Gambling in New York – A long hard road to legalization
The state of New York has traditionally taken a hard stance against all forms of gambling, with just a few tribal casinos permitted to operate at land-based premises. But things started to change in 2017, when the first in-person sports betting facilities were made available at land-based casinos and racinos.
Once PASPA was revoked in 2018, several states were quick to overturn the ban on online sportsbooks, meaning it was only a matter of time before New York State joined in the fun. Online sports betting was made legal in April 2021, with bettors hoping that New York online casinos won’t be far behind.
Right now, you can’t legally sign up to any New York online casinos, but that could all change sooner rather than later. Talks are in progress to introduce changes to the current legislation, but as we know, these things can take time. So although there’s talk that online casinos could become available during 2023, for the time being online casino wagering isn’t allowed.
Welcome to the world of New York social casinos
We know how disappointing it is not to be able to indulge your favorite hobby when and where you want to. And it’s endlessly frustrating when you can’t spin up the reels of a slot machine or play a few hands of Blackjack without having to travel to one of the tribal casinos or casinos across the state.
✋Casino games in the palm of your hand
We’ve already explained that real-money online casinos for US players aren’t available in the state of New York, and we have several exciting options to show you. Before you know it you could be spinning up the reels of your favorite slots, or taking your seat at a virtual casino table to play some Blackjack, Baccarat or Roulette. And you don’t have to worry as you won’t be breaking any Empire State laws – we’ll make sure of that.
Welcome to the world of social and sweepstake casinos, which allow you to indulge your passion for playing casino games, but with all the financial risk completely removed. Of course, you’re wondering how that could possibly work, so allow us to explain.
🎲What is a social casino?
The most important thing to know about New York social casinos is that no real money is involved. All of the games are powered by virtual tokens, which we’ll explain in more detail a little later on. That means that you won’t win any big cash payouts, but you won’t be spending a single cent of your bankroll either, so you quite literally have absolutely nothing to lose. With all financial risk completely removed from the equation, that leaves you free to enjoy the gameplay and have as much fun as you can handle.
❓What is a sweepstake casino?
When you sign up to a New York social casino, all the gameplay is purely for fun. But if you like the idea of being able to win real prizes from your free-to-play gaming session, then a sweepstake casino definitely needs to be on your radar.
Register with a top social casino and you could be walking away with real-life rewards. Gameplay is still completely free, but there are opportunities to win merchandise, gift cards and even cash in some cases – all without having to part with so much as a single cent – how exciting is that?
How does a New York social casino work?
You’ll be wondering how on earth an online casino can operate without any means of depositing funds into your player account. And if you’re not using dollars to play the games, how does that work?
It starts with the game tokens that you use to power your gameplay. The operators could just make it possible to spin the slot reels and play the table games without any form of virtual currency, but that would make for very poor entertainment in the long run – after all, how would you be able to track your progress, let alone experience the full fun of wagering.
Welcome to a world of virtual gaming tokens
We can’t emphasize strongly enough that no real money is involved when you play a game at a social or sweepstake casino. But you need something to power the games and give an approximation of real money, so the operators have come up with virtual gaming tokens. These tokens are site-specific, so you can’t transfer them from one social casino to another. And they come in two types, according to whether you’re playing at a social casino or a New York sweepstake casino.
Gold Coins
They sound expensive, don’t they? But Gold Coins aren’t really coins at all, and no gold is involved at any point in their creation. In fact, you can’t even see them, as they don’t exist outside the social casino site they were created for. But they’re a great alternative to real money, allowing you to spin up games and take your seat at any of the virtual table games offered by social casino operators.
Gold Coins don’t have any value in real life, as they’re just for fun. So you won’t be able to cash them in, withdraw them or transfer them to anyone else. Their only use is to power games, so the more you have, the more fun that lies ahead of you.
Claiming Gold Coins
As soon as you sign up to a social casino you’ll be itching to get started, so the operators ensure they give out generous allocations of Gold Coins as a welcome bonus. Any game winnings will be paid out in Gold Coins delivered straight into your account, giving you more to play with. And if you run low, more are always freely available.
Some operators award a login bonus of Gold Coins just for checking back in every day, but there are often weekly and monthly bonus drops too. Some social casinos offer tournaments and challenges, with Gold Coin prizes for players who top the leaderboard. And it’s even possible to send off handwritten postal requests for more Gold Coins.
The whole point about social casinos is that they’re free to play, so no purchase is ever necessary. But if you find yourself running low on Gold Coins, and there’s a particular game that’s calling to you, you have the option of purchasing curated packages of Gold Coins. Buying coins won’t give you an increased chance of landing any wins. But it’s a nice option to have, for those who want it.
Sweeps Coins
Sign up to one of the new sweepstake casinos and you’ll be awarded some free Sweeps Coins along with your Gold Coins, although some operators call them by a different name. Just like Gold Coins, these Sweeps Coins can be used to play games across the site, in which case winnings will be returned as Sweeps Coins too. And you’ll be able to claim more via prize giveaways and by sending off postal applications.
But here’s the thing – unlike Gold Coins, which are essentially worthless, Sweeps Coins have a nominal value in the real world. That makes them well worth collecting, but you won’t be able to purchase any of these virtual tokens. According to the laws governing sweepstakes casinos, Sweeps Coins can only be given out for free, so they’re harder to come by than Gold Coins.
Once your Sweeps Coins have been played through according to your chosen operator’s terms and conditions, they can be redeemed for real-life prizes. The rewards vary with each sweepstake casino site, but usually include merchandise, gift cards and even real cash prizes.
Sign up to a real-money online casino and you’ll receive an introductory bonus offer to help you get started. It could take the form of online casino free spins, or perhaps a deposit match offer, but the aim is to give you plenty more bang for your buck.
All of the best New York online casinos that you can sign up to right now are social and sweepstake sites, so no real money is involved. But that doesn’t mean you won’t receive some generous offers when you register for a new player account. And of course, here at TheGruelingTruth.com, we’ve got some fantastic promotions for you to see. Check them out to see which ones resonate with you – we’re always on hand to make sure you get the most out of every gaming session, whether you’re playing for fun or for real money.
New York online casinos aren’t here yet – but social casinos are!
We hope we’ve managed to show you that signing up to social casinos for online casino games is something that’s well worth doing in the Empire State. Given that there are no real-money online casinos currently available, social gameplay is the next best thing. And with sweepstakes casinos there’s the chance to grab some real-life prizes too.
We’ll let you know just as soon as legislative changes open the doors to real-money New York online casinos, so be sure to keep checking back. But until that day dawns, we’ve got extensive reviews and bonus offers to show you for all the best social and sweepstakes sites available to you right now. Your online gaming journey starts right here.
Interested in social casinos? Check out these top bonuses
1.
$25 No Deposit + 250,000 Gold Coins + 5% Rakeback
Players from Virginia accepted
Requirements (WR): 3x Deposit
2.
30 SCs on 1st Purchase + 4.5 SCs FREE
Players from Virginia accepted
Min. Deposit: 9.99
3.
$5 No Deposit + 250 GameCoins + 600 Diamonds
Players from Virginia accepted
4.
1,000 ($10) No Deposit Free Coins + 360,000 Gold Coins + $8 FREE Coins
Players from Virginia accepted
5.
$2 No Deposit Sweeps Coins + 27,777 Lucky Coins
Players from Virginia accepted
New York online casinos FAQ
⚖️Are New York online casinos legal?
The laws surrounding the US gambling industry are highly complex and are determined at state level. If you want to find up-to-date information relating to New York or any other US state, then please head over and check out our state-by-state guides. We update them constantly, so you’ll always find the latest and most accurate information here.
🎰What are New York social casinos?
Together with New York sweepstakes casinos, social casinos provide players with a legal opportunity to play casino table games and slots. This is an ideal option for casino fans who live in US states where online gambling is yet to be legalized. If you want to find out more, feel free to browse our extensive guides and social casino review pages.
🤔Who can play at sweepstakes casinos?
Playing at sweepstakes casinos is legal in almost every state right across the US. If you want to know if your state is included in the list and more about how they work, simply head over and explore our extensive social casino guides and in-depth review pages. You’ll be missing out on a great opportunity if you don’t!
