ClubWPT Gold vs Global vs Clubs: Which Is Best for Sweepstakes Poker?

Poker players in the U.S. once again have their choice of legal online sites where they can win real money in most states. Sweepstakes poker sites offer players the opportunity to play tournaments and ring games using virtual currency including Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. We have the scoop on all the best sweepstakes poker sites available, including how they compare on key features, based on our experience testing them all out.

Most poker players don’t realize they can legally play online and win real money — here’s where to do it.

ClubWPT Gold Overview

ClubWPT Gold is a top sweepstakes poker site with backing from the World Poker Tour. The site is known for soft competition in both ring games and multi-table tournaments (MTTs). Thanks to a wide range of stakes plus frequent freerolls and giveaways, ClubWPT Gold is a solid option for new, casual, and seasoned poker players alike.

Here’s what ClubWPT Gold offers:

• ✅ Cash games from 0.02/0.05 to 5/10
• ✅ Tournaments from 1.10 to 110 buy-ins
• ✅ Weekly 200,000 guarantee tournament for 110 buy-in (on Sundays)
• ✅ Fast cashouts via Debit or Credit card
  ➡️ [Sign up for ClubWPT Gold here]

What states can play on ClubWPT Gold?

ClubWPT Gold, a site we covered previously and Doug reviewed earlier this year on YouTube, is currently available to players in 46 states. If you reside in any of the following states, unfortunately you are not eligible to play on this site when you are physically within state borders: Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Michigan.

Stakes available on ClubWPT Gold

For now, ClubWPT Gold only offers ring games for NLHE with 8-handed tables. You’ll find stakes as low as SC .02/.05 all the way up to SC 25/50. The micro stakes options as well as many Gold Coins ring game options are great for beginners who want to get some reps against real players without putting a lot of their own money on the line. Ring game rake at 4% with a cap is quite low at micro to low stakes, fair for mid stakes, and relatively high for higher stakes.

ClubWPT Gold ring games also have a unique three-blind structure plus an ante which successfully induces more action. Coupled with the eight-handed structure, you are likely to be pleased with the amount of loose, splashy play reminiscent of poker days of old. Traffic so far is decent, but growing with time as the word spreads about the juicy games on this site. One note on the downside of the ring games is that there is currently no waitlist option, which is inconvenient but likely to change down the line.

Tournaments on ClubWPT Gold

For tournaments, you’ll find the basic MTT offerings of turbos, deeper stack events, and some Progressive Knockouts (PKO), exclusively NLHE as of now. Most tournaments allow up to five re-entries during registration, making for some loose play in early rounds that solid players can certainly take advantage of by employing sound strategy.

For tournament beginners or players looking to build their bankroll on the cheap, ClubWPT Gold also offers occasional 50 SC freerolls during the week. Apart from periodic special tournaments or other promotions, the best value MTTs on the schedule include two Sunday majors:

• 100,000 SC GTD PKO for 218 SC
• 200,000 SC GTD for 110 SC

Note that as of now, the tournament lobby does not allow much in the way of filtering options, but the site’s developers are clearly working on improving the user experience and software functionality.

Pros and cons of ClubWPT Gold

Pros:

• Soft games
• Built-in VPIP stats
• Frequent SC freerolls and high profile promos like fancy car giveaways
• Exclusive promos for players who sign up with promo code UPSWING2

Cons:

• Software currently does not support multi-tabling
• No dedicated mobile or desktop app (browser-based site only)
• No waitlist for cash games and no way to filter tournament schedules (yet)
• Only NLHE offered currently (sorry, Omaha and PLO fans)

How to sign up for ClubWPT Gold

Signing up is easy – just follow these steps and you’re in.

• Head over to ClubWPTGold.com and click on Sign Up.
• Enter UPSWING2 in the promo code section and your mobile phone number; click Sign Up.
• After validating your phone number, enter the requested personal details to complete your account setup.

When you’re registered, click on +Add Coins to select a Gold Coins package which comes with free SC. Once you purchase a package for at least $19.99, you will qualify for special freeroll tournaments and promos. The $19.99 package will get you 203,00 GC plus 20 SC.

You can also earn additional free SC through daily login rewards, social media giveaways or mail-in requests. If you’re new to the sweepstakes gaming model, check out our guide on how sweepstakes poker sites work.

Global Poker Overview

Global Poker is probably the best-known sweepstakes poker site thanks to being on the market since 2016 and high-profile marketing deals with the likes of Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps. The site has a strong variety of poker formats including NLHE, PLO, and Omaha Hi-Lo. There is also an impressive MTT schedule in addition to other popular formats like sit ‘n’ go’s and even jackpot SNGs. Overall, players on this site enjoy the soft competition, large tournament prize pools, and frequent promos that bring added value for beginner and advanced players alike.

• ✅ Cash games from 0.05/0.10 SC to 10/20 SC
• ✅ Tournaments from 1.1 SC to 218 SC buy-ins
• ✅ Sunday Majors every week: 25,000 SC GTD for 110 SC buy-in; 100,000 SC GTD for 218 SC buy-in
• ✅ Fast cashouts via Gift Card, ACH bank transfer, Credit/Debit Card, Skrill or PayPal
  ➡️ [Sign up for Global Poker here]

What states can play on Global Poker?

Global Poker is available in most U.S. states and most parts of Canada. However, players in the following locations are not eligible to participate:

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Idaho (Gold Coin play only)
• Michigan
• Montana
• Nevada
• Washington
• Quebec (Canada)

Stakes available on Global Poker

Global Poker has a wide range of stakes, making it ideal for new players on up to seasoned pros. The site still maintains a social vibe that attracts a high volume of recreational players, especially thanks to the option to participate with play money (Gold Coins). Thanks to a large player pool, you will usually find plenty of ring games to choose from for NLHE and PLO, especially during peak days and times.

Ring game formats include NLHE, PLO and Omaha H/L with games ranging from 0.05 SC / SC .10 SC up to 10 SC / 20 SC. There are also six-handed, eight-handed, and nine-handed table options. Global Poker’s flat 5% rake is a bit steep compared to other sites, especially at the lower stakes levels. However, players still flock to these games as the softer competition makes up for the high rake.

Tournaments on Global Poker

Tournaments are almost exclusively NLHE but Global Poker offers a good range of formats including Turbo, Deep Stack, Bounty, and Progressive Bounty. Buy-ins range from 1.1 SC on up to 218 SC with many good value 11, 33, 55, and 99 SC buy-in tournaments throughout the week. During their frequent big guarantee special tournament series, Global also offers lots of satellites starting as low as 0.25 SC to help players get in on the action for cheaper.

This site is known for its frequent tournament series that boast large prize pool guarantees and even trophies for individual event winners. Among their popular ones are Grizzly Games, The Goat, and the Eagle Cup. You’ll also find several good value weekly events with the best value MTTs running on Sundays. Global Poker has a Sunday major with a 218 SC buy-in and a prize pool of 50,000 or 100,000 SC. There is also a warm-up to that event called the Sunday Teaser, a 110 SC buy-in tournament with a 25,000 SC guarantee. These guarantees can vary depending on the week. (Want to do better in tournaments? Check out our article 7 Poker Tournament Tips for Running Deep More Often).

Pros and cons of Global Poker

Pros:

• Strong variety of game options and formats
• Solid welcome bonus and ongoing specials and promos
• Frequent tournament series with large overall guarantees and good value events
• Large tournament prize pools and ample ring game options due to large customer base

Cons:

• No dedicated mobile or desktop client (browser-based)
• No live chat or instant customer support option
• Minimum redemption amount of 50 SC
• Steep rake for lower stakes games

How to sign up for Global Poker

To sign up, go to GlobalPoker.com and click Register or Play Now. Fill out your personal details and you are ready to play. Note that in order to redeem SC for real money at a rate of 1 SC to $1, you will need to verify your identity with a government issued ID and provide proof of residence.

Just for signing up, new players to Global Poker will receive 100,000 GC and 5 SC for free. You can also earn daily bonus SC from .25 up to 1 for consecutive daily logins to the site. If you’re new to the site, you’ll likely find a first purchase offer that provides bonus SC with your first GC package. After that, be sure to look out for other special promo GC packages, especially before or during flagship tournament series. Global often awards free tournament entries or hands out extra SC through special offers. Note that the larger GC packages typically offer the best value with extra free SC included.

Clubs Poker Overview

Clubs Poker is another site operating under the sweepstakes gaming model, allowing players to participate in a free-to-play Gold Coins mode or in sweepstakes games using Sweeps Coins. Because of its generous bonuses and daily freerolls, Clubs Poker is especially attractive to new or beginner poker players, which also makes for softer games that bring more seasoned grinders. Either way, it’s a rapidly growing site in part because of some unique features and fun, dynamic graphics.

• ✅ Cash games from 0.05/0.10 SC up to 10/20 SC
• ✅ Tournaments from 0.5 SC to 100 SC buy-ins
• ✅ 100% extra welcome bonus offer
• ✅ Fast cashouts via Debit Card, Credit Card or Google Pay
  ➡️ [Sign up for Clubs Poker here]

What states can play on Clubs Poker?

Clubs Poker is available to players in 43 states, with the following ones excluded:

• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Nevada
• Michigan
• Montana
• Washington
• West Virginia

Stakes available on Clubs Poker

Ring games are available for NLHE at stakes as low as 0.05/0.10 SC up to 10/20 SC with most traffic coming at the micro stakes and low stakes (1/2 SC). They have 6-handed and 8-handed games, and most of them are linked to a bad beat jackpot. Most of the NLHE games also provide the option to run it twice and have periodic bomb pots where all active players put in a fixed amount pre-flop and play out the hand from there.

For Omaha, formats include 6-handed PLO and Omaha H/L, with both also available in 5-Card and 6-Card variants. The stakes range from 0.10/0.20 SC to 5/10 SC. For Omaha, it’s rare to get games above 1/2 SC but it’s possible during peak hours.

Clubs Poker has a nice filtering tool for ring games and a convenient built-in table preview (with some table stats) to make it easy to find a game that suits you.

Tournaments on Clubs Poker

As a newer site, Clubs Poker still does not have the player volume to be able to offer MTTs with huge guarantees, but traffic is growing. The site has a wide range of tournament buy-ins from 0.50 SC up to 100 SC and different blind structures (slow, normal, turbo, and hyper). Most tournaments are NLHE or PLO, but Clubs also offers smaller ones for different poker variants like 7-card Stud, HORSE, pot-limit 5-card Omaha, and even Razz.

You will also find some micro and low limit NLHE sit ‘n’ go’s and spin ‘n’ go’s, but these typically don’t get as much action as the ring games or other tournaments. So far, the best weekly MTTs at Clubs Poker are the Sunday 100 SC buy-in with a 10,000 SC guarantee and the Sunday night 22 SC buy-in that comes with a 7,500 SC prize pool guarantee.

Pros and cons of Clubs Poker

Pros:

• Offers several poker variants beyond NLHE and PLO, including mixed games
• Fun, unique ring game options like rabbit hunting, bomb pots, run it twice and straddle options, and bad beat jackpots
• Daily freerolls
• Generous 100% match welcome offer

Cons:

• Relatively small player base make for fewer options at the medium and higher stakes
• No live chat or email support (must go through ticketing system)
• Newer site yet to establish a long-term trusted reputation
• Limited payment methods

How to sign up for Clubs Poker

To open an account with Clubs Poker, go to clubspoker.com and click Play Now, then click Sign Up and follow these steps.

• Create an account with your email and set up a password, and verify your email.
• Choose a display name that will appear with your avatar on the site.
• To participate in SC mode, you will be prompted to provide additional information like your phone number and state of residence.
• In order to make a purchase, provide your date of birth and address.
• Choose your purchase package, click Confirm, and then enter your debit or credit card details (or select Google Pay).

The current welcome bonus at Clubs Poker is one of the better ones you’ll find, providing an extra 100% in bonus value. For the $20 package, new players receive twice the value of the normal package, good for 200,000 GC plus 40 free SC. There is also a free daily bonus available every day worth 2,500 GC plus 0.5 SC.

Which sweepstakes poker site is best for you?

All three of the sweepstakes poker sites we personally tried out and reviewed in this guide have many desirable features as well as drawbacks. Which site is best for you depends on several factors like your poker experience level, goals for playing, and what matters most to you. The great news is that all three of these options offer legit poker games you can play for fun with a chance to win real cash prizes.

When it comes to which site you should choose, we recommend:

• Choose ClubWPT Gold if you want to play sweepstakes poker in soft NLHE games with lots of opportunities to win special prizes like fancy cars.
• Choose Global Poker if you like higher traffic and tournament-heavy action including major series with big guarantees.
• Choose Clubs Poker if you want to try an innovative, fast-growing platform with poker variants beyond NLHE and Omaha.