you’ll likely also get fewer Sweepstakes Coins from your welcome bonus, but free purchase bonuses, mail-in requests, and periodic giveaways make up for that void.
Completing the Sweeps Coin redemption requirements is often the most challenging part of redeeming your SC winnings, as it requires hitting a predetermined set of requirements purposely designed to be challenging to meet. For most free sweeps apps, you must accumulate between 10 and 100 Sweepstakes Coins with a 1x playthrough requirement to qualify for prize redemption, although at Stake.us there is a x3 playthrough for bonus SC.
You complete one playthrough when you use Sweepstakes Coins on a spin, in the case of slots, or on a game round for table and live dealer games. To complete a 1x playthrough requirement on 50 Sweepstakes Coins, for instance, you’ll need to spend all 50 Sweepstakes Coins on spin(s) in any slot game and get the coins back from the outcome of those spins.
Since the only way to complete these requirements on sweepstakes casinos is by playing games, you’ll need to play plenty of sweepstakes games to scale this step.
Once you’ve met your sweepstakes app’s SC redemption requirements, you can proceed to the Account section of your dashboard to request a redemption. In most cases, you can redeem eligible SC winnings for prizes like gift cards or merch, and the process will be subject to your sweepstakes casino’s terms of service and sweepstakes rules. You may also need to verify your account to redeem your SC, but if you qualify to play in the first place, that shouldn’t be challenging.
Stake.us became popular for its generous bonuses and diverse games, offering new users an impressive 55 Stake Cash + 260K Gold Coins + 5% Rakeback for signing up with promo code SPORTSGRID. When users complete a 3x playthrough requirement on their Stake Cash (SC) and accumulate at least 10 SC to qualify to request a prize redemption.
When it comes to games, Stake.us is unmatched. You get pretty much any form of social casino game: slot, live dealers, table games, bingo, you name it. If your goal is finding one of the best sweepstakes casinos for Stake Cash redemption, Stake.us is all you need, full stop.
Visit McLuck
Unlike Stake.us’s 3x playthrough requirement, McLuck requires only a 1x playthrough and a minimum of 10 Sweepstakes Coins for a gift card prize redemption. Other redemption methods require at least 75 Sweepstakes Coins and the same 1x playthrough requirement,which you can complete by playing McLuck’s selection of fun social casino games.
Lest I forget, I played Joker’s Jewels, Big Bass Bonanza, and a few other slots with features like free spins and bonus games during my McLuck review, thanks to the free 7,500 Gold Coins and 2.5 Sweepstakes Coins I got for signing up on McLuck to try out its games.
MegaBonanza has exactly the same sweepstakes rules as McLuck and the same 7,500 Gold Coins + 2.5 Sweepstakes Coins welcome bonus, which isn’t terrible considering how many sites currently use it. While it’s largely unoriginal, MegaBonanza is unique in many ways, its diverse selection of Vegas-style social casino games being an example. I found a dedicated Megaways section on MegaBonanza and tried titles like Buffalo King Megaways, as well as a decent selection of live dealer games on the website, making for a relatively decent sweepstakes gaming experience.
PlayFame is one of the newer sweepstakes casinos with real prizes, allowing prize redemption in gift cards and other methods when you accumulate 10 and 75 Sweepstakes Coins respectively with a 1x playthrough requirement. It uses a unique 10,000 Gold Coins + 3 Sweepstakes Coins welcome bonus, allowing you to access hundreds of free online slots with bonus features, including leading titles like Fire Stampede and Gold Party.
SportsMillions packs a social sportsbook and sweepstakes casino in one concise package, allowing you to deftly alternate between the two verticals depending on what you’re looking to play. You get a welcome bonus too here: 1,000 Gold Coins and 3 free Sweeps Coins precisely, and they allow you full access to the sportsbook and the social casino, unlocking sweepstakes slots like Piggy Power and Fishing Reels.
When you sign up on free sweeps apps, collect Sweepstakes Coins, complete playthrough requirements, and request a redemption, you stand a chance to get real prizes, all for spinning slot reels or playing a few rounds of your favorite sweepstakes casino games. Remember, only Sweepstakes Coin winnings are redeemable for real prizes, Gold Coins only let you play social casino games for free; nothing more, nothing less.
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