Players’ hopes were dashed in 2021 when the Arizona Department of Gaming refused to legalize online casinos. Even though online sports betting and daily fantasy sports made the cut, Arizonians’ only access to play table games and slot machines is by visiting land-based tribal casinos.
However, several legit Arizona online casinos have recently been slipping through the cracks of AZ online gambling laws. These online casinos provide online casino gambling to players with free access to online slot machines, table games, keno, fish games, and many casino game options. These alternative Arizona casinos online, called sweepstakes, use virtual currencies to play games instead of real money.
Likewise, since these online casinos match offerings of real money online casinos, players wouldn’t be tempted to sign up at shady offshore casino sites where they are at huge risk.
Continue below for more details on online gambling in the Grand Canyon State, and how you can legally play your favorite online slots and games without breaking AZ gambling laws.
Overview of Arizona Gambling Laws
Gambling has been legal in Arizona for over half a century through pari-mutuel betting dogs and racehorses. However, the 1980s legalization of Native American tribes by the US congress to open gambling locations on reservation lands brought a massive boom to the Arizona gambling industry and states like Pennsylvania. This pact led to the creation of several land-based casinos in Arizona.
This progress also expands the horse racing markets to the AZ lottery, which allows scratch-off tickets on Mega Millions and Powerball, two of the largest multi-state drawings. Currently, there are over 20+ land-based casinos where you can play slots, poker, blackjack, baccarat, and other table games.
Another massive expansion was made by Arizona in September 2021 when in-person, and only sports betting and daily fantasy sports were signed into the gambling law. While these brought in the likes of DraftKings, the ban on online casinos made it impossible for online casinos to be legal in the state.
Are there Legal Ways for Online Casino Gambling in Arizona?
Gambling in and of itself is legal in Arizona; however, online casino gambling is illegal. This is somewhat disappointing as seeing that Arizona state lottery, online sports betting, and daily fantasy sports are already legal in the Grand Canyon State. While players might consider using VPNs to access offshore casino sites, this can be risky. Since these sites are not licensed in the US, the games there might be rigged or, worst-case scenario, steal your personal and banking details.
However, instead of sulking over this or taking such a massive risk to play slots or other casino games, there are several legal alternatives you can consider. Some ways to legally play slots online or other games in Arizona is by playing at sweepstakes casinos, social casino sites, or sweepstakes poker platforms. These platforms provide great alternatives to FanDuel Casino and other traditional, regulated casinos that are not yet available in the state.
These alternative legal Arizona casinos are similar in that they all offer online gambling on casino games like keno, slots, table games, bingo, and fish games for free. The significant difference that is worth noting here is that while players can play for free and win real money playing at sweepstakes sites and poker sites, social casinos do not offer the chance of winning real cash prizes. However, these social casinos also have a more comprehensive game range, with many like BetRivers.net doubling as a social online sports betting site. It’s up to you whether sweeps cash or social gambling is your thing, since both options are legal in Arizona.
In subsequent sections, we will go in-depth on these online casino gambling sites in Arizona while also looking into how far legal online gambling in Arizona has come.
How Do Legal AZ Online Casinos Work?
Sweepstakes or social casinos are free sites that offer players the chance to play casino games at no cost. By removing a crucial element of gambling – consideration – these online casinos are able to bypass the AZ online gambling laws making them legal to play. AZ sweepstakes casinos have similar games to those you’d see in real money online casinos, so you wouldn’t miss out on any gaming experience.
In place of real money, these AZ online casino gambling sites use virtual currencies called gold coins and sweeps coins. Following the sweepstakes law, players do not need to purchase, deposit, or upgrade their account to have full access to all features of this kind of casino. In addition to being offered freely, these virtual currencies are valueless outside the online casino, but if you can win over 50 sweeps coins, you can redeem them for cash prizes.
Top 6 Sweepstake Online Casinos in Arizona
Sweepstakes casinos might offer a legal way to gamble from Arizona, but they are not equal in their services. Depending on your preferred mode of playing, games, banking options, etc., you might need to pick an alternative sweepstake casino; like you would weigh real money CA online casinos or AZ operators. Below, we cover our highest-rated AZ sweeps casinos to help you make your final choice.
Pulsz Casino AZ
Pulsz Casino offers players 200+ casino games from actual software providers like NetEnt, Habanero, Pragmatic Play, Playtech, Big Time Gaming, and so on. You can play slots with different mechanisms at Pulsz casino, many of which are high paying.
In addition to slots, there are also a few card and table games to choose from. Aside from having similar casino games to actual online gambling sites, Pulsz Casino pays real money to any player who wins over 50 SCs.
New players from Arizona are offered a 5,000 gold coins no deposit bonus and a 200% extra on their first purchase to make playing enjoyable. Discover more about the Pulsz promo codes.
Fortune Coins Casino AZ
Fortune Coins has one of the best redemption rates of all available free Arizona online casinos. The sweepstakes online casino has 50+ games, including top Fortune Coins slots and fish games like Emily’s Treasure. Players can play slots and fish games with gold coins and fortune coins. Fortune coins can be redeemed for cash prizes, making the 3-tier jackpot slots worth your time.
In addition, being a social casino, there are multiplayer fish games where you compete with other players to shoot sea creatures.
If you are already sold on Fortune Coins Casino, you can claim the 140,000 gold coins and 500 fortune coins to kickstart your gameplay. You can also read more about this AZ sweepstakes site here.
SweepSlots Casino AZ
This is one of the few sweepstakes slots that accept cryptocurrency. While the game collection at SweepSlots is narrow, players can still have exciting moments playing there.
The free online casino offers players exciting promotions like a 100% welcome bonus if you use the bonus code MAXICOINS or COMMENT. New registered users from Arizona will receive 100 SC no deposit for using our links. This is the equivalent of $100 at real money casinos, which should be enough of to kickstart your online gambling journey.
Rush Games Casino 4Fun AZ
Of all the free casino sites we’ve discussed, Rush Games Casino has over 400+ casino games, making it one of the broadest game options offered by a free online casino. The sheer number of games there is almost the same as what many regulated land-based casinos like Spirit Mountain Casino offers.
The games are also provided by actual game studios, which makes it one of the best alternatives for AZ players looking for a Vegas casino experience from their homes. In addition to slot games, there are also live games and table games at this sweepstakes site. By using the bonus code PLAY200, players can claim 500 free virtual credits they can use to play any game of their choosing. Still, cash prizes are not available here.
BetRivers Social Casino AZ
BetRiver.net is one of Rush Games’ sister sites. The online casino is the place to be if you want unlimited access to every category of casino games. While you wouldn’t be able to win real money at BetRivers Social Casino app, it’s a worthy tradeoff given the expansive features you enjoy. In addition to casino games, there is also free sports betting at the casino, with over 30 sports markets having Vegas odds.
New Arizonians can claim daily virtual coins and promotions to play any of the top online slots and live dealer options.
Global Poker AZ
Even though poker games are still illegal in Arizona, Global Poker is a sweepstakes poker site that offers players a legal way to play online poker for free. The site has several poker rooms you can join, and you even have options to play with others in your closest vicinity.
Some online poker games you can play at Global Poker are Omaha High/Low, Jackpot Sit’N’Go, and so on. Sweeps slots aren’t missing either, while the real action is provided through daily and weekly poker tournaments.
You can claim the $20 gold coins package to start playing AZ online poker. Players can withdraw $50 or more at any time, by converting their SCs.
How to Choose the Best Legal Online Casinos Arizona
Since real money Arizona online casinos are still illegal, many sweepstakes casinos have risen to the situation by providing a world-class casino experience. As great as this is, it’s unfortunate that some do not measure up. This could be that the sweepstakes casinos are shady, or you wouldn’t get the best experience there. In order not to fall prey to bad sweepstakes casinos, we’ve come up with some criteria you can use to get the best sweepstakes casinos you can play at. Many of which apply to real money casinos, which will eventually be legal in Arizona.
- Games: This is the first and most important criterion you must consider. To be worthy of being an alternative, the best Arizona sweepstakes casinos offer similar games as real gambling sites. These games might be proprietary, built by the free casino sites, or sourced from third-party game providers. Interestingly, some sweepstakes casinos whose games are powered by iGaming software providers have similar titles to those you’d find in many AZ online casinos. For example, NetEnt is a prominent game studio powering games in real casino sites and sweepstakes sites like Pulsz. So, games like Starburst, which used to only be available at legal online gambling sites, are now available to play for free and legally in Arizona sweepstakes sites with the same experience. Regardless of where the games are from, they are built to operate like many real-money online casino games.
- Accessibility: The best Arizona online gambling site offers players easy access to games. Since everything moved online, AZ players can now signup and play casino games from the comfort of their homes. Aside from the websites being accessible from your PC, they are also mobile-optimized. In addition, there are social mobile apps for Android and iOS users that instantly turn your mobile device into a brick-and-mortar casino or mobile arcade.
- Fairness and Safety: Legal Arizona casinos make the extra effort to ensure fair gameplay while protecting users’ data. They achieved these by using Random Number Generators to provide unpredictable results in casino games. Actual online gambling sites also use the RNG. With many of the sweepstakes games tested and certified by auditing companies like TST TestLabs, GMM Labs, and iTech, the same auditors testing online and land-based casinos’ games.
- Promotions: Promotions are the backbone of maintaining free games at sweepstakes casinos, hence the need to have a variety of them available at any given moment. The top free Arizona online casinos uphold this value by providing free credits – gold coins and sweeps coins – through no-deposit bonuses. This type of bonus ensures that players can have full access to games and rewards even if they decide not to make a purchase or upgrade their account. Similarly, deposit bonuses are also reserved for those who want to purchase more virtual credit, but mind you; this is not mandatory.
- Rewards: This is more of a personal decision than a criterion; however, it deserves an honorable mention. While all AZ online casinos offer free online slots, video poker, table, and other games, not all of them provide players the chance to win real money. So, if your primary goal is to play and win real money as you would in the real money Arizona online casinos, then you might want to do additional research on each sweepstakes casino before signing up. Sites like Rush Games and BetRivers.net offer a wide variety of games but do not have the option to win cash prizes, while sites like Chumba and Fortune Coins allow players to win real money.
Available Games at Legal Casinos in Arizona
Legal online casinos in Arizona are filled with excellent casino games. Even though these games are free to play, online casinos make extra effort to offer similar games as you would find in actual online casinos. This is done by partnering with reputable iGaming studios that also power games in real money casinos.
With this, legit sweepstakes AZ casinos close the gap that might be between these two types of online casinos while also ensuring players don’t feel the need to at offshore casino sites. Some of the available games you can play at social casinos are:
- Slots (progressive, fixed, megaways, and Slingo)
- Baccarat
- Blackjack
- Video poker
- Live games
- Fish games
- Online bingo cards
- Online keno
- Roulette
How to Play at AZ Online Casinos
Players need to create an account to start playing at any Arizona online casino. Despite the AZ legal gambling age being 21 years, you can legally gamble at sweepstakes sites from 18. That’s because no purchases are necessary there. These games are available in all US states except Washington D.C., and not just limited to Arizonians.
As a rule of thumb, here are steps to follow to play at online sweepstakes casinos in Arizona.
- Enter the preferred sweeps cash casino URL or tap our page links.
- Click the “Join,” “sign up,” or “register” button.
- Input your email address and other information like date of birth, gender, address, full name, and zip code.
- Enter the bonus code if we list one. Alternatively, our links will be enough to claim the bonuses.
- Press the complete button again.
- Head to your email inbox and click on the confirmation link to activate your account.
- Head back to the website or mobile app and sign into your account.
- Claim available bonuses or purchase gold coins to start playing.
Some sweepstakes casinos like Fortune Coins allow players to sign up with their Facebook account, and with just a click, all your Facebook details will be used to create an account.
Common Promotions and Bonuses in AZ Online Casinos
Since the sweepstakes model used in Arizona casinos online requires that deposits and purchases are optional, many sweeps casinos in Arizona have several promotions offering free coins.
Most of the promotions offered are no deposit bonuses, so even if you decide not to make a purchase, you wouldn’t miss out on much. While each legal AZ online casino offers different bonuses, the following are common promotions to foster free online gambling in Arizona.
- Welcome Bonus
- No deposit sweeps coins
- First Purchase Bonus
- Social Media Contest
- Tournaments
- Bonus Wheel
- Referral Contest
How to Redeem Cash Prizes
Most sweepstakes casinos allow players to win real money. This is mainly done by allowing Arizonians to convert the sweeps coins they won playing online slot games or other casino games to cash. The mode of withdrawing is somewhat different from how you can withdraw money from a typical online gambling site, but players can convert a particular amount of sweepstakes coins to $1. For example, in Fortune Coins, 100FC is equal to $1. This conversion rate varies from sweeps site to sweeps site, so we’d advise you to check them out before signing up.
In addition, instead of having a premium coin one can convert to real money, some AZ sweeps casinos require players to upgrade their account or win the jackpot prize. These uncommon methods are used by LuckyLand Slots and Pulsz Casino, respectively.
Regardless, if you want to redeem cash prizes, here is a simple guide to follow.
- Sign up at one of the best Arizona sweepstakes casinos that allow real cash redemption.
- Play online slots or other casino games with promotional sweeps coins.
- Win the minimum redeemable coins.
- Head to the “Account” tabs and click on “Redeem.”
- Input the amount you wish to redeem.
- Specify the payment method you’d like to use.
- Wait for the amount to be processed into your account.
If you are new to casino games or want to improve your chances of winning, there are proven, legal online slots hacks and fish game cheats you can use to up your gameplay.
Keep in mind that additional verification is required to redeem cash prizes for the first time in any legal online casino you sign up at. To do this, you’d have to submit proof of identity and residency to ensure you are the actual person behind the account.
AZ Online Casinos Vs. Land-Based Casinos
As we’ve mentioned before, the only legal online casinos in Arizona are sweepstakes and social sites which offer free casino games to players while allowing them to win real money. Being the only alternative to online gambling in Arizona, it’s only fitting to wonder if you are better off playing at one of the brick-and-mortar tribal casinos.
Arizona online casinos operate similarly to every real money online casino, which means you can access them anywhere. This is an excellent advantage as you wouldn’t have to travel miles or leave your home to spin slot machines or play table games. Also, since some AZ sweepstakes sites like BetRivers.net and Pulsz have games from various iGaming studios, players are in for a variety they wouldn’t find at land-based casinos. Couple that with the fact that all games are free-to-play and the ability to win real money; online gambling in Arizona just entered a new level of fun.
Although these legit Arizona online casinos are an excellent way of legally playing casino games in the Grand Canyon State, you wouldn’t get the same experience as when you play in a real money online casino, but it comes close. Here is a list of the benefits and drawbacks you attached to these alternative gambling sites.
| Benefits of AZ Sweepstakes Casinos | Drawbacks of AZ Sweepstakes Casinos |
| Legal to play in the state of Arizona | Few have games from reputable iGaming game studios like Playtech, Pragmatic Play, etc. |
| All games are free to play | Game options are not as comprehensive as in regular online casinos |
| Offers non-conventional games like fish, war, and other strategy games | Not all provide real money winnings |
| Players can win real cash from playing | Cash prizes are relatively lower than what you’d get in real online casinos |
| Mobile friendly with some having native apps for iOS and Android users | |
| Lots of exciting promotions that can make gameplay more interesting | |
| Easy learning ground for new players trying to find their feet |
Purchase Methods
It’s important to reiterate that to gamble online in Arizona; players are not required to make a deposit or purchase. However, players looking to purchase gold coins are offered a reasonable number of purchase options to choose from.
While the number of purchase methods is nowhere close to what actual online casinos offer, you’d still find versatile and easy-to-use options to pick from.
Available purchase methods differ across each social casino, but the most common ones you’d find include:
- Visa
- MasterCard
- Discover
- Skrill
- PayPal
- Cryptocurrency
When is Online Gambling going to be legal in Arizona?
Given Arizona’s online gambling history, we don’t think this is happening anytime soon.
Even though gambling has been legal in Arizona since the 1900s, when Arizona legalized tribal casino gaming on reservation lands, no further updates were made until 2021, when sports betting and online daily fantasy sports were legalized.
This makes it possible for new forms of wagering like online sports betting, daily fantasy sports, and even table games in land-based tribal casinos. While this is an improvement, the legalization doesn’t include casino online gambling in Arizona, which makes it impossible for residents to play slots and other casino games online.
With no regard given to making online casinos in Arizona legal, players are left to watch as other states like New Jersey jump with both feet in online gambling. While you can play slots and other games through tribal casino gaming at land-based casinos like Apache Gold Casino Resort in San Carlos and Casino Del Sol resort; the only AZ online alternatives are the sweepstakes sites we’ve mentioned above. These sites offer free games from the comfort of your home, with the best even providing real money cash prizes.
FAQs
Is casino gambling legal in Arizona?
While sports betting and DFS were legalized in 2021, online casinos are yet to become legal in the Grand Canyon State. For now, Arizonians can join sweepstakes casinos and enjoy a similar experience; online slots, table games, and more are available to play for fun online, with cash prizes supported.
Are there other alternatives to online casinos aside from sweepstakes casinos in Arizona?
Yes, internet cafes also offer players games. However, this would mean you need to be physically there to play. Likewise, internet cafe sweepstakes are known to rig games, so we wouldn’t recommend playing there.
What is the legal age to join a sweepstakes casino?
AZ residents looking to start playing sweepstakes games must be 18 years and above.
