Social Gambling – Popular Games & Casinos

Social gambling has become a popular phenomenon across the world, so much so that online casinos and iGaming platforms have started to take notice. Social games like Farmville, Candy Crush and Mafia Wars​​ have taken the online world by storm and are hugely popular thanks to their emphasis on interaction between players​ ​, mirroring the community-centric nature of social media platforms themselves.

Social gambling definition constitutes games that are for the most part free to play and imitating the online gambling experience without actually offering any real money payouts, with gamers playing exclusively with virtual in-app currency.

Social gambling originated through social media networks like Facebook and while games are mostly free there are purchase options to try and rise through the ranks of leaderboards and ladders in more classic casino games like slots, roulette and blackjack. These games either emulate physical casino games or introduce fresh twists to gameplay that make them enticing, with players able to wager virtual bets with credit they’ve received after installing a game.

Social casino games give players free daily bonus credits in the shape of chips or spins for them to play with and once they’ve run out of their daily bonus they are unable to keep playing unless they pay for more credits. Sometimes you’ll see these games integrated in social media or published as standalone apps.

• Popular Social Casino Games
• Profile of Social Casino Gamers
• What is the appeal of social casino gaming
• Social Gambling Laws
• How Do Social Casino Games Make Money?
• Differences Between Online Casino And Social Casino
• Risks Associated With Social Casino Gaming
• How to Play at a Social Casino
• Tips to Maximize Your Fun Playing Social Casino Games

​​​​Popular Social Casino Games

Here are 10 of the most popular social casino games by app usage during 2013:

• Tongits Go – Sabong Pusoy by Spirehoy SG
• Club Vegas Slots by Bagelcode
• Caesars Slots by Playtika
• DoubleDown Casino Vegas Slots by DoubleDown Interactive
• Jackpot World Slots by SpinX Games
• Jackpot Carnival by Shake Keeper
• Cash Frenzy by SpinX Games
• Scatter Slots by Murka Games
• Slotomania Slots by Playtika
• Slots Era by Murka Games

Profile of Social Casino Gamers

So you might be wondering at this point exactly who exactly is playing social casino games? A report from the Mobile Games Index 2023 reveals that those over 40 years old are the most committed mobile social casino gamers, playing for an average of at least 17 minutes per day. Supposedly the user base is quite evenly split by gender with female users spending around 17.8 minutes in social casino gameplay per day and male users 17.2 minutes.

What is the appeal of social casino gaming?

We have narrowed down the main reasons for playing social casino games to entertainment, socialization and competition.

Players enjoy the fun and novelty of the experience, without worrying about the risk of losing much of their hard-earned money if they don’t want to. As the stakes for entry are lower than online casino gambling there is more chance of new players trying out social casino games and being nudged from passing interest to actually playing some games.

Then there is the ability to connect to other players through live chat during gameplay, which has an increasing appeal in the modern digital age. Players are searching out friends and rivals to develop strategies against, whilst social gaming is a great method of connecting with other internet users and reducing feelings of isolation that can accompany time spent online.

Also there is motivation to keep playing through competition as they look to continue to outperform others on leaderboards, leagues and tournaments. This ensures players spend more and more time in the game perfecting their strategies to win.

Social Gambling Laws

Social gambling is legal in the United States as it is not technically classified as gambling as there are no wagers being made, no real money available to be won and purchases only made for entertainment purposes. While online gambling is not legally permitted in the majority of US states, there are no social gambling laws against social casino games meaning they are available to play in all states but only for fun play and not real money. Players can spend real money for extra benefits but they cannot use real money to play or bet on the game which also makes social casinos legal in almost every country around the round.

There is some controversy surrounding the fact that social casinos offer the option to purchase free chips for games like slots, which does counter their free-to-play nature and suggests a player is actually gambling by doing so. There have been reports of lawsuits against games that have offered real money purchase of virtual chips, but these situations are not common.

How Do Social Casino Games Make Money?

Social casino games have grown in popularity hugely over the last 10 years or so, with worldwide revenue figures moving from just over $4 billion in 2016 to above $7.2 billion in 2022 and estimations suggesting they will reach $8.3 billion by 2026.

The genre of social gambling is one of the top-grossing mobile gaming genres worldwide – after role-playing games, strategy and match games – with social casino gamers seemingly happy to spend money on in-app purchases more than other types of gamers. A typical social casino game makes almost 70% of its income from in-app purchases and 30% from in-app advertising, which make up the two main ways social casino games monetize. Unlike typical online gambling sites, social casinos offer no payouts and require no deposits to start playing.

Differences Between Online Casino And Social Casino

There are obvious differences between online casinos, land-based casinos and social casinos, but it is worth mentioning that you don’t need to know anything special to start playing social casino games. Social casinos are not deemed as gambling so therefore are legally available to anyone with access to the internet no matter where you are in the US. Normally, you can play with and against other people in social casinos and interact with them through challenges and tournaments.

Risks Associated With Social Casino Gaming

There are a number of dangers associated with social casino play that we feel the need to address in this piece. Firstly, social players may believe it appropriate to translate their strategies utilized in social casino games to real money wagering, which should not be advised because they are completely different beasts.

Also social casino games can be very addictive, with players given a set amount of coins to use as a welcome bonus and then they are not able to play again until these are topped up or they are tempted into purchasing credits.

There was a 2015 report on social gaming from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) – a respected regulatory body – that claimed it posed no significant societal risk regarding harmful behaviors commonly associated with gambling such as problem gambling and underage gambling. Then in 2019 the UKGC made it clear in a statement that social casino games would not be subject to the same regulation as online casino games, provided operators demonstrated social responsibility.

How to Play at a Social Casino

Signing up to play at a social casino is relatively similar to the process at an online casino and you have three main routes to go down:

• Sign-up by email: The safest option and our recommended choice as there are no pre-saved payment methods, email registration is a great way of creating a new account at a social casino. Just enter your email address with a password (ensuring it is unique and not used anywhere else on your password keychain) and you’ll receive an email confirming you’ve made a registration attempt. Once you’ve verified this and logged in you can start playing, with the added bonus that you cannot make any accidental purchases as you have no saved payment methods attached.
• Sign-up with Apple ID: This may be the only option you have if you have downloaded the social casino app on an iOS device, but represents a quick and easy way for the social casino to manage any purchases you might want to make. However, this method does make it very easy to spend money on a site so you might want to avoid it to reduce costs in the long term.
• Sign-up with Facebook: Logging in through your Facebook account is another quick and easy route of entry, however this may see a ton of adverts relating to social casino games pop up on your news feed once you sign up. It’s the same situation using an Instagram log-in or any other social media platform.

Tips to Maximize Your Fun Playing Social Casino Games

We also wanted to include a number of tips that can make it more enjoyable playing at social casinos:

• Utilize the social aspects: One of the best things about social casinos are the opportunities to socialize with others, so make sure a focus of your play is interacting with others through options like tournaments.
• Spread your play: Often you’ll be greeted with hundreds of options for slots and games at social casinos so be sure to try many different options such as newly-added or bespoke titles when they become available.
• Play for small stakes: We know it is only virtual money but still it can run dry very quickly if you use high stakes constantly, so take a sensible approach to wagering or run the risk of going all out.
• Try hi-roller stakes: If you find yourself on a lucky streak you may want to try out big stakes while you can afford it as gambling virtual money for big virtual wins is a safe way to have a lot of fun.
• Don’t get drawn into the rewards system: Rewards schemes will try to tempt you into wagering more and running out of coins quickly so make sure you always play for fun and make your credits last.
• Set spending limits: If you are buying credits to play your costs can rack up quickly so be sure to monitor your purchases and set daily/weekly spending limits.