Poker Games That Pay Real Money

• This collection of games that pay real money gives you a complete overview of the best titles (and variants) available online.
• Free games that pay real cash prizes are fun - but you should never forget that gambling isn't a way to get rich quick. Also, always check the terms and conditions of a casino before you start to play and not only when you want to cash out your winnings.
• Pick a scratch-off to play quick games for real money or go to the blackjack table to challenge the dealers. The choice is yours!

1. Is There Games That Pay Real Money
2. Legal Online Poker Real Money
3. Is There A Poker App For Real Money

Free online poker is played on a real-money online poker site where most players are playing for real money. For this specific type of free online poker there are no 'buy-ins' required. You can play both ring games and tournaments entirely for free. What games give you real money? There are a few game apps that pay you money, believe it or not. Check out Swagbucks, Mistplay, InboxDollars, and Solitaire Cube to make money for playing games. What are the best money making apps? There are a lot of legitimate apps that’ll pay you real money — you can see a full list of money-making apps here.

Playing games online is not what it used to be — that's for sure.

I still remember the days I'd load a cassette (!) in the cassette player of my Philips MSX (yes, I am THAT old) and wait for minutes for a game to load. Eventually.

That frantic wait has now been replaced by the Fortnite, the Call of Duty and the Super Mario Kart that load in a snap and throw you in the middle of epic and fantastic adventure within seconds.

In 2020, games are everywhere.

We play on our mobile phones, on our desktops, on our gaming consoles, on our smart TVs…and sometimes even on our watches.

The gaming industry keeps growing one boom after the other, and the quality of the games we play is nothing like the games used to be.

And this isn't true only for the Pong or Tetris that rocked our childhood evenings on an Atari or a Nintendo Game Boy. The same also applies to online games for money.

The games where you can win real money in 2020 are nothing like those where you'd try to score some cash a decade ago.

The graphics are better and the gameplays are more sophisticated.

This list of games that pay money gives you direct access to some of the best titles to play online in 2020. All the sites we suggest offer a bonus on registration to all the players who want to play games for real money online.

Whether you're into games like online blackjack or you prefer to try your luck on slots, this list has something for you.

Best Online Games that Pay Real Money in 2020

Choosing the best casino games to play for real money is not easy.

With so many new Slots and new online casinos popping up all the time, it takes time and sweat to find the best games that pay real money online.

Unless you have a trustworthy source *cough* like CasinoSmash *cough* to help you.

Casino Slots That Pay Real Money

Jackpot Slots

This is a slippery slope, I know. Of all the online casino games that pay real money, jackpot games aren't the one with the best odds — by a mile.

Playing jackpot slots is expensive and risky. The RTP of these games is below average, and since you always need to bet the maximum to hit the jackpot…these can become the most expensive online games that pay real cash. Easily.

Sites like 888casino and partycasino run daily jackpots where you can get decent winning odds. All the info are right on their sites, so don’t forget to look at volatility and RTP of each game before you play.

I am not a fan of progressive games because I cannot afford them. But if you are looking for online games that pay real money and you are OK with playing two spins instead of 100 — these might be up your alley.

Remember to play responsibly.

Blood Suckers

Table and card games tend to be everyone's first choice when looking for games that pay real cash to play online.

Why? Because they offer better RTP and so more chances to win. Or fewer to lose, you decide what's most appropriate here.

However, some online slots can also rival the best card games for real money available for online play.

The Blood Suckers video slot is one of those. Featuring an RTP of 98%, this game gives you a higher return than many of the table games offered by most online casinos.

Blood Suckers (a five-reel game by NetEnt) includes special features like free spins which are granted to you once you land three Vampire Brides as well as bonus round, where you get to slay vampires in a spooky tomb and are granted cash in the process.

Turn Your Fortune

Spin the reels and turn your fortune with this great NetEnt slot machine game!

The Turn Your Fortune slot launched in 2019. Since then, this real money game online has proven to be a massive hit for the Malta-based gaming company.

Turn Your Fortune features five reels, four rows, and 40 fixed paylines. And it wouldn't be a NetEnt slot if it didn't have top-quality graphics, beautiful animations, and bonus features that pay well — of course.

Take the Fortune Respins feature, for example.

Not only you get a free respin after a win, but the winning symbols also increase the multiplier meter on the left of the screen.

Each time it fills up, you move to another Fortune Wins level — getting the opportunity to trigger multipliers for up to x200.

* The Return to the Player (RTP) is the percentage of how much wagered money on the game theoretically goes back to the players.

If a slot has an RTP of 96 per cent and players spent €1,000 playing it, €960 will go back to the players in winnings while the House will keep the remaining €40.

Casino Table Games That Pay Real Money

Live Blackjack

Of all the games that pay real money, live casino blackjack is probably the most exciting and the one where your skills can help you with your winning chances.

Join players from anywhere in the world in an endless battle against a live blackjack dealer. Super HD cameras and incredible locations make live blackjack the king of all online games that pay real cash.

If you want to discover why everyone says live dealer games are great (and you should), this is the best site to play live blackjack games that payout real cash prizes.

European Roulette

It doesn't matter if you in it because you are a high-roller or you just want to play for fun. There's nothing like a game of roulette for real money.

You can learn how to play online roulette in minutes and you only need to use this roulette strategy to master the game like an expert.

The difference between American and European Roulette is all about your winning chances.

In short, you have more chances to play casino games and win money if you play European roulette.

Casino Hold'Em

Casino hold'em is easy to learn, fast to play, and it gives you better odds than most other casino games online.

No need to work on your bluffing skills, though. In this casino poker game, you always play against the dealer, not with other players.

In a game of casino hold 'em there three types of bets: the mandatory Ante bet, the Call bet and side a bet called AA.

• You make Ante bet if you want to play,
• Call bet if you think your hand is good enough to win,
• AA bet if you feel like a pair of Aces (or better) combo will appear among your cards and the flop (first three community cards).

Tip: Never waste your money on AA bets. These real money wagers decrease the return to the player percentage to 93.74 per cent.

Casino Scratch Cards That Pay Real Money

Mad Max Scratch Cards

There's something almost wrong in calling Mad Max: Fury Road a 'scratch card' — because this game offers a lot more.

Licensed by Warner Bros this online game that pays real money features a random progressive jackpot and a scatter symbol that triggers 10 free games with real money prizes.

The player's percentage of theoretical expected return is 95.48%, which is one of the highest in its category of online casino games.

If you are up for the top prizes, keep in mind that the progressive jackpot needs to be north of $750 to trigger.

Luxor Scratch

With tickets starting at 0.10, Luxor Scratch is one of the cheapest free online games that pay cash that you can play online.

For it to be free, however, you need to use the welcome bonus at 888casino first.

Egypt-themed music and graphics make this a delightful game — too bad for the piss-poor 92.30% RTP!

Other Casino Games That Pay Real Money

Monopoly Live!

Did you know NetEnt found a way to turn everyone's favourite board game into one of the best games that pay real money in 2020?

Bringing together the best of game-shows like the DreamCatcher and all the elements that made Monopoly famous, Monopoly Live is an exciting adventure to discover.

This is for sure one of the most immersive casino games that pay out real money available online in 2020 and is also one of the most fun games to play. The gameplay brings together elements of the classic wheel of fortune games and Monopoly — and that's fun already.

But wait until you see what the talented presenters chosen by NetEnt can do to entertain you! If you want to give Monopoly Live a go, this is where you need to register to access the game.

CS:GO (or e-Sports Betting in General)

Ladies and gentlemen…e-Sports are finally included in the list of the best games that give you real money in prizes!

Pioneered by Betway the world of real money e-sports and e-sports betting is a thriving new dimension of real money gaming online — one that most of you have yet to discover, I am sure.

Watch people play (you need to register toped the live stream) and place your bets on popular games like CS:GO, DOTA 2, League of Legends, and more!

Disclaimer: Gambling is a game of chance and there's no sure-fire formula that guarantee winnings. You can improve your winning chances by using the right in-game strategies but there is no way to predict when a machine or a Casino game is going to pay. Also, this page contains affiliate links. If you click through and play, we might earn a commission. That’s what allow us to keep CasinoSmash free and bring you the best online Casino bonuses!

Let’s be honest –

Not everyone who wants to play online poker has a bankroll. Nor are they able to get backing, because they don’t have verifiable results and no one knows them.

Then there are others who do have a bankroll. But they’re levelheaded – they know they’re not ready to play online poker for real money.

So, what options do these people have?

One option is to play free poker games. You can play for free and learn your fundamentals before you dive into shark infested waters.

But that doesn’t help with the bankroll deficiency.

The next option – your best bet – is to play freeroll poker tournaments instead. Most poker sites offer them. Our top picks are below.

The point is this — freerolls can help you launch your poker career. But only if you’re patient and persistent, and only if you learn proper strategy.

We’re going to talk more about freeroll strategy later in this guide.

But first, let’s talk more about what a freeroll is and what makes it unique from other free games.

What are Poker Freeroll Tournaments?

Tournament freerolls are like free poker games. But there’s one major difference.

Freerolls have prizes. Sometimes they’re money. Other times they’re entries to tournaments with prizes.

Free poker games do not.

The competition in a freeroll is soft like a free money game. But because they award prizes, they can get hundreds or thousands of entrants. So, it will take a little bit of both luck and skill to make money from these.

Lots of people have done it. Some have managed to turn these small prizes into bankrolls they later grew to hundreds, thousands, even millions of dollars.

I’ve cashed in a freeroll or two, though I didn’t parlay mine into a lasting bankroll. But Chris Ferguson, Tom Dwan and Annette Obrestad have.

Ferguson did it as a challenge. But both Dwan and Obrestad launched their poker careers – earnings millions of dollars so far – playing poker freerolls.

You can do it, too. Your first step is to find the best site to join.

Nearly every poker site offers freerolls. Too many options can make it difficult to choose just one or two. So, here are the things we look for:

We would rather join a poker site that offers freerolls on a regular basis. That can be every four hours or twice per day. This is better than the sites who offer freerolls at random.

Even if it means the prize pools are smaller. Seriously.

We want regular tournaments because, like real money tournaments, you’re not going to cash in every single one of them. In fact, the larger the tournaments, the less often you should expect to cash.

The way to cash more often is to play more tournaments. The best way to do that is to join a site who offers frequent freerolls on a schedule.

For example, when Merge Gaming was worth joining back in the day, they ran freerolls every 2-4 hours. Fortunately, many of the sites we recommend do something similar.

Another thing we look for are larger prize pools. Because you don’t want to play for your share of $10, which might be split between 10, 25 or 50+ players.

We recommend looking for sites who offers a minimum of $100 for their freerolls. A cash can get you $5, $10 or even $20. A couple cashes – much less wins – will go a long way once you make the switch to the micro stakes.

Some poker sites let everyone sign up to their freerolls. Which means you might have to battle 4,586 players for your share of a $50 prize pool.

It’s not that you can’t do it, it’s just that the numbers aren’t in your favor. Even if you play well you’ll also need to get very, VERY lucky.

We prefer to find poker sites who cap the number of entrants. We’ve seen freerolls where the fields are limited to 600 or 1,000 players – the top 50 (or less) are paid.

That’s a lot of players. But it’s doable (and on a somewhat consistent basis).

Other sites limit their fields to 3,000 or 5,000 players. This is okay, but only if the prize pool is large enough to justify it. Otherwise it’s too big a field to fight through.

Most bonuses and promotions come with terms. For example, you must earn so many player points to clear your deposit bonus.

Sometimes poker sites have terms for their freerolls, too. The exact terms vary from site to site.

For example, we’ve seen sites who say their freeroll winnings are not cashable. But you can cash out the money you win with it. Others say you need to wager so many dollars before you can cash out, while others say you need to make a nominal deposit first.

We suggest finding a poker site who has as few terms and restrictions as possible.

10 Freeroll Poker Strategy Tips

Okay, so now you’ve found a site or two and got signed up. The next step is to play freerolls. And, one of the common questions we’re asked is, how the heck do you win?

Here are 10 tips which should help you out.

In the early stages, many players will go all in preflop to try to double or triple up. This includes players with any two cards …because why not?

Don’t get involved in this. Yeah, you might get lucky. But 25+ percent of the time you’re going to bust early. And doubling or tripling up early on is no guarantee you’ll run deep or cash anyway.

We recommend you stick to the top of your range early on. Play pairs, KQ, AJ, AQ and AK. Limp small pairs (to set mine) and only play them post-flop if you hit a set.

You should go all in (pre-flop) with QQs+. Jacks are questionable. You can play them aggressively -or- set mine. The same goes for hitting these hands on the flop. You should plan to play AJ+ and KQ+ aggressively post-flop unless the flop is draw-heavy.

This piggybacks off the last tip, but it’s that important. Too many players try to get too creative with their hands. But if freerolls, your opponents will call you with any two just because. So, you might as well get paid. When you hit your hand, bet, bet, bet.

Many players make the mistake of tightening up near the (cash) bubble. This is a huge mistake. Your goal should always be to win. You might bust more often, but the times you don’t you’ll make deeper runs for larger cashes, profiting more money overall.

There are exceptions. For example, if you have 5 big blinds left on the money bubble it’ll make more sense to try to squeak into the money. But unless you’re desperate, go for the win.

Beginners start stealing the blinds too soon in tournaments. The problem is the blinds aren’t worth stealing relative to what they’ll add to your stack. But when you wait for antes, stacks are shorter relative to the blinds AND the antes add dead money to pot which will make a significant difference in your stack when you pick them up.

The reason why we recommend staying tight early on is so you can get more active later (when antes kick in). The benefit to this strategy is that most players will think you’ve been card dead the whole tournament, but now suddenly you’re getting good hands. So, they’ll get out of your way. You’ll be able to steal the blinds uncontested more than not.

Bluffs only work against players who’re capable of folding. Most freeroll players are not. So, it’s not going to make sense to bluff unless you know you’re up against a thinking player.

When you play a hand, you need to think a couple steps ahead. You got to have a plan for how you’ll play your hand if you connect on the flop.

For example, when you play an Ax hand, the goal is to bet. But say you hit top pair while holding A3o with 4 other players in the pot. Are you going to feel good betting this hand for value?

Probably not. Not only will you not like it, but chances are someone has your hand dominated.

A better strategy is to play hands that aren’t often dominated on the flop. You’ll get in trouble less often. You’ll feel better about betting for value, too.

Most beginners don’t adjust their strategy for different table sizes. Many full-ring tournaments will have as few as 5-6 players when players have busted or when the tournament’s winding down. They continue to stick to a tighter hand range.

This is a good opportunity for you to explode – open more hands and steal more blinds. Not only that, but hands go up in value in short-handed play. This includes your weaker Ax and Kx hands. Even when you’re called you can feel good about holding a hand like A9s or KJ.

This is another reason why it makes sense to stay tight early on. You’ll have a tight image, which will allow you to open several hands and steal several pots uncontested. This is much easier to do at a shorthanded table.

A great way to add easy chips to your stack is to “reshove” over preflop limps or raises once antes have kicked in (in the later stages). The reason why this works so well is because most players will have a wide opening range, which means they’ll fold often. And because there will be so much (dead) money in the pot relative to your stack, you don’t have to win the pot very often for it to be a profitable play.

And when you do win the pot you’ll add a ton of chips to your stack.

You’ll notice our tips are a mix of generic poker tips and common low stakes SNG/MTT strategy. But that’s because poker freerolls are going to play the same way.

For that reason, when you’ve practiced these tips and want to learn more, we suggest you read up on more beginner/low stake MTT strategy. It’ll help you out.

After you’ve played a few freerolls, chances are you’ll have cashed or are on the brink of your first one. Which means you’ll want to know this:

Most players will want to parlay this into a bankroll. To move up in stakes and start playing games that aware real money prizes.

And that’s a great idea. But, only if you’re ready.

For one thing, you should only make the jump if you’re comfortable with your poker skills. It won’t be a huge transition, moving from freerolls to real money games. But it’ll help you a ton if you have the basic MTT fundamentals and strategy down.

Then there’s your bankroll.

We don’t recommend switching to real money games with a tiny bankroll. It’s great that you’ve won $10 or $20, but you’ll struggle to find traction if that’s all you take with you to the micro stakes. A bad bout of variance will send you to the showers.

Instead, we recommend having a minimum of $100 before making the switch to real money games. This will give you 20 buy-ins for $0.2/$0.05 or $0.05/$0.10 cash games, or about 30-50 buy-ins for the $1-$3 SNGs.

Is There Games That Pay Real Money

We recommend playing SNGs because they’re great for learning MTT fundamentals. They’re much easier on your bankroll, too.

But that’s only one-half of the battle. You also need to learn how to manage your bankroll, unless you want to go back to playing freerolls. You can learn about bankroll management here.

Legal Online Poker Real Money

And there you have it. That’s how you can build your poker bankroll and launch your career playing freeroll tournaments.

FAQ

Here are some common questions we regularly get about poker freerolls and freeroll poker sites (and our answers).

Is There A Poker App For Real Money

These are for community run freerolls. These are hosted by/for a specific website, organization or home game. These aren’t for you unless you’re invited or part of one of these groups.

Many players will go out of their way to steal these passwords. Then play the games to win money that’s not meant for them.

This isn’t very nice or ethical. Please don’t do it.

The biggest difference between free play or free games is you cannot win money. You’re given free chips and you can play any free game you can afford to buy into. But there are no real money prizes. You’ll only win more free chips.

But with freerolls you can win real money prizes – like cash or tournament entries.

Not much. Both offer real money prizes.

The biggest difference is that the VIP freerolls are available only to players on a specific VIP level (or all levels). Players who aren’t VIP members can’t play. One benefit to this is a smaller playing field. The prizes are usually better, too. And it is money the poker site puts up to reward their loyal customers.

There are lots of reasons why you might consider playing freerolls. Here are some of the biggest benefits:

• Practice strategy. This is a good opportunity to practice the strategy and tactics you’ve read about. Want to practice c-betting? Stealing the blinds? 3-betting? This is a good opportunity to not only try it, but to learn when, whom against and how much to bet.
• Build a bankroll. This is one of the best reasons. If you don’t have money, or maybe just want to challenge yourself, then you might want to play freerolls to build your bankroll.
• Learn patience. It’s going to take a fair amount of time, not only to cash or win a freeroll, but to build a large enough bankroll so that you can move on to real money games. Without patience, you won’t go very far.
• Learn bankroll management. This piggybacks off the last point. You’ll first need to be patience and save up your money until you have enough for the games you want to play. Then your bankroll won’t likely be very big. So, you’ll need to be patience and play within your means to avoid going broke. Playing freerolls can be a long and painful (and painfully boring) process. The more you take huge and unnecessary risks, the more time you’ll have to spend playing them.
• Learn and play different games. Many freerolls run games other than holdem. If you want to play and learn a new game without risking your bankroll, freerolls are a great way to do it.

All you should have to do in most cases is create an account. Then find and join a freeroll.

Sometimes you might have to be a VIP member, though, which means you’ll need to create an account, make a deposit and play for real money first.

Yes. So long as the poker site offers freerolls on mobile devices. Many poker rooms don’t offer all their games and stakes for mobile devices. The only way to know for sure is to read our reviews or download the poker room’s app.

Yes. In fact, some of the best freerolls are (and have been) on US-facing poker sites. We suggest starting with BetOnline, who routinely offers daily/weekly freerolls.

Some of the different kinds of freerolls you’ll find are:

• No-restrictions. These usually have a prize pool of $100 or less. Entrants may be up to 5,000.
• Recent deposit requirement.
• Player point buy-ins.
• Player reward tier threshold.
• Private community-run freerolls.

Most of them offer freerolls to incentivize and encourage players to play. And when players win from freerolls, sometimes there will be terms they got to follow – like making a deposit or wagering so much money – before they can cash out.

Between the terms and winning money, this can encourage players to deposit more, which is something poker rooms want. It’s how they make money.

In other cases, they do it as a promotion. To give back to their VIP (loyal) players. Other times it’s to promote a live event the freeroll is a satellite to.

It depends on where you play. Some poker sites will let you cash out your winnings. Other rooms may have terms you need to follow first. This could mean making a nominal deposit or wagering so much money (like a casino bonus) before you can cash out.

In other cases, the freeroll winnings may not be cashable. But you can use them to play real money games where any money you earn from those IS cashable.

Casinos put these types of rules in place to protect themselves from people who sign up only to play freerolls and cash out their winnings.