Explainer: What is Social Poker? Here’s Everything You Need to Know.

Social poker is a type of online poker that is primarily designed to provide entertainment to those that like to play the game. However, sweepstakes poker is a type of social poker that allows players to exchange their winnings at the virtual felt for real cash prizes.

Poker players looking for an exciting option for online poker in the US, especially in states that don’t have regulated real money online poker, have found that social poker sites with a sweepstakes prize component to be a satisfying alternative.

Social poker is an option that’s been available to most US poker players for years but has really started to heat up in the last few months — consider that the marketplace had just two operators until this past July, and it is on the verge of welcoming a fifth operator in early 2025.

The growth in social poker means that there will be more ways for players to enter daily, weekly, or monthly poker tournaments and to also play ring games and sit-and-gos. Players can enter these tournaments to win prizes that can be redeemed for real money.

This article explains what social poker is, how it works, what platforms offer it, and where it is available in the US on a state-by-state basis.

Understanding the Terminology

For starters, it’s important to note that “social poker” is an umbrella term used to describe free-play online poker, however, players can exchange their winning for cash prizes if the social poker site has a sweepstakes component for its prize distribution.

There are many free-play poker sites, the most popular of which include Zynga Poker, Replay Poker, Governor of Poker, and Poker Patio. Social media sites like Facebook also have free-play poker.

As the name suggests, you don’t need to pay any money to play free-play poker sites, but in-app purchases for additional free-play and other game-related amenities are usually available. But unless a social poker site has a sweepstakes prize component, players will not be able to redeem their winnings for real money prizes.

Players also do not need to pay any money to play on sweepstakes poker sites — you can play for free, no purchase is necessary.

However, sweepstakes poker sites offer prizes that can be redeemed for real money. These sites are a type of social poker site — the big takeaway being that they feature a sweepstakes-based prize component. The sites use a promotional currency often called Sweeps Coins that functions as a unique method for redeeming prizes (this is explained in the next section).

The biggest sweepstakes poker sites available in the US are Clubs Poker, Global Poker, and Stake.us Poker. Pokerfuse recommends Clubs Poker.

Types and Examples of Social Poker Sites

How Sweepstakes Poker Sites Work

Under the sweepstakes poker model, players can register with the site and then use real money to buy digital tokens, usually called Gold Coins, which don’t have any monetary value and can only be used on play money games.

When players purchase Gold Coins, sweepstakes operators often give players Sweeps Coins (SC) as a gift (Note: On Stake.us Poker, they’re called Stake Cash, which conveniently can still be abbreviated as SC).

SCs function as entries into a sweepstakes. Players use SC to enter online poker tournaments and ring games, and the winnings from these games can be exchanged for real money.

As mentioned before, you don’t need to pay any money or make a purchase to play sweepstakes online poker. As a matter of fact, you cannot ever purchase SC. In addition to receiving them as a gift when you but free-play tokens, operators also offer daily rewards and missions that allow players to get them for free. For example, Clubs Poker routinely awards 0.5 SC just for logging into the site on a daily basis. Sweepstakes poker sites also give players SCs just for mailing in a postcard.

But not all players on the sites participate in SC games. Many players enjoy playing just the play money games on sweepstakes poker sites. There are tournaments where players can compete for Gold Coins, and there are leaderboards, too, for free-play action on the sites.

Sweepstakes Poker Sites Available in the US

The sweepstakes poker market in the US is having a sea change moment.

After being dominated by Australia’s Global Poker for years, there is suddenly quite a bit of competition. Clubs Poker offered US players a second option for sweepstake poker when it launched in July. Later that summer, Stake, which runs a large online sweepstakes casino in the US, launched Stake.us Poker.

The market is expected to expand even more in 2025. ClubWPT which currently offers a subscription-based sweepstakes poker site, announced in late September that it plans to launch ClubWPT Gold, a new sweepstakes poker site early in 2025.

There are some distinctions between the four sweepstakes online poker sites found in the US. For starters, two operators (Global Poker and Stake.us) are based in Australia while the other two (Clubs Poker and ClubWPT) are owned by US-based companies. Stake.us Poker only accepts crypto. You need a subscription to play ClubWPT. And not all operators are in all states (which is discussed in the next section).

Global Poker is run by Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW). It’s by far the world’s largest online poker site, allowing it to host regular MTT series with large guarantees. VGW also runs Chumba Casino, which is likely the world’s largest sweepstakes casino site.

Players like Global Poker because it is known for awarding special prizes to its tournament winners, including custom-made trophies, swag, and unique avatars.

Clubs Poker just launched in July, but it’s expected to become very popular with players for its excellent features, including bomb pots, rabbit hunting, and straddles. The platform offers a wide variety of mixed game poker variants, including No-Limit Texas Hold’em (NLH), Pot Limit Omaha (PLO), Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud, HORSE, and 2-7 Draw.

Recreational players are expected to be drawn to Clubs Poker, so there will probably be lots of soft games. The platform, launched by Philadelphia-based KHK Games, is recommended by Pokerfuse for its features and that it runs on modern software — it’s expected to one day grow to become the best room for US players.

Stake.us Poker also offers NLH and PLO, as well as a spread of ring games, tournaments, and sit and gos. One potential downside is that the platform only accepts crypto. That could be a red flag in most cases, but the parent company has been around since 2016 and is a global gaming giant that rivals VGW — with online casino and sports betting businesses serving ROW and the UK. (Notes: Stake also offers online poker ROW, and the UK site isn’t crypto-based).

California-based WPT Enterprises provides the branding for ClubWPT and the World Poker Tour — one of the world’s largest and most popular poker brands. Its schedule is full of daily tournaments that offer prizes redeemable for real money, and players can also win access to events on the World Poker Tour.

Currently, players on ClubWPT pay a monthly fee for access and there are two paid membership tiers. The platform offers daily tournaments and sit and gos. It also offers ring games but only in play money mode, which means players can’t win real money prizes through ring games. However, the launch of ClubWPT Gold in 2025 is touted as being a full service sweepstakes poker site.

Where Sweepstakes Poker Sites Operate

Sweepstakes poker sites operate in most US states under sweepstakes law, but there are a handful of states that have taken a very narrow view of such laws. Operators chose to avoid some states from the get-go, but there have been instances — especially as of late — where states have issued operators cease-and-desist orders.

There are only two states — Michigan and Washington — where all four of the sweepstakes poker sites profiled in this article do not operate. Michigan has been taking an aggressive stance against sweepstakes poker sites since September 2023, and {n:220526-michigan-still-has-sweepstakes-casinos-crosshairs:issued cease-and-desist letters to Global Poker and Stake.us Poker last year.

Idaho and Montana each have only one sweepstakes poker operating in their state, but they aren’t the same — ClubWPT operates in Idaho, while players in Montana can play Stake.us Poker. Meanwhile, Global Poker and ClubWPT both operate in Nevada, but Clubs Poker and Stake.us Poker do not.

What’s left are a smattering of states where one sweepstakes online poker site is not operating. There could be several reasons for each — in the case of Global Poker, for example, regulators in Connecticut issued parent company VGW a cease-and-desist letter in February (the operator recently exited Connecticut).

Clubs Poker is not available in Louisiana, but there are three states where Stake.us Poker doesn’t operate: Kentucky, New York, and Vermont. Six states — Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and South Dakota — don’t have ClubWPT.

Where Sweepstakes Poker Sites Operate

Note: As of October 16, 2024.