Social Casinos and Sweepstakes Sites
For Illinois residents, the phrase “social casino” may seem like two random words run together. However, social casinos in Illinois allow you to play casino-style games of chance.
Illinois is home to 11 casinos scattered across the state, including the Chicago area. Anyone in the Prairie State who likes gaming could probably tell you where to find the closest “home” casino. However, for whatever reason, you may need a gaming option that doesn’t require you to leave the house.
Social casinos are, at the least, a good solution until Illinois decides to legalize online casinos. You can play casino-style games such as slot games, table games and even poker against other players.
If you’re interested in checking out the best social casinos, keep reading. We will walk through the way that social casinos work, how you can play and what bonus offers you can use to put money into your account.
Best social casinos and sweepstakes sites for 2023
Are sweepstakes sites legal?
Yes. The notion of playing casino-style games for cash prizes probably sounds too good to be true. You may be understandably skeptical that any site like that would be legal in Illinois.
However, because social casinos are classified as sweepstakes sites, they remain in compliance with the law. Most states allow their inhabitants to play sweepstakes games. In some cases, they allow these types of games even when outright gambling remains illegal.
FunzPoints Casino is a social casino. This site allows you to play games with the chance to win cash prizes.
Are social casinos legal in Illinois?
Yes. Social casinos are also legal and provide you with an opportunity to play casino-style games and use your “winnings” to be redeemed for cash prizes. Two really good examples of social casinos include Chumba and Luckyland Slots. Both sites provide slots and blackjack where you can play absolutely free and win FREE Sweeps Coins to participate in sweepstakes games.
What is a sweepstakes game?
To be considered sweepstakes, an operator must abide by specific rules. Failure to do so could result in the site or giveaway being classified as gambling and be subject to legal problems. So, all legal sweepstakes, social casino or not, have to conform to the same basic requirements.
The first rule for a sweepstakes game is that it must be free to play.
Whenever you’ve seen sweepstakes contests, like McDonald’s Monopoly or the PCH Prize Patrol, you can invariably find fine print that states no purchase is necessary to participate. That term is not there because the sweepstakes organizers feel generous; they have to ensure that anyone can play without making a purchase to remain in compliance.
A corollary to this rule is that it must also not improve one’s chances through a purchase. So, sweepstakes cannot have some preferred entry system to give preference to paying customers.
The second rule for a giveaway like this is that whoever runs the sweepstakes must give away the prize as advertised. An operator cannot hold a contest and then declare that the prize won’t be awarded because of participation levels or because it simply doesn’t want to award it.
The third rule is that there must be a specific timeframe for the giveaway. In other words, even if the site planned on giving prizes away eventually, that’s not good enough. It has to explicitly state when participants will receive their prizes.
So, perhaps the most amazing thing to know about sweepstakes is that those envelopes you receive from Publishers Clearing House or American Family Publishers (and Ed McMahon) are legitimate. They do give money away to people, and it’s free to win. It’s just not likely.
Hopefully, you’ve got a preview of how you can still play versions of some of your favorite casino-style games online, even if you live in a state with no real money casinos online. With any good fortune, the next few years will see further expansions of gambling in the state, and some enterprising lawmakers will make a serious push for Illinois online casinos.
In the meantime, social casino sites are not a bad option.