Best Sweepstakes Poker Sites 2025

The legality of online poker in the United States is one of the most complex issues in our industry. Black Friday was more than 10 years ago, and the UIGEA was enacted almost 20 years ago, but the issue is still unresolved as the vast majority of states have not yet made a substantive decision on online gambling. An example is that by 2025 only 7 of the 50 states (14%) have regulated online gambling, while the Sweepstakes model emerges as an alternative solution.

What is Sweepstakes Poker?

To understand the Sweepstakes Poker model, we must first clarify what Sweepstakes is. This model is not new; there have been records of different organizations doing promotions in this way for almost 100 years.

In short, it is a type of contest or lottery used mainly to promote a particular product (Pepsi or McDonalds have made very famous Sweepstakes) in which the buyer receives a ticket or a free entry to win an extra prize.

Extrapolating this model and taking the legacy of the “Internet Sweepstakes Cafes” that swarmed the United States in 2010, some poker sites proposed a novel model to offer online poker games nationwide.

The basic concept is that Sweeps Coins are free; they cannot be purchased directly with real money, although they can be redeemed for real cash prizes (withdrawals to bank accounts, gift cards, PayPal, cryptocurrencies, etc.).

Pros and cons of Sweepstakes Poker

The Sweepstakes Poker model is an important innovation for the online poker industry in the United States. And like any novelty, it has advantages and disadvantages, which we evaluate below:

Reviews of the top sweepstakes poker sites

If you live in the United States and want to play poker online, sweepstakes poker sites are a good alternative, even to mix with other online poker rooms that also accept American players.

Stake.US Poker

Stake.US Poker is owned by a social casino of the same name. Chips can only be purchased via cryptocurrency. It offers some of the highest stakes among sweepstakes poker sites with games up to 200SC/400SC.

ClubWPT Gold

ClubWPT Gold is the renowned World Poker Tour brand that created this site to provide a legal option for US citizens to qualify for live tournaments in the series. There are no cash games. Players can participate in the tournaments by paying a monthly subscription.

Global Poker

Global Poker is the leading poker room in the sweepstakes industry. It has been operating in the market since 2016. Players can access Hold'em and Omaha cash games with stakes up to 10SC/20SC, a large tournament grid, and Jackpot Spins.

Legal background of sweepstakes poker in the United States

One of the most frequently asked questions is: Are sweepstakes poker rooms legal in the United States?

The legality of this model is at least complex to explain. Although the consensus that you can find on other sites is that Sweepstakes Poker is 100% legal, some nuances must be considered:

1. The laws, as such, regulate the Sweepstakes model without surnames. Any company that wants to promote a product or service through sweepstakes can do so if it complies with the laws in force.
2. The Sweepstakes Poker model is an evolution of the “Internet Sweepstakes Cafes” installed in different cities in the United States in 2010, offering a model very similar to the current one and eventually declared illegal in some states.
3. The trick of Sweepstakes Poker rooms is that Sweeps Coins have no cost or commercial value since they cannot be purchased directly with real money.
4. In some states, this model has been sued, and rooms like Global Poker had to stop offering their services in these states (Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Washington, and Vermont, among others).
5. As a reference, the well-known Sweepstakes Law is the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act (DMPE), which applies only to promotional materials sent through the United States Postal Service.

In conclusion, the Sweepstakes Poker model is currently legal in all states that have not banned it (the majority). However, the legal bases are fragile and can change at any time.

Sweepstakes poker mechanics

This is how Sweepstakes Poker works:

1. Players buy a virtual currency to play social poker (usually known as Gold Coins).
2. This purchase includes, in addition to Gold Coins, a free pack of other currencies, commonly known as Sweeps Coins.
3. Platform users can also earn extra Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins by completing various tasks, such as logging into the platform daily.
4. There are two games in the lobby: you can bet with Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins. The balance of the selected currency will grow as you win at the tables.
5. The balance of Sweeps Coins can be exchanged for real money prizes, usually at a rate very close to parity with the US dollar (1 SC: 1 USD, or 1.01 SC: 1 USD, for example).

How to buy Gold Coins and earn Sweeps Coins

The mechanics, although they may sound complex, are very simple. The social poker apps have made sure that players have a user-friendly experience on their platforms:

1. Once you have decided on a Sweepstakes Poker site, visit the appropriate section to purchase a Gold Coins package (usually indicated by the Get Coins message in Store or similar). Such packages can have predefined amounts.
2. With your GC purchase, you will receive a free Sweeps Coins package. The more chips you buy, the more SC you can receive!
3. You will see two balances in your game account: Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. You will also find gaming tables in both currencies. By betting SC, you can increase your balance!
4. When your Sweeps Coins balance is large enough, you can visit the Store and redeem it for various prizes (bank transfers, gift cards, e-wallet balance).

Please note that you cannot buy Sweeps Coins directly for real money. The only way to get these coins is to win them in one of the promotions organized by the sweepstakes online poker sites.

How to obtain Sweeps Coins?

Sweep coins can be obtained in different ways, although curiously, they cannot be purchased directly since, according to the Sweepstakes laws, they are given as part of a promotional campaign to promote products and services:

• Bonus for purchasing Gold Coins. When you buy these coins, which are the basis of social poker apps, you will usually receive a package of Sweeps Coins as a bonus. The promotional package is related to the amount of the Gold Coins purchase; let's say, by buying a package of $100 Gold Coins, you could receive 100 Sweeps Coins.
• Missions: some sites give away Sweeps Coins for logging into the platform daily or completing other tasks.
• Request by mail: we mentioned above that the Sweepstakes Law regulates sending promotional materials by mail. Then, the rooms usually use this to give away Sweeps Coins upon request by players by postal service, with some limitations on the amount.
• Special promotions: Taking advantage of important events such as holidays or summer, players can receive free Sweeps Coins to try out the product (poker room). These raffles are usually done through social networks or email lists.

As you can see, in compliance with the Sweepstakes law, sweep coins are always free.

How to use Sweeps Coins

Sweeps Coins are free coins to try out the services offered by some poker rooms. Their use is limited to these platforms, as follows:

1. Play poker games: in addition to Gold Coin games, you can find games with Sweeps Coins in the lobby.
2. Participate in promotions: some sites allow you to participate in tournaments or special events to earn more SC.
3. Redeem for prizes: Sweep coins can be exchanged for prizes, including gift cards and real money transfers.

How to redeem winnings?

When you play for Sweeps Coins, the goal is to increase your balance of these. If you win a tournament with a buy-in of 100 SC, the prize can be several thousand coins. Now, as we saw in the previous section when your SweepsCoins balance is high enough, you can redeem them for cash prizes:

• ACH bank transfers: perhaps the most popular option is to exchange your Sweeps Coins balance for a transfer to your bank account, which is usually processed in up to 7 business days
• E-wallet balance: a very popular option. You can redeem a package of SC for a transfer to wallets such as Skrill or PayPal.
• Checks: if you prefer to use postal mail, you can request a check in exchange for your SC balance
• Gift cards: an exciting option, you can redeem your SC for Walmart and Best Buy cards, among others.
• Cryptocurrencies: some platforms have caught up with the latest technological trends.

Payment methods

A critical difference between regular online poker sites and sweepstakes poker sites is that the concept of deposit, withdrawal, or payment options does not exist. At least not in the traditional way.

At these sites, you can buy virtual Gold Coins (which usually come with a free Sweeps Coins bonus), and it is also possible to redeem SC winnings for various cash prizes.

In our research, we found that the different sites offer the following methods to buy Gold Coins and exchange Sweeps Coins:

• ACH bank transfers
• Debit and credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Diners)
• E-wallets (Skrill, PayPal)
• Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin BTC, Tether USDT, USDC, Litecoin LTC)

Sweepstakes poker vs Regular online poker

As we have already seen, although the rules of the games are the same (Texas Hold’em, Omaha, among others), the Sweepstakes Poker model has marked differences from regular online poker rooms. In the following table, we apply different criteria to highlight the virtues of SC poker.

What bonuses do Sweepstakes poker sites offer?

Sweepstakes poker rooms offer their players various bonuses. New players usually receive bonuses in Sweeps Coins with their purchase of Gold Coins or even just for registering and verifying their account:

Only at Stake.us the welcome bonus is given just for verifying your account. This poker room is also the only one that pays regular 5% rakeback.

Social poker sites often give away prizes via their social media or mailing lists. Special missions with random prizes can also be assigned to the player's account.

When writing this article, for example, Global Poker had the SC85,000 Gold Digger promotion, and Stake.us had the SC25,000 Stake Cash Weekly Giveaway event. We recommend following the poker rooms on their social media and visiting their websites' promotions section to be aware of current offers.

Sweepstakes poker games

All Sweepstakes poker apps have one common feature in the poker game lobby: games are available in two types of currencies. If you want to exchange your winnings for real money in the future, you should choose the tables and tournaments at Sweeps Coins.

In all other respects, the portfolio of poker types and bet amounts is similar to that of classic poker rooms.

Ring games

The most popular cash ring games at sweepstakes poker rooms are 6-max Hold’em. The minimum bet amount is 0.01SC / 0.02SC. Most of the traffic is concentrated on games up to 0.5/1SC. The highest limit in general is 10/20SC (at Stake.US, it is 200/400SC).

Other games:

• NLH 9-max
• Omaha poker 6-max and PLO Hi-Low
• PLO8, 2-7 Single Draw, HORSE, OctaMix (including Razz and Badugi), Razz, Stud, Stud8 (only on Stake.us)
• Crazy Pineapple (only on Global Poker)

Poker tournaments

The leader of poker sweepstakes tournaments is Global Poker.

The site's regular tournament grid includes dozens of MTTs with buy-ins from 3.30SC - 110SC and guaranteed prizes up to 20,000SC. The flagship tournament is the Sunday Scrimmage SC 50,000 Guaranteed [Deep] for 218SC.

Global Poker frequently hosts tournament series (Grizzly Bear Rattlesnake Open, The Goat, Eagle Cup), whose prize pools have several million Sweeps Coins.

The other rooms have only a few multi-table tournaments daily, and guaranteed prizes are limited to several hundred SC.

Global Poker is also the only sweepstakes poker room where you can play spins, available in four limits from 0.5SC to 10SC.

SnG tournaments come in different formats, and although they are available in a wide variety at all of the sites mentioned, they are not popular.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)