California is lagging behind many other states in the US when it comes to legalizing online gambling. However, if you currently live in California and don’t want to drive down to one of the tribal casinos, you still have options for online gaming in the form of sweepstakes casino sites.
Basically, sweepstakes casino sites are totally legal in California even though regular online casinos are not. These sweepstakes sites offer fun casino action, allowing you to play with digital currency instead of real money. Once you’ve accumulated a certain number of Sweeps Coins, you can exchange them for cash prizes.
Below, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about sweepstakes casinos in California.
While California law is pretty anti-gambling in general, it does allow sweepstakes gaming. Online sweepstakes sites, of which two are particularly notable, can be enjoyed from anywhere within California borders. The two notable sites are Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots.
Online Casino | Sign-up Offer | Purchase Offer |
---|---|---|
Chumba Casino | Two free Sweeps Coins on sign up | $30 Gold Coin package when you spend $10 |
Luckyland Slots | Ten free Sweeps Coins on sign up | 10 Gold Coins when you spend $4.99 |
Chumba Casino provides slots and table games, while LuckyLand Slots offers a good selection of slots. Both sites use Sweeps Coins and Gold Coins as currency for games. Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots are similar to Funzpoints, b spot, and Zitobox Slots which are all incredibly popular in California and throughout the rest of the US because of their excellent user interfaces and diverse game selections.
In a nutshell, sweepstakes casino sites are legal because players don’t put real money on the line. Instead, games are played with digital Sweeps or Gold Coins, which operate as digital currencies without a real-world monetary equivalent.
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Like most online casino sites, both Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots provide opening bonuses for new players to get people to try out their sites. Both sites also provide daily bonuses to encourage regular players to keep signing in. Thus, the opening bonuses here keep on giving. They aren’t one-and-done offerings only to draw in new players. Regular players also benefit.
Both sites, to start, provide daily free Gold Coins when you log in. These are automatically placed into your account balance for use with whatever games you please. However, you only get these daily free coins once per day. You can’t log in multiple times per day to claim the daily bonus repeatedly, even if you swap between different devices.
Chumba Casino offers an opening bonus of two free Sweeps Coins when you sign up for the site. Make an account, verify your information and you’ll get the free Sweeps Coins once you enter the site. Furthermore, it provides a $30 package of Gold Coins when you spend $10 on the site for Gold Coins.
LuckyLand Slots offers the same daily bonus, plus you get 10 free Sweeps Coins when you sign up. An additional 10 Sweeps Coins will be placed in your account when you spend $4.99 on other Gold Coins or merchandise.
Chumba Casino | Luckyland Slots |
---|---|
Free Sweeps Coins for logging in daily | 200+ Gold Coins for logging in daily |
Two free Sweeps Coins on sign up | 10 free Sweeps Coins on sign up |
$30 Gold Coin package when you spend $10 | 10 Gold Coins when you spend $4.99 |
Mobile Web App | Android App |
As mentioned, sweepstakes casinos work in California because they don’t actually require you to put any real money on the line. These games do not require that people play with anything of real-world value, so gaming with these sites is totally legal.
There are two types of digital currencies with which players can participate with the various games on Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, or other online sweepstakes sites.
The first currency is called Sweeps Coins. This is a free digital currency and players can earn more coins from participating in email challenges, signing up for free giveaways, or by getting a bonus every day just for logging in. You spend these coins at games the same way you would real money at a brick-and-mortar casino.
Gold Coins are the second digital currency. Players can purchase packages of Gold Coins and use these at the various games on any sweepstakes site. They have no exchangeable value so they are not redeemable for cash prizes. Many times, online sweepstakes sites provide players with extra Sweeps Coins when they spend money on Gold Coin packages or bundles.
Most sweepstakes casinos work by giving you free Sweeps Coins at a proportionately smaller rate than the Gold Coins you can purchase. You cannot exchange Gold Coins for money prizes, but you can use them to play casino games.
However, players can use their Sweeps Coins and eventually win some of the online casino games. Those Sweeps Coins can later be redeemed for monetary prizes. Because players don’t get nearly as many Sweeps Coins as they can get Gold Coins, sweepstakes casinos don’t usually offer the opportunity to win big in most cases compared to other online casinos.
Still, these sites are a good alternative if you want to play online casino games but aren’t allowed to in your state because of anti-gambling legislation.
In California, players must access Chumba Casino through a normal web browser, as it does not provide a mobile app. However, the website is also mobile-friendly for easy access. LuckyLand Slots is accessible through a standard desktop or mobile web browser. There’s also an app for Android.
Both sites operate 24/7 and provide browser and mobile-friendly interfaces for your device.
You are required to provide some banking information to sign up for both major sweepstakes sites, and you’re required to provide your email to get Sweeps Coins for free. Both Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots also make it incredibly easy to purchase Gold Coins.
You normally purchase Gold Coins in bundles for real-world cash values. For instance, $4.99 worth of Gold Coins could be several thousand, allowing you to play multiple games over the course of a day before needing to buy more.
Sites like Chumba and LuckyLand offer two main ways to purchase Gold Coins (remember, you can’t purchase Sweeps Coins). The main version involves opening the browser website or mobile app and purchasing Gold Coins directly in packages. For instance, purchasing $30 worth of Gold Coins from Chumba will give you roughly 2 million Gold Coins to play with, plus some Sweeps Coins that you might be able to redeem for cash prizes later.
Redemption is only an option if you win with Sweeps Coins on one of the games you decide to play. In this case, both sweepstakes sites offer you the opportunity to exchange your Sweeps Coins for cash prizes. The prizes are wired to an attached bank account and should show up within three to four business days.
Alternatively, players can obtain Sweeps Coins by mailing-in to either site.
Practically every sweepstakes casino site offers free Sweeps Coins whenever you send in a request by mail. The sites themselves provide the mailing address and require you to include your account information and your name in certain places specified. The tradeoff is that those sites (or associated advertisers) might then send you advertising mail, but you get free Sweeps Coins out of the deal.
To receive Sweeps Coins from Chumba Casino by sending a mail-in request, use a 4″ x 6″ postcard or piece of white paper inside a #10 envelope, then address the envelope in your own handwriting to: VGW Games Limited, Chumba Casino Sweepstakes Department, PO Box #8486, Portsmouth, NH 03801
Then, all you have to do is handwrite the return address on the front of the envelope along with the words “Sweepstakes Credits”. On the enclosed paper, make sure to handwrite your full name, email address, and a statement explaining that you want to receive Sweeps Coins from Chumba.
For LuckyLand Slot, the procedure is exactly the same. Mail the postcard or envelope to: VGW LuckyLand, Inc., LuckyLand Slots Sweepstakes Department, PO Box #8486, Portsmouth, NH 03801
The primary difference between sweepstakes casino sites and regular online casino sites is the replacement of real-world money with digital currencies that cannot normally be exchanged for cash.
Online sweepstakes casino sites use Sweeps Coins, which can be exchanged for cash sweeps prizes. But these are so infrequently handed out compared to their main Gold Coin currency that it’s rare for players to win big on these sites.
Sweepstakes casino sites are more often used as recreational gaming activities for people who like these types of games but don’t necessarily want to put real-world cash on the line. They’re also a good gaming alternative for people who live in states like California, which make it difficult to enjoy casino activities outside of Indian casinos.
Online casino sites, in contrast, use real-world money for gambling activities. California may yet eventually legalize online gambling to the same extent as states like Pennsylvania. However, such a development is likely still quite far off.
In terms of available games, you won’t be able to find much of a difference between sweepstakes casino sites and traditional casino sites except in terms of variety. Chumba and LuckyLand Slots both have good catalogs of games. But most traditional casino sites offer more games simply by virtue of there being more real money slots and digital casino games in general.
Beyond those major differences, things are pretty similar. Sign-up processes are the same, as are the opening bonuses to attract new players.
In California, online gambling is fairly limited, despite there being many in-person gambling activities throughout the state. At the time of this writing, it’s legal to gamble at racetracks, visit tribal casinos, enjoy legal poker card rooms, and play the lottery.
However, online gambling lags behind. To date, California does not have any legal online gambling save for horse racing and daily fantasy sports. The former is mostly because of California’s rich horse racing history while the latter is because daily fantasy sports technically counts as an activity of skill or strategy instead of chance (and thus is not considered gambling).
Sweepstakes casino and gaming sites like Chumba and LuckyLand Slots represent an excellent alternative as do sweepstakes poker sites like Global Poker.
Yes. Sweepstakes sites are completely legal to use in California because they do not violate the letter of the law. They do not require that users play with real-world money, and the currency you play with does not hold any real-world value.
Both Chumba and LuckyLand, the two most popular sweepstakes sites in California, use 100 percent legal sweepstakes models to avoid incurring any fines.
Yes. Both sweepstakes sites use security software and well-developed online sweepstakes platforms to ensure that player banking and financial information are not vulnerable to hacking attacks. Furthermore, both organizations are well regulated by the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC).
The CGCC oversees sites like Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots. It keeps a close eye on their activities and ensures that they follow regulations to the letter. They are also available to take complaints if any user ever has a problem with either site.
Chumba Casino currently offers over 70 titles. In comparison to LuckyLand Slots, this site provides a larger variety of online casino games, including several casino titles that you can’t find at traditional casino sites. It also includes table games.
Specifically, there are three card-based games. Blackjack and Jacks or Better video poker were its main offerings before, although it recently added roulette. The other games are all slots.
Most of the slot games have spin/plays that start with the values of 250 Gold Coins, although you can find other high-stakes slots that go up to 1 million Gold Coins or 100 Sweeps Coins per hand or spin. The highest slot games demand 50 Sweeps Coins or five million Gold Coins.
Players can find three progressive Jackpot slots at Chumba Casino, including Triple Double Fever, Reelin N Rockin, and Stampede Fury. These are potentially worth cash prize redemptions of up to $1 million if you win with Sweeps Coins instead of Gold Coins.
The biggest draw to Chumba’s online slot offerings is that the games are designed in-house, so you won’t be able to play them anywhere else. This is particularly nice for online casino enthusiasts who might eventually get bored with seeing the same online slots everywhere.
LuckyLand Slots is the sister site to Chumba Casino, and both websites are run by the same parent company. Despite this similarity in organization and oversight, LuckyLand provides over 30 unique slot games that you cannot find anywhere else. As a result, it’s very worthwhile to sign up for both websites since you’ll get different gaming experiences at each location.
Most of the slots use established casino themes, so the majority of the games feel familiar even if they are technically totally new. This is a positive, overall, because new players will get the hang of how games play and feel fairly quickly.
Some of the slots titles include:
Even better, the majority of LuckyLand’s slot games feature great 3D graphics and flashy animations. The resulting gameplay is enjoyable and interesting, even to online slot gaming veterans.
LuckyLand does provide some progressive jackpots as well for potentially huge redeemable sweeps prizes. For instance, Neon Valley is a progressive slot that can go as high as 177,000 Sweeps Coins.
In addition to the range of slot games offered here, players will also be able to enjoy some instant win and scratcher games. However, LuckyLand does not offer any video poker or table games and has not indicated any plans to provide these games in the future.
Yes. Using Sweeps Coins, one of the two digital currencies usable on these sites, you can play slots or other types of games. When accumulate Sweeps Coins as you win games, and you can redeem these Sweeps Coins for a cash prize. You can make the exchange through the sweepstakes casino website, and the money will be wired to your bank account within a few business days.
How old do I have to be to play at sweepstakes casino sites in California?
You have to be 18-years-old to play at sweepstakes casino sites within the state. This is the age at which a person becomes a legal adult and can provide personal identifying information on their own.
Yes. Both Chumba and LuckyLand, the two most popular sweepstakes online casinos in California, offer progressive jackpots. Both of these progressive jackpots are built up using Sweeps Coins instead of real coins so that they’re eventually redeemable by a player for a cash prize. In some cases, the cash prizes can get up to over $1 million in value.
This is one of the few ways where sweepstakes casino players can win “big” compared to players of regular online casinos.
One of the other biggest sweepstakes gaming sites is Global Poker. This is the best sweepstakes poker site if your state doesn’t allow legal online gambling. It’s a very viable alternative to regular poker rooms.
There’s also FunzPoints, a new sweepstakes casino available in California. It offers slots games. “Standard FunzPoints” are used in place of Gold Coins and “Premium FunzPoints” in place of Sweeps Coins.
No. While there’s nothing explicitly forbidding live dealer games with sweepstakes casinos, you can currently only find these games at regular online casino sites that allow wagering with real money. Since California doesn’t allow these sites anyway, you also won’t find live dealer games legally accessible online in the state.
There are currently 77 slot games at Chumba Casino. It also offers three card-based table games for a total of 80 titles to choose from. Because Chumba produces its games in-house for the most part, it doesn’t come out with new slot games all that often. But the games that it does produce are generally high quality and either feature excellent graphics or are built on well-tested slot game designs and themes.