Our Guide to Social Casino Games in 2024

Q: Is social gambling legal?

Like all forms of gambling, the laws around social gambling vary from place to place. Always check with your local authorities before getting involved.

Q: Are social casinos free-to-play?

Yes, although the social media gaming giant Zynga launched real money poker on Facebook to their UK players in early 2014. Unfortunately it didn’t perform well, so it has since been shut down.

Q: How do social casinos make money?

By offering players in-game benefits, currencies and virtual goods that can be bought with real money or site credits (which are acquired with cash as well).

Q: What is social betting and how does it work?

Social betting essentially means sports betting with a social media element to it. There are several ways it can work. Some sites concentrate more on peer-to-peer betting, while others take on a more traditional ‘bookmaker’ approach.

Q: What’s the best online betting site?

For our top recommended sites, check out our online gambling page .

Play free slot machines, scratch and win lottery tickets, blackjack, and even poker through your Facebook account and social casino sites. Here we give you a rundown on the best places for social gambling, and explain how it works. Learn about Facebook games, weigh the pros and cons of playing socially and get answers to your most burning questions about online social casinos.

First, let’s address the most obvious question…

Adam Ryan

Senior Content Editor

Our Top Recommended Social Casinos

Slotomania

At Slotomania, slot machines are a plenty. After you sign up, you’ll receive free coins to play on your favorite slots. There is also an app you can download on your smartphone or tablet to play Slotomania games on the go. Visit their site for more info.

DoubleDown Casino

DoubleDown Casino is a social gambling site that attracts nearly 5 million active users each month on Facebook. They offer a whole slew of options from free slots to free bingo, free poker to free blackjack, and more. Not only that, you can also download their mobile app to your smartphone or tablet and play from anywhere.

Big Fish Casino

At Big Fish Casino, you can choose from all kinds of free games including craps, slots, blackjack, and roulette. The site offers many attractive perks like 100,000 free bonus chips upon sign up, free spins, bonus games, huge jackpots, free daily games, and Big Fish promo codes.

What is social gambling?

Social gambling is simply online gambling via social media. You play for enjoyment and to win chips or more plays, but it rarely involves real money. Lately, more and more gambling operators have been launching social media games on Facebook, and other various platforms, in order to reach more players. You can choose to play by yourself, with your friends or with strangers. Some of the most popular games and apps include free slots, free Texas Hold’em poker and free blackjack.

This type of online gambling is a huge industry, which is saying a lot because an overwhelming majority of the games available are free casino games that don’t require any real money to play. The gambling operators make a profit by offering their players in-game benefits, currencies and virtual goods that can be bought with real money or site credits (which are acquired with cash as well).

According to Facebook’s guidelines, real money gambling is only allowed in specific countries with prior authorization from Facebook. Since only a handful of countries actually meet this criteria, it’s likely that free games and apps will be the mainstay of the social gambling market.

Why Play Social Casino Games?

Not sure if social gambling is right for you? Check out our handy table below to see what the pros and cons are.

Pros	Cons
Most games are free	Real money games are hard to find
You can play with your friends	Many of the games are single-player (like slots)
Great way to practice online gambling without spending any money	Real money spent on in-game benefits can’t be won back
Lots of game variety	Lots of mediocre & copycat online slots
Easily sign up and log in with your social media accounts	There may be time restrictions on your play unless you buy more credits

Social Casino FAQs

Is social gambling legal?

Are social casinos free-to-play?

How do social casinos make money?

What is social betting and how does it work?

What’s the best online betting site?

Written by Adam Ryan

Senior Content Editor

A writer and editor with a penchant for games and strategy, Adam Ryan has been with the Casino.org team for eight years now. Having written for and edited numerous iGaming brands in his career, he’s something of a content sage when it comes to our iGaming copy in the US and Canada.