Sweepstakes Blackjack: Are the Prizes Worth It?

Have you or any of your blackjack-playing buddies heard about sweepstakes blackjack yet?

The chances are, you have, as this new type of online blackjack has been growing in popularity over the past few years.

Available to play inside classic and new sweepstakes casinos, it’s a risk-free alternative to traditional blackjack that’s caught people’s attention.

What is Sweepstakes Blackjack?

Sweepstakes blackjack is just like regular blackjack but without the real-money gambling.

If you’re scratching your head wondering how that can be, real money is replaced by virtual Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins:

• ◼ Gold Coins (GC): Let you play for free and exist purely for entertainment
• ◼ Sweeps Coins (SC): Play with Sweeps Coins and collect enough of them to win prizes

Most sweepstakes blackjack players prefer playing with SC because it’s the prize-winning currency, but GC is good for practicing your blackjack skills and enjoying random free-play games when you feel like it.

In terms of variations, sweepstakes blackjack is available as classic blackjack, multi-hand blackjack, European blackjack, and even live dealer blackjack.

It ultimately depends on the sweepstakes casino you play in, but it’s quite easy to find the sweepstakes blackjack variant you want, with most sites offering at least the standard version of it.

Live dealer blackjack is especially popular at the moment, with the likes of ‘Gravity Blackjack’ from Iconic 21 becoming player favorites.

Ranking the Sweepstakes Blackjack Prizes

When you pull up a virtual seat at a sweepstakes blackjack table, the aim is to bet your Sweeps Coins and win more in return.

Or if you’ve been given free SC, you can simply play them through without having to make a massive profit.

At the end, it’s possible to redeem these Sweeps Coins for prizes, so let’s rank some of the popular prizes:

Cash Transfer

Cash transfers are the most popular type of prize with sweepstakes blackjack fans.

After collecting enough Sweeps Coins and meeting the minimum redemption threshold, which usually starts at around 30 SC ($30) for cash transfers, players will go to the prize redemption menu and arrange a transfer.

You can typically choose from bank transfer, PayPal, and several other options.

Gift Cards

Gift cards are the next most popular prize. They have lower minimum redemption thresholds and sites tend to offer gift cards from all the major brands and retailers, including Amazon and Walmart.

For example, you might redeem 10 Sweeps Coins for an Amazon gift card, which would be sent to your chosen email address.

Merchandise

Some sweepstakes casinos, like Stake.us and WOW Vegas, offer merchandise in their prize catalogues.

Hoodies and hats are some of the top picks, which you can get by exchanging the required number of Sweeps Coins.

The good part about merchandise prizes is that they tend to be cheaper, too, meaning you can save some of your Sweeps Coins.

Cryptocurrencies

A very small number of sweepstakes casinos let you play sweepstakes blackjack and redeem your coins for cryptocurrencies.

All you have to do is select the crypto you want, such as BTC or ETH, provide the casino with your wallet address, and wait to receive it.

However, not many sweepstakes casinos outside of Stake.us offer this possibility at the moment.

How Sweepstakes Blackjack Works (and What to Expect)

If it’s your first time ever playing sweepstakes blackjack, there’s plenty of fun in store.

It’s not too dissimilar from regular online blackjack, either, so here’s a breakdown of how a standard game of sweepstakes blackjack works from beginning to end:

1. Enter the sweepstakes blackjack lobby
2. Make a bet using Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins
3. Receive your 2 cards while the dealer gets theirs with one face up
4. Hit or stand on the cards you’ve been dealt
5. Repeat the previous step until the game concludes

Remember, you win a game of sweepstakes blackjack by getting closer to a hand total of 21 than the dealer.

So, if you were to finish with K♠ + 9♦ (19) and the dealer ends with 10♣ + 7♥ (17), you would win the hand.

Heading into any game of sweepstakes blackjack, you can use the same strategies you usually do in the real-money version, as the gameplay is exactly the same.

In sweepstakes blackjack, the key is knowing whether to hit on 17 or not, but it’s generally advised that you stand on a Hard 17 (e.g. 10+7) and hit on a soft 17 (Ace+6), especially if the dealer has a 7 through Ace showing.

Our other piece of advice is to only play with Gold Coins during your first run of games, as playing with Gold Coins is risk-free and essentially a practice mode.

Once you grow in confidence, you can then switch to Sweeps Coins and start going after those all-important prizes.

Sweepstakes Casinos with Blackjack

So, which sweepstakes casinos have blackjack at the moment?

Most sweepstakes casino sites prioritize slots and roulette at the moment, but luckily a growing number of them now have blackjack as well.

Here are some of the leading operators and the sign-up bonuses that come with creating an account:

Whichever of these five sweepstakes casinos you go with, the major perk is that they all offer excellent sign-up bonuses, so you can take your free coins and use them across the different available blackjack games.

Sweepstakes Casinos Are Legal and Playable in Over 40 U.S. States

Sweepstakes casinos are legal in over 40 U.S. states and it’s estimated there are approximately 8.7 million players.

Because sweepstakes casinos follow a ‘sweepstakes’ model, where players are given free-entry options and aren’t allowed to bet real money, it means these sites can legally operate in almost all the major states, unlike traditional online casinos.

What this means is sweepstakes blackjack is easily accessible off the back of it, allowing players all across the US to enjoy it.

There have been some sweepstakes casino bans recently, such as throughout California and New York, but these sites are so popular that they won’t be disappearing any time soon.

Some blackjack players even outright prefer sweepstakes casinos to traditional casinos, which is why they’re booming at the moment.

Summary

Sweepstakes blackjack is more than worth it, not just because it’s free-to-play but because you can also win plenty of prizes on top of it all.

From straight-up cash transfers to gift card bundles, the options are plenty if you’re able to collect enough Sweeps Coins when playing at the different blackjack tables.

Brush up on your blackjack skills by practicing with Gold Coins first and you’ll be ready in no time to start chasing prizes.