Social sportsbooks are big news at the moment and this guide is here to show you how to use them. Perfect for anyone who wants to bet on sports for free.
Below you will find our picks for the best sites and apps for social betting. Each of these brands is legal in most US states and they’ll give you a great way to socially bet on the moneyline, spread and totals for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and beyond.
Open Thrillzz
Open Thrillzz
It seems that barely a day passes without another new social sportsbook popping up. So here we’ve saved you a little time in figuring out where to bet as these are the social sportsbooks you should be using:
| Social sportsbook | Welcome offer | Unavailable states |
|---|---|---|
| Thrillzz | 3K Coins + 3 Sweeps | Washington, Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Idaho, Louisiana, Indiana, Nevada, and Minnesota |
| Sportzino | 10 Sweepstakes Coins and 220,000 Gold Coins | Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Idaho and Washington |
| Fliff | Spend $100, get $500 in Fliff Coins and up to $5 Per Day | Washington, and customers in Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada and Tennessee cannot enter the sweepstakes |
| Legendz | 23 Sweepstakes Coins and 500 Gold Coins | Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Idaho, and Washington |
Thrillzz stands out from most other online sweepstakes platforms in the US by taking a completely different approach. Instead of focusing on casino-style games, Thrillzz is built around its social sportsbook app, where you can make picks on your favorite sports without needing to make an initial purchase.
We signed up in no time, and the overall experience felt smooth and intuitive. First of all, it was the unmatchable welcome bonus of 3K Coins + 3 Sweeps after registration. Then it was the app layout, which is clean, user-friendly, and works just as well on mobile as it does on desktop. Sports coverage is broad enough to keep fans engaged, though casual bettors may appreciate it more than seasoned sharps. Payments and purchases are optional, which gives Thrillzz a more “play-for-fun” edge compared to traditional sportsbooks.
The sportsbook at Sportzino looks and feels like a standard sportsbook. You’ll see the usual money line, spreads, totals and props betting lines for over 40 sports, and the only real difference is that you bet on the action with virtual currencies.
Speaking of which, in our Sportzino review, we found that the operator will give you an outstanding welcome offer of 10 Sweepstakes Coins and 220,000 Gold Coins to play with. Plus you can get a daily login bonus of 20,000 Gold Coins and one free Sweepstakes Coin, and there is a cool league-based VIP program. It’s also worth noting that Sportzino has over 2,100 casino games to keep you busy during half-time.
Most people will already know all about Fliff as this is one of the brands who paved the way for the social betting phenomenon. You can download its excellent iOS or Android app and socially bet on over 130 lines for most elite level sporting events.
Signing up here will get you a first purchase bonus where you just have to spend $100 on Fliff Coins to get $500 in Fliff Coins and $5 extra each day after that. Plus with lots of odds boosts, free credit every two hours and some excellent XP leaderboards, you will have plenty of fun here.
This social sportsbook hasn’t been around too long but it has already made a big impact. Much of this is down to the fact that you can enjoy social betting on literally dozens of sports, as well as esports and there is even live betting available.
You can do all of this for free thanks to deals like the welcome offer that gives you 23 Sweepstakes Coins and 500 Gold Coins. Plus there are plenty more promos as well as leaderboard challenges and a decent VIP program. Don’t forget that you can also play hundreds of slots here and there is even a well-stocked exclusive live casino.
On the surface, most social sportsbooks look and feel like any regular online sportsbook. This is that you register an account and then see a variety of betting odds for all of the sports you’d expect like football, basketball, hockey, baseball and so on.
However, it’s important to understand that social sportsbooks will only let you bet on these sports with virtual currencies - much like you might have seen at sweepstakes casinos. Not only that, but you cannot directly win money at these social sports betting apps and sites.
It’s probably best to break down how these social sportsbooks work so that you get a good idea of how to use them. Here are the key points:
You cannot wager real money on the odds at social sportsbooks. Instead of this, you will be betting with virtual currencies. These are usually called Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins and they will work in the following ways:
An interesting quirk about social sportsbooks is that they have to let you enter their sweepstakes with no purchase necessary. This basically means that you will be given free Sweepstakes Coins both as a new and existing customer via a range of special offers. Definitely not the case at standard online sportsbooks.
You don’t directly win money from your bets at social sportsbooks. Instead, if you play through and win back enough Sweepstakes Coins, you may be able to redeem some real-world prizes like cash, gift cards and even merchandise.
Social sportsbooks simply don’t have the facility to accept your deposits in the same way that online sportsbooks can. The closest thing that you get to this is to make an optional purchase of a Gold Coins package. Just note that you can never buy Sweepstakes Coins.
While regular online sportsbooks are only legal in around 30 states at the moment, social sportsbooks feature in many more states. This is because they don’t feature any form of real money gambling. As such, you can use most of the social sports betting apps in this guide anywhere from Florida to Alaska and most places in between.
Although all social sportsbooks will operate in slightly different ways, they will have to have the following characteristics before we recommend them to you:
You should be given lots of free credit simply for registering your first account at the social sportsbook. There should be lots of promos for existing customers too.
It should be simple to sign up at the social betting site and the app should make it easy to find and make your bets.
You should be able to receive 24/7 customer care via live chat, email, phone and there should also be a decent FAQ section on the site.
Gold Coins packages should be able to be purchased via a range of trusted cards, ewallets, bank transfers and so on.
The prize redemption process for any Sweepstakes Coins winnings should be swift and effortless, and the use of virtual currencies should be clearly explained.
The social sportsbook should make it clear which states it is allowed to operate in and it should be able to take good care of your data and payments.
You should be able to enjoy social betting for all major and minor sports with the full range of prematch and live betting lines.
The social sportsbook should give you nothing but competitive odds for any given sporting event, and there should be plenty of odds boosts too.
While social sportsbooks will have betting odds that look and feel like those at regular online sportsbooks, their special offers will usually be a little different.
Here is a quick rundown of the different kinds of promos that you can expect to get at each the best social sportsbooks:
While each social sportsbook listed here will have its own quirks, you should find that they usually work in roughly the same way. This means that you should just have to take the following steps to start betting on sports for free:
Of course, there might be a few people who aren’t quite ready to use social sportsbooks and will prefer to use a regular online sportsbook instead.
So here are the main pros and cons of using social sportsbooks rather than their real money counterparts:
By now you should have everything you need to know about social sportsbooks. You’ll understand that they are legal in most US states, that they are easy to use and they will always let you socially bet on sports for free.
Not only that, but if you play through your Sweepstakes Coins the required amount of times, you might even be able to redeem some cash prizes. So register your account at any of the social sports betting apps listed here and get a great way to bet.
It’s usually just a matter of downloading the social sportsbook app and then filling in a registration form with some personal details like your name, address, date of birth and email. Plus you’ll be expected to verify your account later on.
It ultimately depends on what you are looking for as each social sportsbook app will work a little differently. However, apps like Fliff, Rebet and Legendz would each be a good place to start.
Unfortunately there is no consistent rule here as each social sportsbook will be legal in different states. However, states like Washington typically tend to be more restrictive in how they legislate social betting.
Yes, all social sportsbooks have to let you bet for free. After all, it is the fact that they don’t feature real money gambling that lets them legally operate in so many states.
It depends on which social sportsbook you are using and where you are betting from. However, you will usually need to be at least 18 years old to socially bet at most of these sites and apps.
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Bevilacqua as part of our fact-checking process.
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