There’s no question that in recent years, the online casino industry, especially in America, has continued to defy all expectations. While online casinos have been available since the mid-1990s they were sort of hit or miss. A great deal of them were hit-and-miss because of the lack of proper technology. However, by the 2010s, online casinos were in full swing due to the switch to HTML5 technology, which made the game’s graphics that much more amazing and the gameplay smoother. And together with broadband internet, the American online casino scene took off.
With so much attention and demand, the door for social casinos was kicked open come 2020. And ever since then, more players, including long-term players are making the switch. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about excelling with social casinos.
- What is a Social Casino?
In many ways, social casinos offer many of the same features and games as traditional online casinos. For the most part, you can find many of the latest slot games, including megaway slots from the top developers like Pragmatic Play and NetEnt. However, because they can’t accept direct cash bets, they operate under a separate payment system. For the most part, most reputable social casinos, otherwise known as sweepstakes casinos, are available in more states than regular real cash casinos, so they present several winning chances and opportunities.
- How to Choose the Best Social Casino
Choosing the right social casino isn’t rocket science, but it involves some patience and a little tack. We bring you some of the most notable aspects to consider when settling on a sweepstake casino.
- Reputation
While legal American online casinos must have a valid license to operate, reputable social casinos don’t necessarily have the same licenses from state agencies like the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. However, they do share their vision for maintaining a safe gaming environment against hackers, ransomware artists, and other disgruntled members.
The reputable social casinos have a pact with these gaming agencies to maintain strict cybersecurity and fair and honest gameplay. You can expect the top social casinos to use gaming developers that have a certified random number generator to set your mind at ease.
- Game Variety
For the most part, most social casinos have a smaller game lineup compared to real money casinos. However, that is quickly changing with the new sweepstakes casinos. Today’s social casinos offer around 800 to 1,000 games, many of which you can find at traditional online casinos. Depending on the type of player you are, some research is in order to find the casino that offers them.
Some social casinos only offer slots. Still, do they have classic slots to help you stretch your budget? If you are into table games, does the social casino have a live dealer section? Even if the social casino offers live dealer play, they should have a solid variety, including classic roulette and blackjack.
- Bonuses and Promotions
To compete against real money casinos, the top social casinos go overboard with thrilling promotions, including daily. While only three legal American online casinos offer a no-deposit bonus, all reputable social casinos have a sensational no-deposit bonus. Some offer hundreds of thousands of free gold coins without making a deposit. You can also expect a handful of sweepstakes coins to go with it. Others might offer bingo balls and diamonds, which are used to help unlock exclusive games or boost gift cards.
Most reputable social casinos have daily bonuses. Usually, logging into your account every day leads to free gold coins. The top social casinos also offer seven-day challenges. If you log into your social casino account for seven straight days, the amount of gree gold and sweepstakes coins increases with each passing day.
Also, because most social casinos are heavily involved in social media, competing in the daily social media challenges is another easy way to pick up free gold and sweepstakes coins. For every friend that you refer to a social casino, you can usually pick up thousands, if not a hundred thousand, of free gold coins. Throw in the daily bonus wheel, where a random spin also unloads free gold and sweepstakes coins.
- Mobile Gaming
The first generation of social casinos usually didn’t have official apps. However, with 2024 proving to be the golden year for new social casino releases, it’s common for new sites to offer two sweepstakes apps or at least one for either Apple or Android devices. Reading what other means think on Google Play or the Apple Store is another way to gauge the social casino’s brand reputation.
- Payment Methods
There’s no question that today’s social casinos have come a long way with the payment gateways. The early sites only featured Visa and MasterCard. However, to lure crypto casino players, the newer sites might offer Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrencies. Also, for the redemption process, more social casinos are having crypto available to receive a cash conversion of the sweepstakes coins. Also, today’s social casinos also offer Skrill and other leading e-wallets like Skrill and PayPal.
- Customer Support
Thanks to massive technological leaps, most social casinos rely almost on live chat to meet their members’ needs. The AI chatbots at social casinos are available 24/7 and are more than up to the task of helping members with basic issues like missing gold and sweepstakes coins.
- Popular Social Casino Game Strategies
Even though gold coins are superabundant, it doesn’t hurt to use basic strategies and a little common sense when playing at a social casino. Still, it doesn’t hurt to incorporate these basic strategies.
- Set a Budget
Just like you would playing at a retail or an online casino, always set a budget. Even though social casinos support gold coins, it costs to rack up on them in a hurry, as well as the sweepstakes coins.
- Use Responsible Gaming Measures
All reputable social casinos have responsible playing tools. We highly encourage you to set them, like playing and spending limits as soon as your account becomes active so you can help stave off problem gaming disorders.
- Conclusion
As social casinos continue to come online, they are also putting more emphasis on exclusive games. The key to unlocking exclusive slots and scratchcards, for example, is having a bunch of gold coins, which you can easily purchase, as well as VIP points. AI also continues to play a heavy role in the future of social casinos as it helps them develop original-concept games.