Despite being home to the gambling capital of the world, Nevada has one of the strictest stances when it comes to online casinos—including sweepstakes casinos. While online poker has been legal in the state since 2013, and mobile sports betting is permitted with in-person registration, sweepstakes casinos have historically operated in a gray area.
That changed in early 2025, when lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 256, a major crackdown on unlicensed online gambling operators, including sweepstakes-style platforms. The bill proposes felony charges, profit forfeiture, and expanded enforcement against any company offering online casino-style games to Nevada residents—whether they’re based in the U.S. or offshore.
By April 2025, the state moved one step closer to fully criminalizing sweepstakes casinos. As a result, most major sweepstakes platforms have pulled out of Nevada, including all of our top-rated options.
If you joined a sweepstakes casino before this crackdown, you may still be able to redeem your coins—check the specific platform’s terms. Otherwise, your best bet is to play while traveling to a neighboring state like California or Arizona (though not Idaho, which is the least friendly state to sweeps casinos).
What Are Sweepstakes Casinos?
Sweepstakes casinos offer casino-style games using virtual currency, which allows them to operate legally in many US states – even where traditional online gambling is banned. Here’s how it works:
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You play with Gold Coins (GC), which hold no monetary value and are typically used for entertainment purposes.
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You can win Sweeps Coins (SC) through promotions, giveaways, and certain purchases of GC packages. These coins can be redeemed for real-world prizes like cash or gift cards.
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There is no purchase necessary to play or win—players can request free SC by mail or take advantage of ongoing promotions.
Until recently, this model was tolerated in Nevada, even if not formally endorsed. But SB 256 signals a shift toward aggressively enforcing restrictions, including targeting platforms that serve Nevada players.
Nevada Online Gambling Laws – A Mixed Bag
While Las Vegas is synonymous with gambling, Nevada’s online gambling options are surprisingly limited:
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✅ Online poker is legal but only available with limited participation.
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✅ Mobile and in-person sports betting is allowed with registration at a licensed casino.
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✅ Pari-mutuel horse race betting is legal at licensed racebooks.
Yet:
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❌ Real-money online casinos remain illegal.
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❌ Sweepstakes casinos are effectively being banned under SB 256.
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❌ State lottery is still prohibited due to a constitutional ban.
Efforts are underway to change that last point. In 2023, Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (AJR5) passed the legislature and may go to voters in 2026, potentially paving the way for a Nevada state lottery.
For now, though, the legal landscape is clear: Nevada’s land-based casinos flourish, but online casino-style options face growing restrictions.
Can You Still Win Prizes from Sweepstakes Casinos?
If you joined a sweepstakes casino before the crackdown and still have access:
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🎰 You can continue to play games using Gold Coins, which are purely for entertainment.
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💰 You may still be able to earn and redeem Sweeps Coins through login bonuses, promotions, or existing purchases.
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🏆 Sweeps Coins can still be exchanged for cash prizes, gift cards, or merchandise, typically at a fixed rate (e.g., 1 SC = $1), depending on the platform’s terms.
However, new players in Nevada are unlikely to find any legitimate sweepstakes casinos still operating in the state. If you’re eager to try sweeps play, traveling out of state is your only real option.
What Made a Sweepstakes Casino the Best in Nevada?
When sweepstakes casinos were still available in Nevada, the top operators stood out by offering fair gameplay, a wide variety of online slots and table games, competitive Sweeps Coins exchange rates, and generous welcome bonuses. These were the core factors we considered when evaluating platforms and recommending the best options for Nevada players.
1. Fairness and Legitimacy
Game fairness and legitimacy are critical when examining sweepstakes casinos. Reputable operators will use Random Number Generators (RNGs) to ensure fair outcomes for all slot titles and table games. You’ll also find that in most social casinos, games are audited by third-party testing houses to ensure fairness and legitimacy. Additionally, you’ll want to play at sites that accept secure and trusted payment options, have transparent terms and conditions, and offer tools to promote responsible gaming.
2. Game Selection
Best-in-class sweepstakes casinos keep you entertained with a wide and varied game selection. You’ll want to see slots from leading software providers, including variants like progressive jackpots and Megaways. They’ll also offer live dealer options, including blackjack and baccarat, and even some niche options like sic-bo and fish-themed games.
3. Win Potential
The point of playing casino-style games is to win, right? Well, even though you can’t play online casino games for real money in Nevada, when looking for a sweepstakes casino, you still want an operator that offers a high winning potential. Look for NV social casinos featuring games with high win potential, like progressive jackpots or table games with higher betting limits. These games will enhance your chances of earning SCs and securing rewards.
4. Cash Prize Redemption
One of the biggest draws of sweepstakes casinos is the ability to earn sweeps coins and exchange them for cash prizes, gift cards, and other rewards. A great sweepstakes casino will offer a fair exchange rate, straightforward redemption processes, a reasonable minimum redemption amount, and quick payouts. Great operators will offer a range of withdrawal methods, including e-wallets and cryptocurrency, too.
5. Free Sweeps Coins
Sweepstakes coins are the key to playing and winning at sweepstakes casinos, and the best operators offer plenty of ways to earn them for free. Look for casinos that provide generous welcome and no-purchase bonuses, daily login rewards, and loyalty programs that reward consistent play. Some Nevada sweepstakes casinos may also host special promotions, tournaments, or social media giveaways where you can earn additional sweeps coins.
Online Casino Games
Sweepstakes casinos offer a wide variety of exciting games, including classic slots, blackjack, roulette, live dealer options, and more. With themed slots, progressive jackpots, unique games like fish tables, and even sic-bo, there’s something for every player. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular games you’ll find at Nevada online casinos.
Slots
Following player preferences in real-money casinos, slots are among sweepstakes casinos’ most common and popular games. These games allow you to spin virtual reels with themed symbols for a set stake to land winning symbol combinations across paylines to win multipliers of your stake. Great sweepstakes casinos will offer hundreds, and even thousands, of slot games, plenty of variations like progressive jackpots and Megaways, and a range of themes, including Egyptian slots, Irish-luck themes, to mythical games. You’ll even see slots based on popular movies, bands, and TV shows.
Blackjack
A classic card game found at land-based casinos and online sweepstakes casinos, Blackjack requires the value of the player’s cards to beat the value of the dealer’s cards, getting as close as possible to 21 without going over. If the value of your cards exceeds 21, you’ve gone bust. Many Nevada sweepstake sites offer blackjack, including an immersive live dealer experience with a real-life dealer and interaction with your fellow players.
Roulette
Roulette is a casino table game where players bet where a ball will land on a spinning wheel divided into red and black pokers. At Nevada sweepstakes casinos, roulette is powered by a Random Number Generator (RNG) for fairness, though some sites also offer live dealer roulette for a more authentic experience. While live games are less common, they’re available at top-rated Nevada sweepstakes casinos.
Live Dealer Games
Live dealer games mesh casino-style games and real life, using a live studio casino and dealer, with the game being streamed to your device in real-time. When playing live dealer games, you can place your bets and watch the action unfold while interacting with the dealer and fellow players via live chat. Popular live dealer games include blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and sic-bo. Some sweepstakes sites offer live poker against a dealer. Live dealer games tend to be less common, as most social casinos focus on slots and single-player table games. Therefore, live-dealer options are a real plus at sweepstakes casinos.
Fish Table Games
Fish table games are a unique option available at some Nevada sweepstakes casinos. In these games, you fire a virtual cannon with limited ammunition toward fish. These fish represent different values based on the rarity of the fish. Fish games are gaining popularity at NV online casinos, so sites offering fish table games are highly rated and sought after.
More Games
Other games featured at sweepstake casinos include instant-win games, casual arcade games, and fun games like Slingo. Some operators also offer TV game-show-style games, letting you play popular television game shows to win virtual currency and a range of other, more niche table games. These include baccarat, where players bet on which of two hands will get a total value closer to nine, and the popular dice game sic-bo.
Types of Promotions at Sweepstakes Casinos
Sweepstakes casinos offer a variety of bonuses to attract new players, keep regular players returning, and encourage them to explore different slot titles and table games on the platform. Below, we’ve listed some of the most common bonuses available at sweeps sites.
- Welcome bonuses: These bonuses often have a high headline figure and are designed to encourage you to register. They can include welcome packages of gold coins, sweeps coins, and tier credits for sweepstakes casino loyalty programs. Some of these bonuses require you to purchase coins, but others are offered as no-deposit bonuses.
- Reload bonuses: These are offered to players once you’ve signed up, giving you a discount on your first purchase of a coin package. Some sites will also give you extra SCs, which can help you work towards prizes.
- Daily login bonuses: You’ll usually receive gold coins and potentially some sweeps coins just for logging in to Nevada sweepstakes casinos. This is to reward regular players and encourage players to engage with the platforms continually.
- Slots tournaments: Some Nevada sweepstakes casinos offer slots tournaments, giving you the chance to compete against your fellow players on specific slot games. Winners can receive sweeps coins, bonus coins packages, or prizes and rewards.
- Blackjack tournaments: Similar to slots tournaments, the best sweepstakes casinos in Nevada will offer blackjack tournaments, offering a range of prizes for the winners.
Responsible Gambling Resources in Nevada
If you or a loved one requires help with problem gambling issues then support is available through the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). They offer confidential assistance, self-assessment tools, and access to self-exclusion programs, helping individuals make informed decisions about their gambling habits.
Nevada also promotes responsible gaming through the Project Worth Initiative (nevadacouncil.org), which provides educational resources and support for those affected by gambling addiction.
For additional help, national services such as 1-800-GAMBLER and Gamblers Anonymous provide 24/7 confidential assistance, including counseling and recovery programs.