7 Changes I’d Make If I Ran Sweepstakes Casinos

I interact with close to 50 sweepstakes casinos daily. Like Farmers Insurance, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two. What I have seen are areas where casinos can improve the player experience. These changes are small and will likely not affect platform profitability. Today, I’m going to give you seven things I’d change if I ran a sweepstakes casino.

End Free Spin Rounds When Caps Reached

You’ve heard me complain about sites that cap free spin winnings and how frustrating they are for players. One of the reasons is that you have to watch your balance build, only to receive a fraction of it as credit. Just this week, a site only credited me $2 of a $20 bonus round hit due to such a cap.

One change I’d make to avoid this frustration would be to program slots or the platform to suspend a bonus round once you reach the cap. If the site sets a $2 cap, your free spins stop when you reach that amount, and you receive your capped amount as credit. This would eliminate much of the frustration and make capped free spins more tolerable.

Auto Load Daily Bonuses Upon Login

Some sites will automatically give you a pop-up when you log in, and a daily bonus is available. Others will make you drill down several menus to claim your bonus. A way to simplify this is to have a site automatically credit you when you log in.

Sites like Jackpota show a pop-up letting you know a bonus is available, but you still have to manually click it. I’d rather see the pop-up like “Your daily bonus is credited. Thanks for playing!” Yes, this is a tad lazy, but would make things more convenient for casual players. I’m all for simplifying things, and I’d add this change.

Flag ALL KYC Triggering Activity

I recently wrote an article about certain activities that may prompt you to reverify your account, such as changing your credit card information. Some redemptions are delayed because casinos do not immediately flag the need for additional verification. 

Sweepstakes casinos should flag ALL activities that require extra verification or trigger account reverification. Instead of waiting a day, I’d program the system to immediately warn you when you go to submit a redemption or purchase a coin package. This will reduce delays in verification processing and player frustration.

Eliminate SC Only VIP Progression

A number of sweepstakes casinos allow you to start progressing through VIP using both GC and SC. However, many sites limit the amount of progression you can make with GC. After that point, your only option is to use SC, which typically requires a purchase.

If I were running a sweepstakes site, all players could progress with both coin types in order to further support the “play to free” illusion. Yes, progression with GC will be extremely slow, but it should still be allowed. This would also provide a bit more justification for players to buy GC packages, as GC would still be practical, leading to more purchases.

Target Promotions to Player Spending Habits

I don’t get why some sweepstakes casinos insist on only promoting high-dollar purchase packages to some players. If a player has never purchased anything over $50, they are not going to buy your $500 package, even if it is the only one offering purchase boosts.

Instead, I’d offer promotions that fit a player's purchase history. I give Crown Coins credit for attempting to do this. Sometimes they offer a high-dollar purchase package, but typically the promotions offered to me are in a range I have actually purchased in the past. If I were to offer a higher-dollar package, it would be in a choice promotion that still offers options within one’s typical range.

Eliminate the Purchase Requirement for Verifications

Sweepstakes casinos are supposed to be “free to play,” but requiring a purchase to “verify your account” destroys this illusion. I’d eliminate this requirement immediately for players who can reach verification without a purchase.

Spinblitz actually let me redeem my welcome bonus without needing to make a purchase. This was the first time this happened, and as a result, I accepted the first purchase offer. When someone wins money for free and actually claims it, this builds trust and often turns them into a paying customer. I want paying customers.

A Minimum of 10,000 GC for Every $1 Spent

If I am going to spend money at a sweepstakes casino, I want to get value for my purchase. Giving me 1,000 GC per dollar spent is not a good value. Considering that some sites have a minimum bet of 500 GC, small GC packages will not give enough play.

Instead, I would make sure any site I run offers at least 10,000 GC for every dollar spent, but 50,000 would probably be better. This would also support my requirement of allowing GC usage for VIP progression. A higher GC-to-dollar percentage indicates greater perceived value and leads to more purchases and greater player enjoyment.

Happy Players Make Profitable Platforms

All of the changes I propose aim to improve player experiences and create happy customers. When you have happy customers, they are more likely to tell others and return.

Furthermore, my changes would not significantly alter how sweepstakes casinos operate, nor would they reduce profitability. If anything, they should help improve profit margins through player retention and positive reviews that could attract additional players.

These changes aren’t earth-shattering, but they are also ones that I don’t realistically expect casinos to adopt. Most platforms fall into a cookie-cutter mold, and outside of design, look and operate similarly. This is one time I hope operators are reading, and you’re welcome to steal my ideas, as it would help improve the quality of sweepstakes gaming as a whole.