Popular Social Casino Games Explained

With the rise of online gambling and social media, social gambling has become immensely popular. Social gambling is mostly played via social media platforms and apps. ‘Real’ money isn’t involved (although there may be some in-app purchases available) and games can be played with family and friends. The main focus is relaxation, interaction and building community rather than financial gain. Find out a little more and then give social casino games a try.

The Appeal of social casino games

With people interacting more and more online, players really enjoy connecting with others. Because there’s no money involved, game designers build in lots of fun features to keep players engaged. And leaderboards and play offs appeal to natural competitiveness among friends. The fact that no financial investment is required lowers the barrier to entry and makes it much easier to justify as a fun form of relaxation. Social casino games are also a good way to familiarise yourself with a game before embarking on betting with ‘real’ money.

Types of Games

There are many social games available and some of the best casino games are Texas Hold’em Poker, Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Roulette and Bingo.

The biggest differences between Social Casino Games and Traditional Gambling

In social games, there’s a real community vibe, plenty of interaction and it’s easy to share your game and or achievements and invited friends. You can compete without entering a tournament. As with paid online gambling, it’s easy to play from anywhere but with social games you don’t have to spend money to play.

Social casino developers don’t make money from your bets as traditional casinos do. In contrast to traditional gambling, with social games, you’re playing for virtual goods, but the end result in both is to entertain and to keep you coming back for more.

Read below to see how social casinos make their money.

How do Social Casino Developers make money?

Virtual Goods

Gaming capital in the form of badges, trophies and accolades is achieved by playing or completing tasks such as sharing your results on social media. This gains them free advertising, but they may also offer in-app purchases.

Premium or ad-free versions of games

Many games offer an upgraded subscription where you can play without ads.

Topping up your chips

A social Poker app might give players a daily allowance of free bonus chips to play with and once that has run out, players can top up by buying more with ‘real’ money to avoid waiting for the following day’s refill.

Advertising

Pay per click advertising is sold on the apps and games.

Product placement

As in films or TV, an advertiser pays to have their product inserted contextually into the game.For very popular games, very high rates can be earned through these adverts.

Lead Generation

Within a game, you may be offered to sign up for goods or services in exchange for some form of virtual gift or perk.

Branding

The developer may sell or lease their game to advertisers wanting to brand it.