It can be easy to miss a trick when you try out something new. Whether it’s skateboarding, learning a new language or playing on a new platform for the first time, there’s so much to take in that it can be all too easy to make a mistake. This isn’t helped by the fact that sweepstakes casinos are still relatively new to the gaming industry, so a lot of their features aren’t common knowledge yet.
If you’re completely new to these online sites, then this guide is a good place for you to start before you sign up and create a sweepstakes casino account. We also have a handful of other handy guides for you, such as a comprehensive list of sweepstakes casino slang and terminology - this is useful because they have a lot of unique terms and words!
However, in this guide, we’ll focus on the common mistakes new players can make in sweepstakes casinos and, more importantly, how to avoid them!
Not checking if the platform is a social or sweepstakes casino
One of the most important things to consider when you join an online casino in the US is what kind of business model it operates under. In states where online casinos are regulated, you’ll find real-money casinos such as BetMGM, Bally’s and Caesars.
However, in states where online gambling isn’t quite regulated yet, you’ll find social and sweepstakes online casinos. One of these give players the opportunity to redeem cash prizes, and one of them doesn’t… and it’s not always clear which one a platform is. For a full guide on the differences between social and sweepstakes casinos, we have an explanation available here.
If redeeming prizes is an important part of your gaming experience, then you can make sure that an online social casino offers this in its FAQs. If the platform explains how to redeem Sweeps Coins for prizes, then it’s a sweepstakes casino - but if the platform makes it clear that there’s no way to redeem anything, then it’ll be a social casino.
Not completing Sweeps Cash playthrough requirements
When you play at a real-money casino, the process between depositing money, playing casino games and then withdrawing money is very streamlined and easy to understand. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple with sweepstakes casinos!
After you receive Sweeps Cash at a sweepstakes casino, you can’t redeem them straight away. Instead, you need to complete playthrough requirements, which can be set as high as 5x. This means that you’d need to play each coin (and win it back) up to five times - but thankfully, many sweepstakes casinos will just ask you to do this once.
If this sounds a little confusing, then don’t worry about it. There’s a lot of maths going on here. For a better explanation of what this means, we have a full guide on playthrough requirements for Sweeps Cash available here.
Not learning the difference between Gold Coins and Sweeps Cash
Sweepstakes casinos use two different forms of currency: Gold Coins and Sweeps Cash. These aren’t just there to confuse you either; they have wildly different uses on the sweepstakes casino platform, too!
Gold Coins are the main currency you’ll use to play the online casino games and these can be obtained very easily. You’ll usually get Gold Coins just for logging in each day, completing challenges and can even purchase them from the store.
Sweeps Cash, however, is very different. You can only obtain Sweeps Cash through special bonuses or promotions, and it’s this currency that you can use to redeem cash prizes. For a more in-depth explanation, we have a full guide on Gold Coins vs Sweeps Cash available here.
Not following the platform on social media (for giveaways)
Speaking of special bonuses, one of the easiest ways of obtaining these is through social media giveaways. When you sign up to sweepstakes casinos, you’ll be offered extra rewards for following them on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Not only will these grant you those initial rewards, but many sweepstakes platforms also host regular giveaways and sweepstakes redemption codes for extra Sweeps Cash.
