Back in 2009, Illinois legalized video gaming terminals in licensed locations like bars, restaurants, and truck stops. Today, many players in the state have joined the digital revolution, making online slots in Illinois more prevalent.
The Land of Lincoln has not approved conventional online casinos yet. However, I play online slots at sweepstakes sites like Real Prize, CrownCoins, and Stake.us. These casinos are legal because they use virtual currencies and not traditional money. If you also want to spin reels in IL, I suggest using them. Read on as I discuss what they offer.
The online slots at sweepstakes casinos in Illinois work the same way as the regular games you know. To play, you spin reels with symbols and aim to hit matching combinations. What makes the sweepstakes titles different is that you spin with virtual currencies and not actual money.
Gold Coins (GC) and Sweepstakes Coins (SC) are the two virtual currencies in question. On some sites, they’re customized. For instance, I got Stake Cash (SC) as Sweepstakes Coins on Stake.us, and Crown Coins (CC) as Gold Coins at CrownCoins Casino.
Regardless of the name, the underlying functions of the virtual currencies don’t change. Here’s a brief on them:
| Virtual currency | Function |
|---|---|
| Gold Coins (GC) | Works for fun and entertainment only, and cannot be exchanged |
| Sweepstakes Coins (SC) | Serves as promotional entries, and can be redeemed for real prizes after satisfying all requirements |
I received GC and SC from bonuses and promotions while playing slots at online sweepstakes casinos in Illinois. There were also GC bundles for purchase, which I sometimes bought. However, they’re entirely optional. You can’t purchase SC in any form, but you can get them as bonuses from GC packs.
My top sweepstakes casinos excel not just in slot gaming but other aspects like bonuses, mobile compatibility, customer support, and friendly redemptions. Check them out below and what to expect when you sign up:
Real Prize is home to 700+ Vegas-style casino slots. Therefore, if you’re a fan of classic reels, it’s a good site to place on your radar. I had fun with several slots while reviewing the sweepstakes brands, including Joker’s Jewels, 777 Classic Fantastic, Flaming Chillies, and Hot to Burn Multiplier.
The welcome offer available on Real Prize is 100,000 GC and 2 SC. I got it after signing up without an initial GC pack purchase or a sweepstakes promo code. This bonus made things easy from the start, and I received more GC and SC from the ongoing promotions as I kept playing.
At CrownCoins Casino, I got a game collection with more than 450 slots. The Jackpot Play titles from Pragmatic Play caught my attention thanks to the progressive GC and SC prize pools. Upon checking them out, I played Big Bass Bonanza, Gates of Olympus, Crown of Fire, and Fire Stampede. The SC jackpot at the time was over 24,000, which was quite substantial.
CrownCoins Casino gave me 100,000 CC and 2 SC as a signup offer, and the daily login bonus offered up to 155,000 CC and 2.8 SC within my first seven days. These promos don’t require an initial GC bundle purchase, so some players call them Illinois no-deposit bonus offers. Technically, that’s not accurate since CrownCoins doesn’t allow any form of deposit.
Over 1,800 slots are available to play at Stake.us. It’s the most extensive on this list quantity-wise, but the quality was what impressed me the most. Notably, I found 100+ Exclusive and Stake Original slots, which are unavailable at other sweepstakes casinos. My best reels to spin are Gold Mega Stepper, Blue Samurai, Gates of Heaven, and Big Bank Bust.
Stake.us also rolls out the largest sweepstakes online casino bonus in Illinois. I got 250,000 GC, 25 SC, and 5% rakeback when I created my account. You can get it using the exclusive promo code DEADSPIN. The bonus will be added to your balance automatically once you verify your account.
The answer to the above question depends on how you want to play. Sweepstakes casinos are legal in Illinois, so you can spin online slots at Real Prize, Crown Coins, and Stake.us without any trouble. You play with virtual currencies.
If you’re interested in online slots where you use actual money, they’re not legal. Generally, traditional online gaming isn’t permitted in the state. From my research, the Land of Lincoln only allows in-person gameplay at licensed video gaming terminals.
However, online sports betting is legal in Illinois. Since the IL Sports Wagering Act was passed in 2019, several new online sportsbooks have launched in the state. Hence, if you’re an Illinoisan interested in playing slots with actual money, sports betting is your best alternative.
I checked the official website of the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) and counted 10+ legal online sportsbooks. After signing up and testing each one, bet365 and BetMGM stood out as the best. Here’s what makes the betting brands stand out:
On the bet365 sportsbook site, I came across 28+ sports. The brand has an extensive coverage of all popular US leagues like the MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, MLS, and others. At the same time, I found niche betting sports such as snooker, surfing, golf, and cycling.
For each sport, bet365 does a good job of providing all essential markets. In the MLB, for example, I wagered on moneylines, totals, runlines, and several others. Interestingly, bet365 gave me two welcome bonus options when I signed up: a first bet safety net of up to $1,000 or bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets. I went with the latter.
As one of the biggest betting brands in the US, BetMGM covers 25+ sports, which is also extensive. During my review, I saw markets for betting on basketball, football, soccer, baseball, hockey, and many others. After analyzing the odds, I confirmed that BetMGM offers quite competitive lines with moderate to low vig.
Specifically, I calculated an average margin of 4.40% for the NHL, 4.50% for the NFL, 4.60% for the MLB, and 4.70% for the NBA. Only the MLS had significantly varied at 7.5%, which is understandable as it’s not as popular as other leagues. When I placed my first bet on BetMGM, I was eligible for up to $1,500 cashback in bonus bets if the wager didn’t win.
When it comes to slots, variety is the name of the game. With sweepstakes online slots in Illinois, you get all the various types present at traditional gaming sites. These include:
With classic slots at Illinois online casino sites, you get a throwback to the old-school fruit machines. They feature 3 to 5 reels, simple symbols like cherries, bars, and sevens, and minimal features. I find classics ideal for IL players who want something straightforward.
These slots shake up the traditional format by offering up to 117,649 ways to win, and sometimes even more. Instead of fixed lines, the number of symbols on each reel changes with every spin. That means the number of possible combinations also shifts constantly.
I’m a big fan of these games, so I’ve provided some top ones to play at my best Illinois sweepstakes casinos below:
| Sweepstakes casino | Top Megaways slots |
|---|---|
| Real Prize | Elemental Gems Megaways Might of Freya Megaways Power of Thor Megaways |
| CrownCoins | Buffalo King Megaways Tiki Hut Megaways The Dog House Megaways |
| Stake.us | 5 Lions Megaways Witch Heart Megaways Dragon Queen Megaways |
Also known as Avalanche or Tumbling Reels, cascading slots replace matching symbols with new ones that drop into their place. This allows you to score multiple hits in a single spin without touching your virtual currencies.
Notably, each cascade can trigger a different multiplier, and some slots even increase the value with every tumble. Based on my experience, many titles from Pragmatic Play at IL sweepstakes casinos have this feature. However, it was Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt that made it popular at first.
Slots with the Hold and Win mechanic are a staple at the best social casino sites with real prizes. They’re all about bonus rounds where you collect symbols in a grid. Usually, you need to hit a certain number of special symbols to trigger the feature.
Once activated, you get a few spins to keep playing without using your GC or SC. Each time you match additional symbols, the spin count resets. The goal is to fill the grid with the special symbols and potentially trigger a jackpot multiplier before you run out of tries. It’s a simple but exciting mechanic, and that’s why it’s popular.
If you want slot games with high multipliers, look no further than jackpots. There are both fixed and progressive variants at sweepstakes casinos in Illinois.
Fixed jackpots have a single and unchanging top multiplier, but the pool in progressive slots keeps increasing as more users spin. Anyone who matches the required symbols receives the entire prize, and this happens randomly.
Importantly, remember that you don’t play free online slots for real money at sweepstakes casinos. If you score a jackpot, you can only redeem real prizes if you played with SC. Other requirements for prize redemptions include getting up to a minimum eligible amount and verifying your account.
From my experience so far with online slots in Illinois, these are the upsides and downsides I’ve noted:
If you’re a slot fan in the Land of Lincoln, sweepstakes casinos give you many titles to play. Whether you’re after the classics or modern video slots, you’ll find a reel to spin. All you have to do is sign up with one of my top sites on this page.
In my opinion, the absence of traditional online slots shouldn’t cause any worry. The slot variants at sweepstakes casinos are pretty much the same as you’d find on conventional sites. Besides, online sports betting is legal in IL, providing an alternative if you want to use actual money.
Ultimately, there’s no shortage of options as an Illinoisan. You can get started today by clicking the links on this page for your preferred sweepstakes casino. Sign up, receive your welcome bonus, and start spinning.
Yes, you can play slots online in Illinois, but only at sweepstakes casino sites. Traditional online casinos, where you play slots using actual money, are not legal in the state.
The best online casino slot in Illinois depends on your preferences as a player. If you join the top sweepstakes casinos on this page, you can choose from classics, Megaways, jackpots, Hold and Win, and more.
Yes, Illinois has physical virtual slot machines (known as video gaming terminals) at licensed locations like bars, restaurants, and truck stops. You can also play slots online at legal sweepstakes casinos in the state.
You can’t play BetMGM casino slots in Illinois since traditional online gaming isn’t permitted. If you visit the BetMGM website from IL, you can only bet on sports events.
Loading …
