How sweepstakes casino churning works (beginner’s guide)

Sweepstakes casinos are free-to-play social casinos that are legal in most US states. You don’t bet real money. You play with two currencies: Gold Coins, which are just for fun and have no cash value, and Sweeps Coins (SC), which you can redeem for real cash at $1 per SC. “Churning” means signing up at many casinos to collect each one’s welcome bonus and turn that bonus value into cash.

The five steps

1. Sign up free — most casinos give you a few free SC just for registering and verifying your email.
2. Claim the welcome offer — the discounted first purchase bundles in bonus SC. That bonus is your edge.
3. Clear the 1x playthrough — you must wager the SC once before you can redeem it.
4. Keep as much as possible — clear the playthrough on a low-house-edge game so you don’t bleed coins.
5. Redeem for cash — pass ID verification (KYC) and cash out at $1 per SC.

Where the edge comes from

Two things. First, the welcome offers are discounted — you pay less than the Sweeps Coins are effectively worth. Second, the playthrough is usually only 1x, so you only have to wager the coins a single time. Clear that one wager on a low-edge game and you keep most of the bonus. Each site is a small profit; doing dozens of them is where it adds up.

The number that matters: the playthrough

Every bonus has a playthrough (wagering) requirement — almost always 1x, occasionally 3x. The game you clear it on decides how much you keep, because slots carry a higher house edge than table games like Roulette. Some casinos only let you clear the bonus on slots; those are the ones to watch.