Spotting Quality: How the Best Sweepstakes Casinos Stand Out from the Rest

Identifying the best sweepstakes casinos in the U.S. market can be challenging; the market has grown rapidly over the past few years, with new names appearing every year. Identifying which sites truly deliver a fair, transparent, and enjoyable experience can be challenging both for players and the affiliates trying to guide them.

We spoke with Max Brimmer, casino expert and editor at Casino.us. In this interview, we explore how the best sweepstakes casinos are reviewed and selected by Max Brimmer, to find out how to separate substance from hype and what the Casino.us team use as their guidelines for sweepstake casino greatness. Max has worked within the iGaming industry for over a decade, with experience working for both operators and affiliates in markets from North America to Europe and Asia.

Interview Questions:

What makes a sweepstakes casino stand out from the crowd?

In my opinion, the best casinos (whether sweepstakes or real money) should always prioritize transparency. A great casino product should make it easy for players to understand exactly how their system works. Sometimes that requires education opportunities starting from zero, giving the newest players clear opportunities to learn about how virtual currencies function, how redemptions are processed, and what the eligibility rules are. When that information is front and center, it’s the best starting point to show that fairness and clarity are valued by the operator.

What are the first things you look at when reviewing a new sweepstakes site?

Often, we start with the bonus offers since those are the most attention grabbing. However, when we start getting in deeper there are key factors like licensing disclosures, security features, and payment policies. Payment providers are usually one of the first things on our checklist too, since reputable companies like PayPal, Trustly, and Apple Pay are usually strong early trust indicators.

Do you think affiliates need a different editorial mindset for sweepstakes casinos compared with real-money operators?

I would say so, yes. There are two major factors I think are in play here; first of all is the fact that sweepstakes casinos are not licensed in the same way as real-money casinos, so checking on legal and security issues requires more attention from affiliates. Sweeps casinos don’t have an official board like the Michigan Gaming Control Board or New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement scrutinizing their actions, so we need to be more thorough. Second of all, sweepstakes casinos serve way more states and have less centralized offers, so there is sometimes more variety in their USPs and features. We can’t weigh these two products using the same measures.

How much do the games themselves tell you about a casino’s quality?

Quite a lot, if you know what to look for. Reputable operators partner with known software studios and use RNG certification for fair play, these games are also often licensed in international markets like the UK and Nordic markets, so they have likely been through rigorous fairness testing in multiple places. If we see a site that doesn’t clearly state who their software partners are or where their games are from, we are very unlikely to endorse it to our players.

Finally, how do you see the affiliate role evolving as sweepstakes matures?

I think that with sweepstakes, since they are unregulated, affiliates have the opportunity to be good markers of trust and quality for players interested in sweepstakes. Affiliates spaces are obviously usually about visibility and driving traffic, but we also have the opportunity with sweepstakes to keep players away from sites that are genuinely acting in bad faith. I think this evolution isn’t something that will happen overnight, but if we can strive to be transparent, thorough, and evidence-based, we stand to offer players a lot of value that will establish us as a brand worth returning to.