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Sweepstakes glossary: the terms operators and players use

Fifty-one terms, A to Z, each explained in a few sentences with a link to the page that goes deeper.

Updated October 29, 2026 · by the editorial team

This sweepstakes glossary is an A-to-Z reference of the words used across sweepstakes casinos, sweepstakes sportsbooks and the software behind them, written for operators, developers and curious players alike.

A

Aggregator

A game aggregator connects a casino to many game studios through a single API, so the operator signs one contract and does one integration instead of dozens. For sweepstakes, the aggregator must also pass the coin of each round through to the studio and back. Some aggregators, such as SoftAggregator, publish a dedicated two-coin API. See our ranking of sweepstakes aggregators.

AMOE (alternative method of entry)

The free route to Sweep Coins that requires no purchase. The classic form is a handwritten mail-in request sent to the address in the brand's official rules, after which the brand credits a set amount of SC. Daily bonuses and social giveaways are other free routes. The amounts and conditions are set by each brand.

B

Bet slip

The panel in a sportsbook where a player collects selections, chooses a stake and confirms a ticket. On a sweepstakes sportsbook the bet slip also carries the coin choice, Gold Coins or Sweep Coins, and that choice is fixed for the life of the ticket. A well-built slip refuses a stake larger than the chosen balance rather than topping it up from the other coin.

Bingo (75-ball and 90-ball)

Two common online bingo formats. In 75-ball bingo, cards are five by five and patterns vary; in 90-ball, tickets have three rows and prizes go for one line, two lines and a full house. Both work on two coins, since a card or ticket is simply bought in one coin. Night Bingo and Comet Bingo are examples of each.

Build vs buy

The decision between writing your own sweepstakes platform or sportsbook and buying access to one from a vendor. Building gives control and costs time and money; Track360 estimates 12 to 24 months for a custom casino build. Buying is faster but ties you to a vendor's roadmap. Our cost guide compares the routes.

C

Cash-out (sportsbook)

An offer to settle a sports ticket early, before all its events finish, for an amount based on current prices. On a sweepstakes sportsbook a cash-out is a payout like any other and must be paid in the ticket's coin. Not every vendor offers it in sweepstakes mode, so it is worth asking before signing.

Coin selector

The control in a game or lobby that lets a player choose whether to play with Gold Coins or Sweep Coins. In a careful design it shows both balances, opens a session in one coin, and cannot be switched while a round is still in progress, so that a round never starts in one coin and ends in another.

Crash game

An instant game in which a multiplier rises from 1.00× until it "crashes" at a random point. The player cashes out before the crash to win the stake times the multiplier shown, or loses the stake. On a sweepstakes casino, a 1.00 SC stake cashed out at 3.00× returns 3.00 SC. Altitude Zero and Lumen Drift are crash titles.

D

Daily login bonus

Free coins credited when a player logs in, usually once every 24 hours. On sweepstakes casinos the daily bonus often includes a small amount of Sweep Coins, which makes it one of the free ways to get SC alongside mail-in requests. The amount and any streak rules are set by each brand.

Decimal odds

Odds written as the total return per unit staked, including the stake. Decimal 2.50 means a 4.00 SC stake returns 10.00 SC. US sportsbooks usually display American odds instead (+150 is the same price), but engines calculate in decimals, and parlays are priced by multiplying the decimal odds of each leg.

Dual-currency model

The structure at the core of every sweepstakes product: two separate balances, one purchased and without cash value (Gold Coins), one promotional and redeemable (Sweep Coins). The model only works if the two never mix, which is why wallet design matters so much. Our sweepstakes basics guide explains it end to end.

F

Fish shooting game

An arcade-style game where the player fires shots at creatures swimming or flying across the screen, each with a multiplier; hitting one pays the stake per shot times that multiplier. Popular in sweepstakes lobbies. Leviathan Gold, Nebula Hunters and Bayou Phantoms are examples, with top hits between 2,000× and 2,500× per shot or hit.

Free rounds

Spins or rounds credited to a player by the operator, through the game provider's API, without debiting the player's balance. On a sweepstakes site the operator must say which coin the free rounds belong to, and the winnings land in that coin. SoftAggregator, for example, says free rounds are available on its sweepstakes line per operator.

G

GGR (gross gaming revenue)

Total stakes minus total wins over a period. On sweepstakes sites, GGR usually means Sweep Coin activity valued at a dollar per SC, since Gold Coins have no cash value. Game and sportsbook suppliers often charge a share of GGR, so the contract should define which coin and formula apply.

Gold Coins (GC)

The entertainment coin of a sweepstakes casino. Players buy Gold Coins in packs, and each brand decides how many GC a pack contains. Gold Coins have no cash value, cannot be redeemed and cannot be exchanged for Sweep Coins. Players on Slot Casinos Online's GC vs SC page compare them side by side.

H

Hold & Win

A slot bonus in which special symbols lock in place and the player gets a set number of respins, usually three, which reset whenever a new symbol lands. The feature ends when respins run out or the grid fills. Mist Dragon, Viking Raid and Thunder Bison use it. On two coins, the whole feature stays in the coin of the triggering spin.

I

Idempotence

The property that sending the same request twice has the same effect as sending it once. In wallet APIs, every bet, win and rollback carries a unique transaction ID; if a call is retried after a timeout, the wallet returns the original result instead of paying again. On Sweep Coins, a missing idempotence check turns a network blip into a real cash loss.

Instant game

A broad family of quick-result games without reels: crash, mines, plinko, limbo, dice, towers, scratch cards and pick games. They suit mobile sessions and short play-through runs. Many sweepstakes lobbies give instant games their own tab, next to slots and fish games.

K

Keno

A draw game where the player picks numbers, usually from 1 to 80, and the game draws 20. The payout depends on how many picks are matched, according to a paytable. Eighty Nights and Turbo Keno 80 are two keno games built on 80 numbers. A keno ticket is bought in one coin and paid in the same one.

KYC (know your customer)

The identity checks a sweepstakes brand runs before paying a redemption: name, date of birth, address and often a document and selfie. Platform vendors usually connect a KYC provider; game studios and sportsbooks are normally not involved and do not need player documents.

L

Live betting

Betting on an event that is already in progress, with prices updated as the game unfolds and markets briefly suspended around key moments such as a goal or a touchdown. On a sweepstakes sportsbook, live tickets follow the same coin rules as pre-match ones. See the sportsbook software page.

M

Mail-in request

The most common form of AMOE. The player writes a request by hand, including details such as name and account email, and sends it by post to the address in the official rules. After processing, the brand credits Sweep Coins to the player's normal SC balance. Brands set limits on how often a request can be sent.

Max win

The highest multiple of the stake a game can pay on a single round or bet. Slots in the Nocturn Play catalogue cap it at 5,000× or 10,000×; some originals go much higher, such as the Moonshot limbo game at 1,000,000×. On a sweepstakes site, max win also caps the SC liability of a single round.

O

Odds feed

A data service that supplies sports events, markets and prices to a sportsbook, pre-match and live. A brand with its own sportsbook front end can buy a feed alone; one without a front end usually takes a full sportsbook. Nocturn Sport sells a feed separately from its sportsbook.

Official rules

The document in which a sweepstakes brand publishes how Sweep Coins are given away, how they can be used and how they are redeemed, including AMOE details, minimums and play-through. Game studios and sportsbook vendors do not change these rules; they follow whatever coin the operator's wallet sends.

P

Parlay

A sports ticket that combines several selections; all must win, and the odds are multiplied. Three legs at 1.80, 2.20 and 1.65 give 6.53. On a sweepstakes sportsbook a parlay is in one coin only, and if a leg is voided the parlay is recalculated on the remaining legs, still in the same coin.

Pick'em

A contest format where players choose "more" or "less" on player statistics and combine several picks into one entry that pays a fixed multiplier if all are correct. It needs no live odds, which made it popular with sports-first sweepstakes apps. Our sports sweepstakes explainer compares it with sportsbook-style tickets.

Platform (PAM)

The player account management system that runs the brand: registration, coin balances, cashier, promotions, CRM hooks and back office. Games and sportsbooks plug into it through wallet calls. Platforms come as custom builds, turnkey products or white labels, and choosing one is usually the first big decision of a launch.

Play-through

The amount of play required before Sweep Coins become redeemable. With a 1x rule, 20 SC must be staked once in total, win or lose; some brands set up to 3x. It applies to SC only, since Gold Coins are never redeemable. Each brand states its play-through in its official rules.

Prediction market

A market where people trade contracts that pay out if an event happens. Several former sports sweepstakes brands moved to this format in 2026: Novig and ProphetX received CFTC approvals in June 2026, and Fliff applied to the NFA in August 2026. It is a different product category from sweepstakes.

Purchase pack

The bundle a player buys on a sweepstakes casino: a quantity of Gold Coins set by the brand, plus Sweep Coins at one per US dollar paid as a free bonus. A $25 pack might contain 75,000 GC and 25.00 SC. Pack sales are the main revenue line of a sweepstakes business.

R

Redemption

The process of exchanging redeemable Sweep Coins for a prize, usually cash or a gift card. The player must meet the brand's play-through and minimum, often 45 to 100 SC for cash in published comparisons, and pass identity checks. Processing commonly takes days, not minutes. Gold Coins can never be redeemed.

Resettlement

Re-settling a sports ticket after a result is corrected by the data provider, for example when a win turns into a loss. On a sweepstakes sportsbook the correction must be posted in the ticket's coin and never offset against the other coin. Operators should also agree a policy for corrections against an already-spent balance.

Revenue share

A pricing model in which a supplier is paid a percentage of the operator's revenue, usually GGR, rather than a fixed fee. Common for game content, aggregators and white labels. On sweepstakes deals the definition of revenue, typically Sweep Coin GGR, needs to be written into the contract.

RGS (remote game server)

The server that runs a studio's game logic and random number generation and talks to the operator's wallet for every bet and win. For sweepstakes, the RGS must carry the coin on each call. A studio with a sweepstakes-aware RGS can keep each round in one coin without workarounds.

Rollback

A call that cancels a bet whose round could not finish, returning the stake to the player. On a two-coin wallet the rollback must name the original round and return the stake to the coin it came from. Nocturn Play's sweepstakes line, for example, closes such rounds as cancelled and never refunds to the other coin.

RTP (return to player)

The share of total stakes a game is designed to pay back over a very large number of rounds, such as 96%. It does not predict a single session. Some studios let operators choose among RTP settings; Nocturn Play publishes a list of its titles with operator-selectable return levels.

S

Scratch card

An instant-win game in which the player reveals hidden symbols on a ticket bought for a fixed price, winning if a paying combination appears. Results are decided when the ticket is bought, so play is fast. The Sapphire Sleeper is a scratch card with a top prize of 1,000× the ticket price.

Seamless wallet

An integration where the game provider holds no player money; every bet and win is a real-time call to the operator's wallet. It is the standard for online casinos. For sweepstakes, providers add coin-aware calls next to the seamless wallet, often in a separate API namespace, so existing integrations keep working.

Social casino

A free-to-play casino game product with a single virtual coin and no prizes. Players buy coins to keep playing, but nothing can be redeemed. Many sweepstakes brands share games and art with social casinos; the difference is the second, redeemable coin. See our social vs sweepstakes comparison.

Social sportsbook

A sports betting product that uses virtual coins. Pure social sportsbooks use a single coin with no prizes; sweepstakes sportsbooks add a redeemable coin. Fliff, with Fliff Coins and Fliff Cash, is the best-known example of the sweepstakes kind. The term is often used loosely for both.

Sweep Coins (SC)

The promotional coin of a sweepstakes product. Players receive SC free with Gold Coin packs, usually one per US dollar paid, and through AMOE and bonuses. SC won in play can be redeemed under the brand's rules. Some brands call them Sweeps Coins or use their own name, and a few use a different scale.

Sweepstakes casino

An online casino-style site that runs on Gold Coins and Sweep Coins, with a free method of entry and prizes redeemable through Sweep Coins. Players buy only Gold Coins. The games are slots, crash, fish, bingo, keno and instant titles supplied by studios through two-coin integrations.

Sweepstakes sportsbook

A sportsbook where tickets are placed in Gold Coins or Sweep Coins, with the same odds in both and settlement back into the ticket's coin. It can be a standalone app or a tab inside a sweepstakes casino. Our sweepstakes sportsbook software guide ranks the suppliers.

T

Ticket

A confirmed sports bet, single or parlay, with its stake, selections, odds and coin. On a sweepstakes sportsbook the coin is part of the ticket record, which is what allows settlement, voids and corrections to go back to the right balance whatever the player has done since.

Transaction ID

A unique identifier attached to every wallet call, such as a bet, win or rollback. It lets both sides match records, trace a disputed round and ignore duplicate calls. On sweepstakes integrations, reconciliation by transaction ID is how an operator proves that SC rounds stayed in SC.

Turnkey

A ready-made sweepstakes casino delivered by a vendor: platform, two-coin wallet, cashier, content and back office, set up under the operator's brand. GammaStack says its GammaSweep turnkey deploys in about 5 weeks. Turnkey trades customisation for speed: the operator gets a working brand quickly but accepts the vendor's feature set, release schedule and, usually, its game contracts.

V

Void

A cancelled sports selection, usually because an event was postponed or abandoned. A void single returns the stake to the balance it came from. In a parlay, the voided leg drops out and the remaining legs are recalculated, in the same coin as the original ticket.

Volatility

How a game's returns are spread out. Low-volatility games pay small wins often; high-volatility games pay rarely but bigger. Two games with the same RTP can feel very different. On Sweep Coins, volatility affects how quickly players reach a redemption threshold, and how bumpy the operator's SC liability is.

W

Wallet layer

The part of an integration that moves coins between the game or sportsbook and the operator's balances. For sweepstakes it must return both balances, debit and credit the named coin only, and handle rollbacks in the original coin. Nocturn Play adds its sweepstakes wallet layer next to its standard integration rather than replacing it.

White label

A complete casino or sportsbook run by a vendor and branded as the operator's own, often on a shared technical stack. It is the quickest way to market but the hardest to leave, since players and balances live on the vendor's system. Prices are generally quoted on request; we found no sourced range.