If you live in a state where sports gambling is banned, here’s something you might be interested in: social sportsbooks. Since 2020, this new type of social sportsbook, where players use virtual coins instead of real money, has exploded in the US. Big names like Fliff and Thrillzz are still continuing to pick up major speed — and it’s all because of a genius legal loophole.
What is a Social Sportsbook?
✔ Social sportsbooks let everyone play for free
✔ You can climb leaderboards, complete challenges, and even win prizes
✔ No real-money gambling is allowed
A social sportsbook is a new type of sportsbook that follows a free-to-play model. Inside, players bet virtual currencies called Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. If you collect enough of these coins, you can then redeem them for prizes.
The ‘social’ part comes from social betting apps allowing you to chat with other sports fans on the platform. Almost every social sportsbook on the internet has a built-in chat bar, allowing people to talk about upcoming games, the bets they’re planning to place, and anything else they feel like.
At the same time, social sportsbooks also allow you to climb up on-site leaderboards based on how many coins you collect. The more coins you collect from successful wagers, the higher you go. This makes everything extra-competitive and is a completely unique feature, whether you’re betting on the NBA, NFL, or any of the other major sports leagues.
Making sense so far? Great, because here’s where it gets really interesting.
Social Sportsbooks Are Legal in 42 States — Making Them a Great Option for Players In States Where Sports Betting Is Banned
Because social sportsbooks use virtual currencies — not real money — it allows them to sneak through a legal loophole and legally operate in almost every state. Right now, they’re good-to-go in 42 states, with only Alabama, Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada and Washington having a ban on social betting sites. So, as long as you live outside of these states, you can join any social sportsbooks you like.
The benefit here is that you no longer have to use offshore gambling sites or complicated VPNs if you’re currently stuck in a non-gambling state like California or Texas. Instead, what you can do is use a social sportsbook, which is almost identical to the real thing, and start betting freely on all of your favourite leagues and teams.
How Social Sportsbooks Work
Social sportsbooks are extremely similar to traditional sportsbooks. If you have any prior gambling experience, you’ll pick them up fast. The only major differences are that you’re betting with virtual coins, climbing leaderboards, and having fun interactions with other players.
All of the betting markets are essentially the same. You can place simple moneyline bets, build parlays, and even place live bets while games are being played. The freedom is totally yours and you can place as little (or as many) bets as you like.
What you do need to be aware of is the difference between Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins when playing inside a social sportsbook. If you want to play just for fun, use Gold Coins. And if you want to compete for prizes, use Sweeps Coins.
Naturally, most players focus on Sweeps Coins. After all, they’re the prize-winning currency with genuine on-site value. Once you’ve stacked enough of them, you can then start redeeming them for prizes like cash transfers, cryptocurrencies, and gift cards.
If you have zero betting experience at all, here’s a general overview of a typical social sportsbook experience from the get-go:
➜ Register your social sportsbook account
➜ Receive a sign-up bonus (e.g. 100,000 Gold Coins and 5 Sweeps Coins)
➜ Bet Gold Coins on games and tournaments to climb up the virtual leaderboards
➜ Bet Sweeps Coins so that you can redeem them for real-life prizes
➜ Chat with other players and send friend requests
Remember, the best strategy is to treat your Sweeps Coins carefully. Only use them on bets you’re confident will win, as Sweeps Coins are the only way you can win on-site prizes. They also run out faster, so placing fewer but smarter bets is the way to be.
The Best Social Sportsbooks
Since social sportsbooks went mainstream back in 2020, some of these sites have gotten extremely popular. If you’re looking to sign-up with one, the current best social sportsbooks are Thrillzz, Fliff, and WagerLab. All three of these social betting sites allow you to play with friends, climb leaderboards, and compete for those all-important prizes. As you would expect, pretty much every major sports league is covered, too, so NBA, NFL, and MLB fans can all look forward to betting on games the same way they would with a regular sportsbook. And to top it all off, these social sportsbooks offer excellent sign-up bonuses, allowing you to grab some extra coins for free once your account is fired up.
How Social Sportsbooks Took Advantage of an Untapped Market
Let’s rewind the clock.
Back in 2018, the Supreme Court decided to strike down the federal ban on sports betting, allowing all 50 US states to decide for themselves if they wanted to legalize it or not. Since then, 38 states — alongside Washington DC — have legalized sports betting.
This has led to the US sports betting industry reaching an eye-watering projected value of $15 billion. Yep, billion. Interestingly, though, there are still 12 states left that have yet to hit the green button and finally legalize sports betting, including Alabama, California, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The people in these states have become increasingly frustrated over the past several years, so it opened a huge place in the market for social sportsbooks to step in and start sweeping up these players.
Essentially, what social sportsbooks have done is enter non-gambling states and offered sports fans living there an almost like-for-like betting experience (minus the real money). These fans have since got hooked on this new type of sports betting — and the social betting market is now booming.
Conclusion
If you’re one of the unlucky sports fans currently stuck in a non-gambling state, a solution has finally arrived: the social sportsbook. By creating an account with one, you can bet on all of your favourite sports, climb leaderboards, and (potentially) win some prizes, making for an even more entertaining experience than what you would get with a traditional sportsbook. Instead of trying to get you to bet as much money as possible, social sportsbooks prioritize entertainment above everything else — and it looks like they’re here to stay.
