Chumba Casino is an online casino that uses the sweepstakes model to provide its services to players in the US. This makes it a legal alternative, especially in states where online gambling has not been deemed legal. It was established by Virtual Gaming Worlds in 2012 and has since become a popular name in the industry.
Unlike your typical mobile casinos, sweeps casinos like Chumba Casino don’t require cash deposits. Instead, you are given virtual coins when you register, which you can use to play games for free and win real cash!
Sweepstakes casinos are a better alternative than offshore casinos, where your safety is not certain. The best part is that they allow you to play typical online casino games on your PC or mobile device. At Chumba Casino, you are provided access to more than 80 casino games, many of which you can play for a chance to win real cash prizes.
However, many new players looking to play in states where real money online casino gambling is not legal are a bit skeptical about sweepstakes casinos like Chumba. In fact, one of the most common questions many of these players tend to ask is this – Is Chumba casino legit?
If you are one of these individuals, then you are on the right page. This Chumba casino review will take an extensive look into Chumba casino, how it works, how to begin, and many more. We will then analyze each of these aspects to help you determine if it is legit casino or a scam.
Chumba Social Casino: How Does it Work
Most scam casino sites are always searching for ways to steal your money without giving you a fair chance of winning anything. Therefore, one of the best ways to determine if a casino is a scam is to look into how it works.
As we pointed out earlier, Chumba casino uses the sweepstakes model, the same as other casinos in this category. They let you play using virtual currencies for free. You can play Chumba casino games for gold coins or sweeps coins. While the gold coins let you play games for free, the sweeps coins are the premium coins that can be redeemed for real cash.
You are offered both coins for free when you register on the site in any US state aside from Washington. Currently, Chumba casino offers you 2,000,000 gold coins and 2 free sweeps coins after registration. While you can purchase the gold coins as a package when you exhaust them, you can’t purchase the premium sweeps coins as it is always given to you for free.
As you can observe from how this free casino app works, it is not after your money. It theoretically gives you a fair chance to play for free without purchasing gold coins! Now, let’s look at how this sweeps casino does when compared to other social casino alternatives.
Legit Alternatives to Chumba Casino
While Chumba casino is great, it does not perform well in all areas. Here are some alternative sweepstakes sites that offer many more benefits than Chumba casino.
- Fortune Coins: This platform is powered by Social Gaming LLC and offers you 50 casino games ranging from slots, fish games, progressives, and card games. New players who register here get 140,000 gold coins and 500 free Fortune Coins to play real money games, which is more than the 2 sweepstakes coins you get on Chumba. Click this link to check out this casino and get started.
- BetRivers.net: If you are looking for a social casino site that has it all, then BetRivers.net is a much better alternative than Chumba casino. It is powered by the same company behind the popular BetRivers casino and sportsbook. Thus, it offers an extensive collection of more than 480 casino-style games, including sweeps slots, live dealer games, table games, and many more. There is even a social sportsbook to wager on your favorite sports team! Simply register here using the promo code PLAY200 and get 500 virtual credits to play for free!
- Pulsz Casino: This casino offers over 300 games ranging from roulette, blackjack, sweeps slots, and video poker games. Once you register on this site, you are immediately credited with 5,000 gold coins to play any of these games. The best part is that you can win real money prizes in the process!
Are Chumba Social Casino Games Legit?
One of the ways fraudulent and unlicensed casinos make money quickly is by rigging their games. This leaves players at a disadvantage as they lose more than they should in a short period. For example, the US’s average RTP of online slots lies at 96%. This leaves the casino with only 4% of wagers over time which means the online casino will have to play the waiting game before they start to earn significant cash.
The same applies to games like Blackjack, which has a 99% RTP. However, casinos can drastically cut down this wait time and start to realize profits quickly if it manipulates the RTP of games to 50% or less. This is why it is regularly advised to avoid offshore casinos and play only on casino sites that have been appropriately licensed and regulated. These platforms are adequately monitored to prevent this and tested by third-party apps to ensure that games are fair. Only casinos that do implement all of these are not rigged. So, does Chumba Casino implement them? Let’s find out:
- Chumba Casino is owned by Virtual Gaming Wolds, a popular operator in the sweeps casino scene. This company is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority, which is one of the leading regulatory bodies today. It has stringent regulations in place, which its licensees must adhere to, and only offers its license to platforms that have met its standards. Since this company owns Chumba casino, the casino is holding a license through it, which means it maintains these same standards.
- Chumba casino has games from top licensed providers like Golden Rock Studios, Playtech, Reel Play, Red Tiger Gaming, and NetEnt. These game developers are not new in the industry, and names like NetEnt and Playtech are very popular in real money casinos. This means their games have undergone all the necessary tests to ensure RTP fairness and the use of RNG software.
All of these indicate that it is unlikely for Chumba Casino to offer rigged games. Since the MGA licenses the company behind it, it makes no sense that it would risk having its license revoked by rigging games. Based on this, we can conclude that this casino does not have rigged games. But let us take a deeper look into the company behind this site below.
Is the Company Behind Chumba Casino Legal or a Scam?
To determine if Chumba Casino games are legit or if it is a scam, we will need to take a more comprehensive look into the company behind it. We already noted that this company is known as Virtual Gaming Worlds. Our expert did some digging, and here’s what we found out:
- It has up to 1,000 employees and owns offices in the USA, Australia, and Malta. These countries, especially the USA, frown against fraud and would not have provided a physical office for this company if it was not legit.
- The company collaborates with leading software developers in the industry to power its casino games. In fact, some of the external software providers – NetEnt, Golden Rock Studios, and Playtech have licenses from the UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority. These are some of the industry’s most secure and reputable regulatory bodies today.
- It has been in operation since 2010 and established Chumba Casino in 2012.
- VGW partners with numerous reliable and secure payment providers to ensure that players have safe banking methods. Most of these payment providers would have refused to offer their services to the company if it had been proven to not be legit.
- It owns other top sweepstakes sites, including LuckyLand Slots, Scratch Carnival, and Global Poker. These sites have been operating without any incident that outlines them as illegal.
Moreover, unlike real money online casinos, Chumba does not require a license from individual US states to operate. i.e., the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, so from all indications, it is legitimate and not a scam.
Is Chumba Casino a Safe Social Platform?
In addition to the aspects we have covered above, there are a few more areas that have to do with player safety. These include customer support, online transactions, website safety, and dedication to sweepstakes laws.
Customer Services
VGW has hired Zendesk to handle the Chumba casino support department. And even though this should indicate that the service is top-notch, this is not the case. First, it does not have a phone or live chat support option, which is a bummer since most players prefer these options. Fortunately, there is a FAQs page that provides information to queries on payments, bonuses, prize redemption, account, and many more. The answers are detailed, and you should find answers to most of the common issues you might experience here.
The best bet is to use the email option available on this site, which you can access using the contact form. However, it takes up to two days which may not be ideal if you are in a rush. Chumba also provides social media live chats, but this is not as functional as the email option.
Online Banking
You’ll find many reputable payment options at Chumba Casino. These range from Visa, AMEX, Mastercard, Skrill, and ACH. Deposits here are processed instantly, which is a great sign. However, withdrawals take up to 10 days or more to be processed. This is on the high side and is a major red flag since payouts are usually processed within two days or less on most sites.
You’ll also need to undergo verification before you withdraw, which is fine – but this can also take a few days before your identity is verified. Another major red flag is when it is time to redeem sweeps coins. You’ll need to have 100 sweeps coins before you can redeem cash. This is equal to having $100, which is exceptionally high in comparison to most casinos that only require you to have $50 or less to initiate a withdrawal.
Sweepstakes Laws Compliance
Chumba casino website strictly follows sweepstakes laws since players in Canada are unable to redeem coins for cash prizes. This sweepstakes model is only legal in the United States and shows that Chumba is dedicated to following local laws.
As you know by now, for a site to be deemed a sweepstake means it does not require you to make real money purchases to get started. This means you will be provided with welcome bonuses, daily offers, and tons of competitions that will constantly provide you with free sweeps coins. Chumba tries to keep up with this, but it does not do as well as other casinos in the same line.
New players who register get 2,000,000 gold coins to play for free and only 2 sweeps coins to play for and win money. This is very little, especially when compared with sites like Pulsz casino, which gives you 5,000 premium gold coins, and Fortune Coins which offers you 500 FCs. In addition, this site does not have a VIP program, and the promotions are not offered as frequently as you would get on other similar sites. Fortunately, it runs regular social media contests, but your chances of winning them are close to none since it tends to have tons of participants.
Security and Privacy Policy Agreement
Chumba Casino uses SSL-bit encryption, which helps in keeping player information and data secure. To date, there have been no complaints from players to show that this is not true. What’s more, players who are no longer interested in playing on this site can easily close their accounts or restrict transactions by contacting the support team. While requests may take some time to be handled, they are always granted eventually.
Chumba Casino Player Reports: How do Customers feel about Chumba?
To make sure we only provide you with unbiased information, we did some research online to find out what users had to say about this casino. While we found many positive reviews, we also found tons of negative reviews from players that indicate that they consider Chumba casino games rigged and the casino a scam. We found more than 5,000 player reviews of Chumba Casino online, and here are some of the ones you should note.
Recent comments from players show that the overall experience is great, and the payout is sent timely.
This user considers Chumba a scam and advises players to try other casino options.
Another user points out a negative experience with customer support and still points out that you don’t get as much as you put in. This is typically a sign of rigged games since you are meant to get back a larger percentage over time.
This is yet another recent comment that points out some discrepancies with the RTP of this casino. It is another indication that games here are rigged.
Yet another user recently claimed that this casino does not pay out properly.
This is yet another user that feels Chumba Casino is not legit and doesn’t pay out correctly.
Should I Trust Reviews of Chumba Casino?
Social and online casino reviews from players are never straightforward, as highlighted in our review of FanDuel Casino rigged reports and DraftKings is a scam reviews. This is because most sites will publish reviews from players without questions or trying to validate the users’ information. It won’t be a smart move to trust every review you’ll find, as not all of them might be legit. However, it helps to go with what the general consideration is.
On Trustpilot, Chumba casino has reviews running into thousands and still has a 4.1-star rating. This means many players find the website decent and worth playing on. Many users also noted that the payout speed was not so great, sometimes not getting payouts, and slow response from customer support. These align with our findings and seem legit, unlike those players reporting that Chumba is a scam.
Areas we Did NOT Like about Chumba Casino
Even though Chumba casino has plenty of positive traits, like fantastic game selection, payments in real cash, and easy accessibility – there are many other aspects it needs to work on. Here are some areas it struggles with compared with other sweepstake sites.
- It does not indicate the RTP of slot games, meaning players start games without this information.
- There is no demo mode. You can’t try out games before using free gold coins or premium sweeps coins.
- Chumba casino games can’t be less than 92% RTP to ensure they comply with the guidelines of the MGA. However, this casino has a poker variant with a 96.15% RTP. You may feel this is average, but this same game is 99.54% on other casino sites.
- You’ll find several games powered in-house by VGW. These games are not present in online casinos, so there is not enough information to show they are fair. This is not the same with games on BetRivers.net or Pulsz casino powered by top developers like Pragmatic Play, Microgaming, and many more.
- It takes more than 10 days to redeem real money prizes.
- Customer support tends to delay feedback and sometimes seems non-existent
- It has a high minimum redemption limit of 100 sweeps coins which is the same as $100.
- The game collection is not as extensive as we would have loved. There are no live dealer titles on offer now.
So long as these areas are not corrected, players may keep on tagging Chumba Casino as a scam or offering rigged games. Even players that are currently happy with the offerings of this site will probably spend more time here as the customer support department went through a revamp.
Our Verdict
Chumba Casino is not necessarily a scam from our findings and the results we have posted in this guide. This is why it is one of the most popular names among players in the US. It is powered by a reputable company and offers fun games that pay out real money.
However, there are many areas it needs to improve upon, which is why we will recommend you check out other alternatives instead. BetRivers.net, Fortune Coins, and Pulsz casino are all sites like Chumba that perform better in all areas. They also do not have any complaints against them offering rigged games or being scam sites. If you are in the US, we suggest you sign up on any of these sites until Chumba Casino rectifies all its pending issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chumba Casino Legit or a Scam?
We found numerous reports claiming that Chumba Casino is a scam, but we could not get any evidence to prove this. Many players have gotten paid via this site, even with its long delays. Moreover, it is kept in check by the MGA, and gold coins and sweeps coins are offered for free, which means you can play without spending cash. These are signs of a legit sweepstakes platform.
Should I play casino games at Chumba Casino?
Yes, you can. It is a good option if you are in the US and want a website that allows you to play for real money prizes without breaking the law. However, many better alternative sites offer the same services, like Pulsz, Fortune Coins, and BetRivers.net. We recommend you register on any of those if you want a more quality experience.
Is Chumba Social Casino safe?
Yes, Chumba casino is safe as it has measures to keep players secure. It uses recent SSL encryption to keep your details and bank information safe. On the downside, the website does not indicate the RTP of games which can leave you playing without knowing what you are getting into.
