Washington Sweepstakes Casinos

As Washington is known to treat many forms of online gaming as Class C felonies, social “for fun” casinos are your only real option. Fortunately, there are quite a few sweepstakes casino alternatives to choose from, and we’ll be looking at the best of them here.

POP! Slots acts like a video game, with games and rewards progressively unlocked. It operates on a “for fun” model and provides Washingtonians with more than enough free chips to ensure that they won’t have to purchase any and put themselves in jeopardy.

Equipped with over 30 games and in-house exclusives found nowhere else, POP! Slots has partnered with major Las Vegas casinos to offer real-world prizes including hotel stays, cruise discounts and vouchers. It walks a fine line between being legal and illegal, but just stays onside.

POP! Slots offers a purely mobile experience, so it can only be played on Android, iOS, or Kindle/Fire devices, and Windows if you install Google Play. Signing up nets you 5,000,000 free coins, with daily free chips coming your way once you reach level 13.

A popular part of the Hard Rock Social Casino (more on that in a second), Neverland is an iOS and Android app that features over 200 games, and unlike POP! Slots, it can be played on the web via a browser if you prefer.

Given its operator, you can expect to see Hard Rock slots supported. Gameplay revolves around missions, so teaming up with other players and hitting daily goals together can see you level up faster, as you travel to various themed casinos on a world map.

As with other social casinos, no real money prizes are offered. Neverland focuses on virtual rewards that help you keep playing. Coins are used for gameplay, WDollars can be used to reduce the price of coin packages (yes, it does sell them), and Diamonds are used to unlock new games. This can be a little confusing for newbies.

Some of the other sites on SweepsKings WA casinos list focus on slots. BetRivers.net is as close to a true casino as you’re going to get in Washington, when factoring in table games and other options. It’s impressive how much BetRivers.net looks like a casino and allows you to enjoy that experience without actually being one.

Cashing out prizes isn’t possible here. BetRivers.net is offering a purely for-fun site, with virtual credits not redeemable for real money, products or prizes of any kind, but you can still purchase VC$. It dishes out new virtual credits for free every 4 hours, so you won’t be short of chances to play for free.

BetRivers.net is predominantly browser-based and home to over 800 games. These come from conventional casino software providers, giving this social casino an element of realism and familiarity you won’t necessarily get at other social casinos in Washington. Just don’t confuse it with BetRivers.com, which is a real money site that is illegal in the state.

You have to think that a brand such as Hard Rock would have all its lawyers perusing Washington’s gaming laws before it accepted players, right? That’s what makes it one of the most trusted and legal social casinos in the Evergreen State.

Hard Rock Social Casino (also known as Hard Rock Jackpot Planet) is available on Android and iOS (it’s not browser-friendly, like Hard Rock Neverland), and while it allows in-app purchases, it doesn’t offer real cash prizes. It supports reward credits that can be exchanged for Hard Rock merch, and Hard Rock giveaways that can be used for perks at Hard Rock hotels, cafes, and concert venues. This is what helps differentiate it from Neverland.

Expect to see over 300 games at Hard Rock Social Casino, with some high-limits options available, something you won’t see at many of its counterparts. Playing daily can help you claim streak-based bonuses, which will keep you from purchasing coins if you’re playing in Washington.

While not as refined as POP! Slots, and without its video game-style interface, Gambino Slots offers you a hub from which you can play over a hundred slots. While it’s similar to its counterpart in some ways, Gambino doesn’t provide any sort of real-world rewards. Nonetheless, it offers leaderboards and tournaments, and it permits purchasing coins, known as G-Coins.

Gambino is arguably one of the best purely entertainment-only apps, as it can be played in your browser and has exceptionally generous slots with, in my opinion, above-average prizes. It even supports a VIP scheme, which rewards you with in-game virtual prizes and perks, so you always feel as though there’s something to play for.

Gambino Slots has a fairly sizable following on Facebook. Its games are produced by Spiral Interactive (its operator), so you’ll find titles here that are available nowhere else. Joining Gambino unlocks a 500,000 free bonus as soon as you register.

Washington Sweepstakes Casinos Legal Status

Washington isn’t a new convert to the banning sweepstakes casinos train. In fact, it was one of the originators. Its current laws (RCW 9.46.240) date back to June 2006, when an outright ban on internet gambling was put in place, making gambling a Class C felony.

In 2018, the Kater vs Churchill Downs, Inc (Big Fish Games) ruling determined that virtual chips bought had financial value, thus breaching RCW 9.46.0237, a law defining gambling. Thus, virtual currency and dual-currency sites, including sweepstakes casinos, were added to the banned list. As a result, most sweepstakes and many social casinos rapidly pulled out of the state.

While those laws have been amended over the years, it has never been for the good. They remain in force, more restrictive than ever. Social casinos are legal in Washington, provided they don’t permit real-money cash redemptions, but even they could be called into question on account of them featuring virtual currencies, which breaches RCW 9.46.0237. More on that in a moment.

On paper, Washington can hit you hard. In theory, fines of up to $10,000 and custodial sentences of up to 5 years are on the cards, even if they haven’t yet been enforced on players. Personally, we wouldn’t trust them not to start doing so.

What Legal Online Gaming Options Are There for Washingtonians Currently?

Clearly, real money online and sweepstakes casinos are out of the equation. So, too are other forms of entertainment that the Evergreen State also deems egregious offenders. For instance:

Mystery Box Sites: These are deemed real money gambling activities, akin to loot boxes, as you’re competing to win real prizes and often need to purchase boxes to play.

Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW): Effectively, pari-mutuel betting sites and racebooks aren’t permitted, as this constitutes sports betting.

Skill Games Sites: Competing against other players to win prizes also breaches Washington’s gaming laws. You’re battling other players to win a share of a prize pot, formed by buying in.

Subscription Platforms: Opting for sites with recurring monthly memberships still constitutes sweepstakes model gameplay as far as Washington is concerned. They use dual-currency platforms, which, as we’ve covered, is a no-no.

It may look as though there’s nothing available in Washington, but that’s not entirely true. Firstly, it is legal to bet on sports and casino games, as long as you venture to one of the 30 tribal casinos operating under Class III Tribal-State Compacts. This was agreed in 2020 under House Bill 2638 (EB 2638), although it still prohibits mobile and online sports betting. An attempt to overturn this in February 2022 was dismissed, meaning that the status quo remains.

Secondly, if you want to play at home, you can only really choose from social casinos, and even that’s a bit of a gray zone. To help you navigate the Wild West of social casinos in Washington, it’s important to consider how gambling is defined in RCW 9.46.0237: Effectively, illegal gaming requires you to spend money (consideration), bet (chance), and compete for winnings (prize).

Social casinos just about fly under the radar for two reasons:

They must not offer real cash prize redemptions. Instead, they provide rewards like hotel stays, cruise discounts, and entertainment tickets. Because these rewards are won via engagement, and not based on the outcomes of bets (either successful or unsuccessful) or competitions, they don’t technically count as real cash redemptions. Moreover, because they are often tied to major brands and businesses, they are deemed promotional rewards, at least for now.

Social casinos must not allow users to purchase virtual currency. Players in Washington can play for free, but can’t purchase tokens. In practice, some sites still permit this (by using interfaces such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Amazon, or via a lack of geo-blocking tools), and you could argue that it falls into a gray zone, since you cannot convert purchased chips into cash or gift cards. However, because of the Kater vs. Churchill Downs Inc, case, any chips you purchase means that both you and the social casino are breaking the law.

In practice, as long as they do neither of the above, and the wording of the laws aren’t tightened, social casinos have seemingly found a way to offer their services to players in Washington, but barely. However, given how ferociously Washington shuts down avenues to gameplay when it wants, we wouldn’t bank on this option being around for the long term.

Washington Gambling Laws

Washington is one of the few states that hasn’t updated its sweepstakes casino gaming laws of late. The reason is that they’ve been outlawed for the best part of a decade. Dual-currency sweepstakes models are strictly prohibited under Washington’s gambling acts (RCW 9.46.240 and 9.46.0237), so don’t even think about playing at sweepstakes casinos or offshore sites.

To bet on games legally in Washington, you have two choices. You can head to tribal lands to place bets on sports or casino games. You cannot do so online, and no other venues outside tribal lands have the authority to provide these games legally.

Charity bingo and non-profit gaming operations are legal for fundraising purposes, but both are heavily enforced. Washington also runs a state lotto, but there are no online sales or courier services, and lottery tickets can only be purchased at licensed retailers and machines.

Senate Bill 6137 recently expanded tribal models to include college sports betting. SB 5565 also made it possible for senior living communities and centers to run weekly bingo games within limits. Disappointingly, though, there are no further changes on the horizon for any form of gaming in the Evergreen State.

Unless you intend on traveling to tribal lands to play with real money, SweepsKings strongly recommends sticking to social casinos, as long as they are able to avoid the gaze of Washington’s strict anti-gambling authorities, which is the case right now.