Is LoneStar Casino legal in the US? What states is LoneStar legal in? If you’re pondering these questions, you aren’t the first. But don’t worry, I’m here to help you answer them.
As with all US-based social casinos and sweepstakes sites, this brand operates in a highly regulated market and is determined to give you a great and, more importantly, legal social casino experience. In this article, I’ll explain how LoneStar Casino operates legally in some US states and some of the more important aspects of their framework.
In short, yes. LoneStar Casino is legal in the US, barring the excluded states I’ve listed below. LoneStar and all other social casinos operate in a tightly regulated market and are bound by laws at both the state and federal levels.
LoneStar Casino operates on a sweepstakes model, which enables the operator to navigate these laws. It’s a completely legitimate and legal framework that all US-based online social casinos and sweepstakes sites operate within. While traditional online casinos are legal in only a few states, such as New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, they operate under different legal principles, and LoneStar Casino provides a completely legal alternative to these traditional online casinos.
This means that you might notice a few key differences if you’re used to using traditional online casinos. But don’t worry, it’s not all bureaucratic hurdles; some of these differences are good for us as players. Namely, it means you’re not playing with real money, but this doesn’t mean you won’t get the chance to exchange your Sweepstakes Coins for a real-world prize.
The good news is that LoneStar Casino is available in 43 different states across the US. Here’s the full list:
| Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky | Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Ohio | Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming |
Unfortunately, at the moment, these are the states you can’t play in:
However, if you’ve been looking for a social casino, you might notice that LoneStar Casino is much more available across the US, and its coverage of 43 states is better than what a lot of other social casinos offer.
This sweepstakes model manifests in a few different ways for us and mostly, for the better. As well as ensuring that LoneStar is legal in the US, it also means:
A key part of LoneStar’s compliance with the sweepstakes model is that there can’t be any mandatory Gold Coins purchases, and they have to provide a few different ways for us to get our hands on their virtual currencies for free. This, to me, seems like a pretty good thing for us players.
While the sign-up process to LoneStar is by no means lengthy or demanding, there are a few key checks that the operator has to carry out. When you sign up, you’ll see that you need to verify your age. For LoneStar, this is 18+ unless you’re in a state that requires you to be older. They also have to make sure you are where you say you are. This happens both at the point of user verification and whenever you access the site. So even if you’ve got an account and live in a legal state, if you travel to one of the excluded states, you won’t be able to play.
You might rightly assume that T&Cs tend to be full of legal jargon, but a key part of the compliance here is that social casinos and sweepstakes sites have to have very clear terms and conditions. This is good news for us because it means we know exactly where we stand and what we need to do to be eligible to both play and redeem real-world prizes.
You might have also noticed that the other key part of this is the two virtual currencies.
At this platform, you can play free casino-style games using LoneStar Casino’s Gold Coins and Sweep Coins. This structure means that players aren’t required to play with real money, and they don’t need to purchase anything in order to play. This is what sets this framework apart from traditional online gambling.
Gold Coins, sometimes called GC, allow you to take part in completely free social gaming. There are a number of different ways you can receive these for free, and I’ll provide a table below so you can see all of the LoneStar bonuses you can get your hands on. Additionally, Gold Coins hold no real-world value and cannot be traded for real prizes.
On the other hand, Sweepstakes Coins, or Sweeps Coins, or SC, allow you to play in sweepstakes mode. Eligible SC winnings can be redeemed for real-world prizes, such as gift cards or cash prizes. But remember that you can’t buy Sweeps Coins, unlike Gold Coins. Generally, you can receive them via bonuses and promotions similar to GC, but you can’t directly purchase them. Instead, an operator might give you a free SC gift when you choose to purchase a GC package.
It’s always a good idea to use your GC when you’re trying out a new game for the first time. This way, you can get to know the mechanics of it before you commit your Sweepstakes Coins, so you can hopefully maximize your chances of being able to win real-world prizes.
LoneStar Casino has plenty of promotions available to help you keep your virtual currency balance topped up. In particular, LoneStar’s daily login bonus stands out as you don’t even need to play any games to receive it, and you’ll be surprised by how quickly it adds up. I tend to prefer this style of daily bonus, versus if LoneStar Casino had free spins, as it gives you the freedom to choose the games you want to play and take advantage of them.
| 🚨 Promotions | 🚨 Description |
|---|---|
| Welcome bonus | When you first sign up to LoneStar, you’ll receive 100,000 GC and 2.5 SC. |
| Daily log-in bonus | Logging in once in a 24-hour period will you’ll receive 5,000 GC and 0.30 SC. You don’t even have to play – just log in and you’ll be rewarded. |
| Optional GC bundle purchases | You never actually need to purchase GC to play on LoneStar, but they do have several different Gold Coin packages you can buy if you want to. LoneStar will also generally give you a gift of Sweeps Coins alongside a purchase and some VIP points. |
| Mail-in sweepstakes entries | LoneStar also lets you send mail-in requests to receive 1 SC. I strongly recommend reading the T&Cs and following the instructions to the T if you’re going to do this. There is a comprehensive guide on how to do this on the website but there are a lot of rules to follow, from being completely handwritten in blue ink to using a #10 envelope. |
| Social media promotions | LoneStar is very active on their social media pages, and there are normally promotions available, so keep an eye on them and make the most of the offers! Recently, on Facebook, they ran a contest – all you had to do was comment and you were in with the chance to win a free 500,000 GC and 100 SC. |
| Referral program | LoneStar also offers one of the best refer-a-friend programs in the market. If your friend qualifies, you can receive up to 200,000 GC and 70 SC. Again, I would strongly suggest making sure you’re fully read up on the T&Cs to avoid any disappointment. There are two tiers for referral bonuses, the first is granted when your friend chooses to spend $15 worth of GC bundles, you’ll receive 100,000 GC and 20 SC, and at $500, you’ll receive a further 100,000 GC and 50 SC. |
Aside from the minimum age and location requirements I listed earlier, when you’re ready to redeem your SC winnings, it’s important to note that there might be some further verification LoneStar has to carry out. These can be done at any point, so if you’ve already completed this process on sign-up, you shouldn’t have to worry. You’ll need to:
There are some other rules around prize redemption as well, as per the legislation, you’ll have to meet a minimum playthrough requirement of your Sweeps Coins, which at LoneStar is only 1x. Compared to other social casinos, this is good and you might find that the playthrough requirement on other sites is a lot higher.
There are also minimum redemption thresholds and caps:
It’s important to note that your unused SC will expire after 60 days if you don’t play with it or redeem it.
If you were fretting about whether or not LoneStar Casino is legal, hopefully now you can put that concern to bed. Not only is LoneStar completely legal and legitimate, but they are also a standout player in the social casino landscape. They have a great selection of slots to choose from, and they also offer some live table-style games.
Whilst it’s always a good idea to make sure you’re fully read up on the T&Cs, I’ve hopefully given you enough to get started. Why not collect that welcome bonus and try out LoneStar Casino?
Currently, there aren’t any LoneStar Casino promo codes for LoneStar Casino, but the good news is that there are plenty of promotions available that don’t require one.
There is a LoneStar daily login bonus, it’s 5,000 Gold Coins and 0.30 Sweepstakes Coins.
Yes, LoneStar is completely legal given you are of age and playing from an eligible state.
No, there’s no GC purchase necessary, and there are plenty of ways, from welcome bonuses to daily login bonuses, to top up your virtual currency balance.
Yes, Sweeps Coins do expire if you don’t use them or redeem them within 60 days.
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