Expert Social Casino Writer
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I was excited to carry out this Stake.us casino review because I had heard about the frequent promotions and a range of exclusive games. When I looked closer, I found that there was an exclusive welcome bonus too.
This was all wrapped up in a well-designed site that both experienced and new players can enjoy playing for free or give themselves the chance of winning a cash prize. Overall, Stake US casino is one of the best I have seen and would make a good choice for anyone wanting to get started with sweepstakes games.
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Even at sweepstakes casinos like Stake.us, the bonus is a major factor in why people choose to sign up so it is best to begin this Stake.us casino review here. At first glance, it might seem like there is no welcome bonus for players, and other Stake.us reviews indicated to me that there isn’t one available at all.
The fact of the matter is that there is a welcome bonus available but an exclusive Stake.us casino promo code is needed to access it.
The bonus is a generous 55 Stake Cash offer + 260,000 Gold Coins + 5% Rakeback. This covers all aspects of using Stake.us, and as a result I had a healthy haul of coins to get started and a percentage of my losses refunded to my account for all the time I played on the site. The full bonus review goes into more detail, so I won’t do that here - except to say that as I advised in the Sweepslots casino review – for any offer it is always advisable to read the T&Cs to ensure the offer available is the right one.
The next stage of this Stake.us review for me was to look at how easy the site is to use, because it doesn’t matter how attractive the bonus happens to be if I can’t use the site. This wasn’t the problem with Stake.us even though I thought it might be due to everything they have managed to fit in.
Instead of looking crowded, the designers have found space for everything and picked a white-on-black color scheme that is easy on the eye. This makes finding the games very easy as I just selected the category from the left hand menu and picked from the tiles displayed in front of me. If this still presented too many options I could have sorted by criteria such as alphabetical order and popularity to come up with what I wanted.
It's not just the game types that sat in the left hand menu, I could also see the various promotional options there as well as access my profile and live support. My account details could be accessed top right of the screen, an area that also showed my account balance. Clicking on my account symbol gave me access to my statistics, settings, and list of transactions. This is one of the most comprehensive customer dashboards I have seen and one of the many reasons why this Stake.us review will get such a high rating.
As everybody now lives in a mobile-first world, this look at Stake.us casino wouldn’t be complete without checking out the options for mobile devices. I was a little surprised to find that an outfit as well put together as Stake.us does not have an app, but it all became clearer when I saw the mobile site in action.
It is clear that much thought and preparation have gone into this version of the desktop I originally viewed the site on, and it is so well done it would almost make the need for an app entirely unnecessary. I found I could do everything on the mobile version as I could sat at my desk except, of course, there were some key adjustments made for the smaller screen size involved. This involved having main icons across the bottom, instead of the left-hand side, but it is still just as intuitive to use and gets the thumbs up from me.
Unlike many regular casinos, Stake.us customers do not play with real money on the site. Instead, they use gold coins and Stake Cash to play the games. While these coins are given freely as part of the generous sign-up bonus and via other methods on and off the site, there is also the option to buy some more if I wanted to via credit cards, Fiat or crypto. These are available in packages that can be bought using various payment methods, but all of these are different from what I typically saw elsewhere.
The thing I had to remember here is that I was not making a deposit, I was making a purchase, so no withdrawals were possible. Although, because I was paying by either credit card, Fiat or Bitcoin, Ethereum, or some other digital currency the transaction is both rapid and safe.
Just because Stake.us is a very well put together operation it does not mean that players will not encounter the occasional problem, and I was pleased to find that, should something go wrong or if I was just curious about how something worked then Stake.us had me covered here as well.
The first stop for any queries is the help center which answers basic questions like is Stake legal in the US, and also goes into greater detail about all the other aspects of the site including giving a quick rundown into how cryptocurrency works.
These go from simple FAQ type scenarios to long explanations, and this covers pretty much any query I could think of regarding the daily operation of the site. Of course, there will always be problems or questions that fall outside of what is normal. For that, there is live chat, which can be reached using the live support button either in the left-hand menu or from the account dashboard.
I found that the response time in which Stake.us reviewed my request was really fast, although their boast of replying in under a minute was sometimes a little over ambitious. However, as long as the answer is correct and solves the problem I didn’t mind the fact it took a little longer.
The question of whether Stake is legal in the US is a commonly asked one as it is available in so many states where regular casinos are not. This is because Stake.us is not a ‘real money’ casino and plays using sweepstakes principles for which no license is required. However, because there are real money prizes involved, there are still rules to follow so players still need to register and verify their identity in accordance with KYC regulations and to keep underage players off of the site.
As I reported in the WOW Vegas review, to ensure only players from the US can access these sweepstakes options, location software is installed, which means that anyone from Europe or further afield is politely redirected to their own version of Stake. The fact that Stake is not considered a ‘real money’ casino also means they’re excluded from all of the awards and certifications I normally see emblazoned across the bottom of many regular casino sites. This does not mean that Stake.us is not trustworthy as they have all of the regular security measures found elsewhere as well as being backed by blockchain technology. Nor does it mean that Stake is a small operation, because the parent company is listed on the stock exchange.
With all casinos like Stake.us, there are other promotions available. However, the range available at Stake.us is one of the most impressive I have seen. The most active players in the slot area will be placed on a leaderboard with the top 100 places getting a share of 50 million GC prize fund and there is also a weekly raffle to win a share of 1 billion GC and 25K Stake Cash. This is governed by gameplay, and the more there is, the more entries into the raffle players will get.
Players could also take part in the weekly stock battle, where two slots are nominated, and the top players of the slot which is played the most will again be awarded part of a 50 million GC prize fund. What especially impressed me was the daily challenges where I needed to complete a series of tasks like hitting a defined multiplier on a nominated slot. These vary each day and have a GC prize attached to them.
While this is called a VIP programme, and I did find genuine VIP benefits like dedicated VIP hosts and bespoke gifts, these are reserved for the top levels only and most of it works like a very impressive rewards programme. I found that like casinos elsewhere this works by rewarding gameplay with points which can then be accumulated and cashed in for benefits.
Those same points also move players through the levels of the programme and receive larger weekly and monthly bonuses. I saw that the program starts at the bronze level and then players move through silver and gold before reaching platinum. The threshold for the lower levels is quite low by casino standards, so I will conclude by saying that regular players could see the first benefits appearing quite quickly.
The games roster is vitally important at any sweepstakes casino, and Stake.us has all the bases covered here. There are over 550 titles to choose from, the majority of which like ‘Gates of Olympus’ and ‘Sweet Bonanza’ will look familiar to most people reading this Stake.us review. They are sourced from quality providers like Pragmatic Play and Hacksaw Games, with a balance made up from other suppliers like One Touch. This roster covers a wide range of themes and styles, which means I found it won’t take anybody long to find a favourite.
I also found the table game selection is a little more limited, but the staples like Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat and Video Poker are covered. There is a little more variety in the live dealer options, which is another outstanding feature as a live casino is something of a rarity in the sweepstakes world.
I especially appreciated the range of Stake.us originals – which consist of quick to play and easy to pick up games with a very low house edge. This includes a game involving predicting the role of a 100 sided dice and Plinko which is based on the very old game Pachinko.
It was essential for me to know how to play Stake in the US, and a big part of that was finding out how the coin system worked. I found there are two types of coins used, which was perfectly illustrated by the bonus, which consists of $55 Stake Cash and 260,000 Gold Coins.
The Gold Coins are there purely for entertainment and have no cash value whatsoever, although they could contribute towards increasing VIP rank. I could have used these on any of the games on the site, and successful play would have won me yet more Gold Coins. I have to mention though that because they are there purely for fun, they can not be withdrawn or traded in.
Stake Cash on the other hand is used slightly differently, like Gold Coins it has no monetary value but can, once other criteria have been met, be traded in for crypto prizes. These criteria are different depending on which prize is requested, so a check of the T&Cs is required for the most current details.
I am happy to say I found this coin arrangement worked particularly well, as using the Gold Coins was a good way to get to know the games before using Stake Cash. Both types of coin are given away as various rewards or, as indicated earlier in this Stake.us review, available as part of a coin bundle.
There are several elements a sweepstakes casino needs to get right to keep players happy and Stake.us ticks every box. I found the coin arrangement works really well, especially considering the wide range of games I had to play. I have to applaud Stake.us for providing a live casino, and this was a standout feature for me and the main reason why I would not hesitate to recommend it to other players.
With so many sweepstakes casinos to choose from, they can all look the same, but this Stake.us review found several areas where this casino stood apart. The exclusive bonus was a big factor, but the others included the range of original games and how easy it was to get things done. As these are some of the most important factors that make a great sweepstakes casino, most players will probably enjoy Stake.us as much as I did, and should take a closer look.
Anyone reading other Stake.us reviews might be forgiven for thinking there is not one available. However, there is a generous welcome bonus consisting of both Gold Coins and Stake Cash plus a rakeback when the correct exclusive code is entered.
While many real money casinos are not allowed to operate across many states in the US, Stake.us is legal and available almost everywhere in the country. This is because it uses a coin system that is used to play the games for fun and does not require the same type of license.
With the generous bonus and the fact that players can play for free and still win prizes, it is easy to think that Stake.us is too good to be true. However, it is fully safe and secure, and part of a larger gaming empire.
The simple answer is that Stake.us is not a real money casino, but is available in states where real money casinos are not. This is because they use Gold Coins and Stake Cash to play games instead, and there are still prizes available.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.