Quick facts about playing at a real money online casino in Virginia
- Traditional online casinos aren’t yet legal in the State of Virginia
- Some sweepstakes brands can legally operate in Virginia
- You can play at sweepstakes brands such as Stake.us, Jackpota, and LoneStar in the Old Dominion State
- Stake.us offers new players a welcome bonus of 560K GC + 56 SC + 5% Rakeback, unlocked with the bonus code GAMECHAMPIONS.
What’s the legal status of online casinos in Virginia?
Sometime in 2019, the Virginia General Assembly legalized the operations of commercial casinos, and by 2022, online sportsbooks were already in full swing within the state.
However, at the time of writing, you can’t play at a real money online casino in Virginia. We had hoped for a better outcome from the Senate Bill 827 filed by Senator Mamie Locke, but that didn’t go as expected.
If you’re looking for some traditional casino gaming action in Virginia, you’d have to try some of the alternatives that we discovered while searching for the best real money online casino in Virginia.
These “alternatives” are called sweepstakes casinos, and they offer a legal way to experience casino gaming online without breaking local legislation. Interestingly, we had a similar experience when looking for a
real money online casino in Florida.
Here’s how sweepstakes sites work in Virginia
Sweepstakes casinos are online casinos where players don’t need traditional currencies to play casino games. Instead of using real money, players at these sites receive virtual currencies for gameplay.
By using these virtual currencies, sweepstakes casinos aren’t restricted by the same laws as traditional online casinos. In our opinion, since you can’t play at an online casino with real money in Virginia, sweepstakes sites are the next best thing.
Most sweepstakes sites we’ve played at are powered by two types of game currencies called Gold Coins (GC) and Sweepstakes Coins (SC). Here’s how these virtual currencies work:
- Gold Coins: You can only use GC for entertainment because it has no “redeemable” value. Gold Coins can be obtained via bonuses, promotions, and optional GC package purchases. Although sweepstakes sites run a free-to-play model, they allow their players to purchase GC packages to extend their gaming sessions. That said, such Gold Coin bundle purchases are optional, and you don’t need them to explore the games available at sweepstakes casinos.
- Sweepstakes Coins: SC is used to play in promotional mode and can be redeemed for real prizes after meeting the relevant requirements. Like GC, you can also obtain SC via bonuses and promotions. However, it’s unpurchasable.
Now that we’ve seen how sweepstakes brands generally work, let’s look at some sites you might want to explore in the Old Dominion State
Our top 3 alternatives to playing at a Virginia real money online casino
Here are the top three sweepstakes sites we’d recommend for gamers looking to have a great online casino experience in Virginia:
Stake.us – Great bonuses and offers
Pros & Cons
- Amazingly varied game selection with slots, live dealer, and table games
- Unique and in-house developed games
- Redeem your SC for real world prizes
- Huge welcome bonus
- Unique bonus drop codes
- Not available in all states
- Only crypto deposits available
- No social betting
Stake.us welcomes new players with a 560K GC + 56 SC + 5% Rakeback offer unlocked with the bonus code GAMECHAMPIONS. The site boasts a game lobby with over 1,800 titles powered by 20+ leading gaming studios, including Pragmatic Play, Evolution, and NetEnt. Stake.us also supports crypto payments, making it a top
instant withdrawal online casino in the USA.
However, like other sweepstakes sites on this list, Stake.us doesn’t support withdrawals. Instead, you can redeem your SC for alternative prizes like gift cards and cash prizes after meeting the site’s minimum SC threshold and 3x playthrough requirements.
Jackpota – Player-friendly prize redemption requirements
Jackpota: Pros & Cons
- Large welcome bonus
- 1,500 GC every 24 hours
- Secure platform
- Ideal for beginners
Jackpota’s site’s ease of prize redemption makes it one of our
top 10 US online casino sites, as you only need 10 SC and 75 SC that have been played through once to redeem gift cards and real cash prizes, respectively.
The site also offers a decent 7,500 GC + 2.5 SC welcome bonus that you can use to explore over 700 casino games. There’s also a GC Grand jackpot with a 200,000,000 GC prize, a loyalty program, and a referral program on the site.
LoneStar – Great user experience
LoneStar Casino: Pros and Cons
- Small but quality game collection
- Reliable payment options
- Requires zero purchases
- Excellent RTP
The LoneStar website sports a modern, intuitive interface that makes onsite operations easy. We also like that it supports a variety of payment methods that make optional GC package purchases and prize redemption a walk in the park. That said, as a sweepstakes site, you’re not required to fund your account to play at the site.
Although LoneStar doesn’t offer a native app, the site is well-optimized for Android and iOS devices. As a new player, you’ll be welcomed with 100,000 GC + 2.5 SC. There’s also a daily bonus offering 5,000 GC + 0.30 SC. We love the 200,000 GC + 70 SC that you could get for each person that you refer to the site.
Here’s a quick look at how all three social sweepstakes sites compare:
| Sweepstakes site |
What we like |
| Stake.us |
Generous welcome offer and 1,000+ games |
| Jackpota |
Extremely simple prize redemption requirements |
| LoneStar |
Great user experience |
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Games you can play at a real money online casino in Virginia
You won’t have access to a traditional online casino in Virginia just yet, but you can explore lots of online games at our recommended sweepstakes sites. Here are the games we found at Stake.us, Jackpota, and LoneStar:
Online slots are arguably the most popular titles you’ll find at sweepstakes sites. That’s largely due to their simple but exciting game mechanics and the varied options available. At Stake.us, Jackpota, and LoneStar, we found everything from three-reel classics to Megaways slots, progressive jackpots, and Link & Win slots. Here are some of the top titles available at these sites:
- Club Tropicana
- The Knight King
- Plunderland
- Sugar Rush
- Gates of Olympus 1000
- Gravity Bonanza
- Grand Mariachi
- Aztec Fire 2 Hold & Win
- Buffalo King Megaways
- Johnny Hunter and The Mayan Gods
Although all three sites have limited table games in their lobby, you’d still find a handful of titles such as:
- Stake Originals Video Poker
- Stake Poker
- American Blackjack
- Baccarat First Person
- Lightning Roulette First Person
- Texas Hold’em
- Oasis Poker Classic
If you’re into social live dealer titles, you’ll be amazed at the quality and number of games available at the live casinos of our recommended sites. It’s as if these sweepstakes casinos try to make up for the limited number of table games by offering numerous live table games. Here are some of the titles we recommend at our recommended sites:
- American Roulette
- 3D- Gravity Roulette
- Royal Roulette
- Sic Bo- Grand Bonus Baccarat
- Crash Live
- Gravity Blackjack
- Speed Blackjack
- Grand Bonus Blackjack
- Take Deal or Risk Blackjack
🃏 Specialty & Exclusive Games
If you’d like to take a break from the “regular” online casino games, you’ll find a variety of specialty games to explore at our top three sweepstakes casinos in Virginia. Stake.us, in particular, boasts several in-house games called Stake Originals. Here’s a look at some of the top specialty games available at our recommended sites:
- Stake Blackjack
- Stake Baccarat
- Blue Samurai
- HiLo
- Video Poker
- Chaos Crew Scratch
- Shave The Beard
- Scratch Gold
- Shark Wash
- Hell Chef Goes Fishing
- Trophy Fish
- Easter Plinko
Pros and cons of playing at a real money online casino in Virginia
As we’ve already mentioned severally in this guide, you can’t legally play at online casinos with traditional currencies in Virginia. However, sweepstakes casinos are available. Here are the upsides and downsides of playing at these sites:
Pros and cons
- No GC purchases needed
- Impressive variety of games
- Generous bonuses and promotions
Conclusion – You don’t need to play at a real money online casino in Virginia to have fun
Virginia’s local legislation prohibits the operation of traditional online casinos, but that might change sometime in the future. In the meantime, you can explore freemium online gaming at sweepstakes casinos like Stake.us, Jackpota, and LoneStar.
Although all three sites are great alternatives, we strongly recommend Stake.us because of its expansive casino lobby and a 560K GC + 56 SC + 5% Rakeback welcome bonus activated with the bonus code GAMECHAMPIONS.
If you’d like to have a first-hand experience of our recommended sites’ bonuses and games, click the links on this page to sign up.
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Real money online casino Virginia FAQs
💰 Can I redeem cash prizes at online casinos in Virginia?
Yes, you can. However, you’d need to meet certain site-specific prize redemption requirements.
💰 Can I play in online casinos in Florida?
🎰 What games can I play at Stake.us, Jackpota, and LoneStar?
All three sites offer a variety of slots, live dealer titles, and a range of specialty and exclusives. However, their collection of table games is relatively limited.
💵 How do I play at an online casino in Virginia with real money?
You can’t play at Virginia online casinos with traditional currencies as it’s restricted. However, Stake.us, Jackpota, and LoneStar are great alternatives to explore. While
online casinos offer deposit methods
as it’s required to fund your account before playing, you have the option to voluntarily purchase Gold Coins bundles using real money at the sweepstakes brands we’ve mentioned here.
