Online Real Money Games, Gaming, and Gambling Guide 2023

Can you play games for real money?

There are various legit ways for players to play games for real money online, and you’ll find at least 21 high-level variants of real money games falling into six high-level game categories. Playing these games on the internet gives you realistic chances of a positive return on your investment, the chances of a real cash win, and plenty of fun from the experience.

Whether you take the option to play your chosen game or bet on a mobile app, phone, or laptop or through an account on an online gambling website via a desktop computer, you can earn money and win cash prizes.

With various payment options, including PayPal, you can easily collect the money you’ve earned, made, or won by either luck or using your skills.

Sometimes there’s a way to win jackpots with your play and get some hefty payouts, but realistically,  the most likely positive gaming outcome for many people will be a gradual increase in winnings and earnings.

Some of the games you can play for real money include Paypal games, Android games, slots, and online casino games. But these form just a tiny percentage of the broader range of gaming options where you can make money.

What games can you play for cash prizes?

Any search for online games with real money prizes will reveal a substantial amount of information on various gaming options. The list will include those games you can play for free or by betting or wagering.  Everyone that’s eligible can play with friends or alone on online gambling websites or mobile game apps downloaded from an app store.

You’ll find links to many of the highest-rated gambling sites and associated or alternative apps with equally high ratings throughout the pages of realmoney.games. Alternatively, if you want a quick start, you’ll learn plenty by studying the FAQ section or jumping straight to the glossary of terms.

To fully understand how to use online gaming to get some cash winnings, we’ll need to break the options down into types and subtypes:

• The two primary forms of real money games
• The six main real money game categories
• 21 game types and variants

What games pay real money?

It’s worth noting an important but often blurred distinction between games you play for real money and games that pay real money. There’s a subtle difference between winning money playing a game and getting paid to play.

Most often you win by gambling or taking a chance, whereas you often get paid by performing some sort of task. So, games that pay can be different from some other gambling games.

How do you find games that pay for task completions?

Well, whether you play on a desktop site, a mobile app, or one of several social media platforms, these games that pay real money are easy to find and access with minimal research. There’s a choice of hundreds of sites or apps accessible from a desktop PC or laptop. For mobile gaming devices, you’ll be heading to the Apple App store for free apps for Apple iOS smartphones or downloading Android APK cash apps from the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy store.

Key terms glossary

What are the two primary forms of real money games?

During our exploration, we’ll learn how to identify the best games for winning real money, and ways to play them that will improve or enhance your winning chances, and which types of games require skill, luck, or varying combinations of both skill and luck to win the cash.

Each of these game variants falls into two primary forms of cash prize gaming:

• Games you play on the websites or apps of online gambling companies or by betting with any bookies, bookmakers, or sportsbooks. With these operators, you’ll need to make a deposit to play, and you’ll use money in an account as stake money.
• Cash prize games you usually access via an app that is free to play. This form sometimes falls under the banner of casual gaming based on fun games without the need to deposit money or make any purchases. It typically involves playing with mobile apps on a smartphone or tablet.

Real money online gambling games

In this category, you’ll be placing a bet or making a wager. You’ll often find these games on a casino site, collectively called online casino games. These games come with an in-built house advantage and include table games against a dealer, such as blackjack, roulette, craps, or other options like slots, keno, and video poker.

Betway real money casino games are an excellent example, while poker players will be more interested in the WSOP poker apps.

Other gambling games are widely available, including bingo, lotteries, and games that give instant wins, like scratch-off or scratchcards. Specific games include such well-known titles as Wheel of Fortune.

In all of these games, developed by leading gaming industry software developers like Scientific Games, luck usually determines if those bets result in a win.

But it’s always just down to a lucky outcome in all gambling games. Other games still have an associated risk of losing real money, and play might still involve a stake or bet, but the outcome will – at least partially and sometimes wholly – be determined by a player’s skill level.

So, players in the gaming community with experience in video gaming can also earn some cash playing as part of a team in an eSports video game competition or one-on-one tournaments.

In these competitive sports events that are often played on well-known game titles, you’ll build tournament points on a leaderboard or overcome your opponent to win a pot.

Avid gamers that don’t want to compete in multiplayer tournaments can find their action in playing any one of hundreds of arcade games or card games like solitaire to achieve a high score with card hands and win money.

Free games to win cash prizes

Free games for real money are available in different forms, too. Some players put their efforts into earning cash rewards, various cashback offers, or gift cards by completing surveys or watching ads or videos with no wagers or bets.

These are different from real money games where you’ll need to deposit money to play in the hope of winning. They’re the games you’ll usually find on cash prize apps somewhere like the Google Play Store. One game app that does this exceptionally well is the Spin Royale slots games cash app, which works similarly to Gamee. These games began life as free-to-play video games for consoles, with Vegas Dream being one of the forerunners.

Blockchain play-to-earn games – also known as Pay-to-Fast – work similarly. Still, although you can enjoy Freemium gaming for free and make some small amounts of cash, you will likely have to pay money to unlock special features, get an edge to progress well and make a reasonable profit.

It’s not only cash that you can win, either. Blockchain games give rise to the potential of winning NFTs, some of which may be highly valuable. Many examples of play-to-earn games with high ratings offer good opportunities for winning NFTs and profiting from the increase in value of any non-fungible token you might acquire.

You may ultimately build up a stash of Ethereum, Bitcoin, or other coins in a crypto wallet by playing Blockchain or play-to-earn games. However, you will likely have to make some form of investment of your cash to make the most of any opportunities.

It’s worth noting that there is some crossover between these two primary forms of gaming – you can play many of the real money games you’ll find on free cash apps at genuine real money gambling sites and their associated apps. So, whether the games that take your interest are free-to-play or entail risking money, they’ll fall into one of the six high-level cash game categories.

Before we look at those categories, let’s see a list of the most popular mobile game apps that pay real cash. These apps are widely used by gamers worldwide since they’re an effective way of earning money or making extra cash at little or no cost.

What are the best games to play for real money?

If you’re trying to find the best games for winning real money, you’ll need to consider this search from different perspectives. It depends on whether you’re searching for the most accessible game, the fastest, the most entertaining, or the most likely to give you the best chances of winning.

You’ll also need to consider whether you want to risk losing money, or if you prefer playing for free using one of the free-play mobile apps.

The best one for you will be the one in the five key categories that meet the criteria for what you want to get out of it.

• If you want to chance to luck and play a game for fast returns, opening casino games, instant win scratchcards, or a lotteries account could be the right choice. Choosing one from a list of reliable online casinos and opening a gambling account would be the best, especially if it comes with welcome bonuses.
• If you’re an avid video gamer, it’s more likely that using skill or getting involved in competitions like cash contest video game tournaments will be high up on your ‘best’ list. Perhaps even one of the newer play-to-earn games.
• If you want to play with absolutely no risk of losing your cash, the best for you will be those that cost nothing to play.

In addition, several other factors will influence your choice of the best options for you specifically:

• Where you are in the world (i.e., what options are legitimately or legally open to you).
• What your budget is, how much you could safely afford to lose, and your level of aversion to risk.
• Whether you want fancy graphics in your gaming or are content with simple game software.
• Whether you want something new to play or are happy with tried and trusted favourites.

After considering all these factors, you’ll find that the best overall involve any form of playing or betting on games in which you need to use skills. This category of money skill games will offer the best combination of factors – chance of winning, highest entertainment value, and lowest outlay/risk.

What are the best free game apps that pay real money?

Many phone apps work with play money based on some coin or coins, but some can be turned into cold, hard cash or gift cards instantly or after you’ve built up a solid positive account balance. Indeed, playing on cash prize apps is one of the most promising ways to win money online instantly.

There will be a real money app for every player, and millions of players have already won thousands of dollars, pounds, or Euros over time. And any player can collect their winnings by requesting payouts to easily accessible payment processing solutions like Paypal, Gcash, and Paytm.

Are these really the best games that pay real money?

I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily the best overall since there are many other ways to earn some side income playing games. Indeed, I believe the games you can play in live casinos online on websites or real money gambling apps give the best combination of fun, entertainment, and prospects of winning. But for mobile phone players, these fun-based apps are hugely popular, indicating that many players looking to get paid to play games rate them highly. And that certainly puts them on the list of the best game apps to win cash prizes.

You certainly won’t be winning vast sums of money, and the best way to think of these types of apps is as a bit of fun with some potential for winning extra cash. They are normally safe to play, though, with each of the major app stores having safeguards in place to protect users from scams or rogue game operators. Google Play is one app store with a pretty robust published policy around real-money gambling apps, ads related to real-money gambling, loyalty programs with gamified outcomes, and daily fantasy sports apps.

Suppose you enjoy gaming on your smartphone or tablet. In that case, the following list contains some of the best game apps we’ve found based on their entertainment value, availability across operating systems, and game genre. Players give high ratings and plenty of stars to these apps.

These are all legit games that pay real money, although some you can play just for fun if you want. Note there are no Daily Fantasy Sports apps in our list since these are covered on a dedicated fantasy games page.

Our list of the best cash prize game apps includes:

1. Blackout Bingo
2. Lucky Block
3. Swagbucks
4. Axie Infinity
5. Long Game
6. Gamehag
7. Wealth Words
8. Givling
9. Klondike Solitaire
10. 8-Ball Pool
11. 21 Blitz
12. Lucky Day
13. Spin Royale
14. Gamee
15. WSOP Real Money Poker

Note the list above is not fully exhaustive, and if any of these games don’t take your interest, you could also try:

• Pulsz: Fun slots and casino – a high-quality social casino experience with over 300 social casino games, including slots, poker and roulette.
• Inboxdollars – free rewards app with a lengthy history in the online gaming industry.
• Mistplay – discover new games and get rewarded while playing.
• Lucktastic – a fun and free way to win real cash and prizes and earn rewards.
• Dominoes Gold – play the classic board game dominos for real-world prizes.
• Bananatic – play and test free online games. Write game reviews. Complete in-game quests to win virtual currency.
• Match to win – 100% free money-making app where you can play for cash and win real rewards.
• Royal Slots – play the thrilling Royal casino slot machines with a 20M slots welcome bonus for free.
• Solitaire Cash – a free app that lets you compete with other players at the same skill level for the opportunity to earn cash prizes.
• Solitaire Cube – compete in large cash tournaments and head-to-head competitions with valuable prizes.
• Big Time Cash – popular app where you can make real money playing video games.

Blackout Bingo

     Blackout Bingo offers a straightforward collection of online bingo games where winners are rewarded with real cash prizes. This app is widely regarded as a top pick for many gaming fans.

Players will find the main plus point of this game to be its speed, with each bingo round lasting only two minutes. The gameplay is the same as any classic bingo game, with extra points awarded for marking off your number quickly or getting double bingo. Blackout is a bingo game that you can play and win points, and then redeem any Blackout Bingo points you’ve won for Paypal cash or to pay for merchandise like t-shirts.

Android users can download Blackout Bingo at the Play Store. The game is also downloadable from Apple for use on iOS devices. If you prefer an alternative, then the online gaming platform at Skillz also lists Blackout Bingo in its game library.

It’s worth mentioning an alternative bingo solution here that’s known as Bingo Cash and is a direct competitor to Blackout Bingo. Indeed, you play bingo games at Bingo Cash similarly to Blackout, with the app matching you with opponents of a similar skill level. Player reports suggest that it’s easier to build up some valuable winnings for free, but if it’s multi-player tournaments you’re looking for, then Blackout offers better options.

Lucky Block

  Lucky Block is a new giveaway crypto game promising to make over $2 million in cash up for grabs to players. The money sits in a prize pool with a weekly giveaway to one winner until there’s nothing left in the pool. Joining to play is completely free and money sits in your account as Lucky Block crypto tokens which can fluctuate in exchange value.

Connect your crypto wallet to the game platform, and you’ll receive an automatic free entry into the subsequent weekly draw.  You can buy more entries to increase your prospects of winning.

Swagbucks

   At Swagbucks, gamers will not only be earning extra cash by playing games but by watching adverts, completing surveys, and more. This activity makes them a type of paid real money game. The enormous games library includes bingo, card games, dice games, slots, puzzles, and adventure quests.

You can level up as you navigate the game titles on the platform and watch the prize payouts increase in size as you improve your performance.

Prizes can be redeemed as cash or in the form of gift cards with gift cards in particular subject to just a single dollar minimum cashout.

The best way to get involved is to visit the Swagbucks online website.

Axie Infinity

   Axie Infinity is another game that’s seen an astronomical rise in interest in tandem with the growth of cryptocurrencies. It’s well known for providing some players worldwide with a way to supplement their household income by making real cash while playing. Playing can present some risks since you effectively need to spend money to have a chance of winning. It’s not gambling, as such, but falls more into the area of skill-gaming, and the best way to consider it is as a form of investment with gaming thrown in.

Axie Infinity works on the Ethereum blockchain, meaning you’ll need ETH coins to play and earn cash in ETH, which you could later exchange for fiat cash. You could classify Axie as one of the new breeds of Play-to-Earn games, and it essentially merges standard gameplay with the world of finance to ultimately give players a positive return for solid in-game performance.

Long Game

     LongGame offers an interesting way to save while enjoying gaming. It’s one of the free ways to play. This cash rewards type app promises to “reward you for every day saving with chances to play games and win real cash prizes through your bank account.”  It’s a way to save money and earn it at the same time, with key features including Custom Saving Jars. Read more about the Long Game rewards at Google Play.

Go here to play free Long Game.

Gamehag

     Gamehag is a rewards platform where gamers can earn prizes and gift cards for playing various high-ranked video games. You can play on a desktop PC or your Android or IOS smartphone.

It’s a great way to play free online games and get financial returns. The essential item to know is the Soul Gems. These are the currency you’ll be accumulating that, ultimately, you’ll cash in for the payouts. Gamehag explains the concept of Soul Gems in depth on their shop webpage.

Wealth Words

     One of the better-known game apps and having a global reach, Wealth Words attracts a significant number of good reviews at online review sites like Trustpilot.

Get the app or go to the website and sign up with Wealth Words, and you’ll be making real money playing games including crossword and other puzzles, poetry and story games.  You’ll find an extensive library of over 500 options.

• Visit the Wealth Words website
• Wealth Words on the Apple Store
• Read Wealth Words reviews

Givling App

     Givling is a bit of an anomaly in our list because it’s centred on one specific group – students. If you’re a student, it might give you the chance to pay off your student loan.

On the Givling app, you’ll be participating in a free or paid general knowledge trivia contest that could have up to 300,000 players and a trivia contest that could have up to 300,000 players that also has a crowdfunding element. Anyone playing can win a weekly cash prize by correctly answering a series of true or false questions.  The three top players win a share of the jackpot.

Players can play free twice daily, with each game lasting a few minutes. You can see that there’s a pretty low chance of landing a share of the jackpot. Still, app users who participate in the free game at least ten times every 30 days are included in random draws with up to $10k awarded to winners in crowdfunding for repaying a student loan.

Givling covers pretty much everything you need to know about how the platform and prize structure works on their FAQ page.

Klondike Solitaire

Solitaire is highly regarded as a mentally stimulating game and is most often played free and without chances to win cash. But there are real money versions of solitaire, too. This card game classic comes in several different forms that you can play on Android or an iOS device. Aside from blackjack and some other widely played casino card games, solitaire perhaps comes in more variants than you would expect, with the Klondike software varieties performing exceptionally well.

This choice of cash prize solitaire makes it hard to pick out any one in particular. If you fancy a game with the chance of winning a cash prize from your effort, check out this page at Joywallet, or you can also play real money solitaire at Skillz.com.

8-Ball Pool

     If playing pool against friends at the pool hall is out of reach right now, there’s a way you can still play without leaving home. 8-Ball Pool is the app that delivers the solution, allowing you to play against other players and friends in 1-on-1 challenge matches or multiplayer tournaments.

Win the games, and you’ll be levelling up and winning Pool Coins for your successes. The games have many extra features, such as customising cues and table cloths. 8-Ball Pool is free and accessible on iPhone, iPad, iTouch, & Android devices.

• Join the 8-Ball Pool tables on Android
• Play the 8-balls on the Apple App  
• Play the original 8-Ball Pool at Miniclip

21 Blitz

We covered a solitaire game a couple of minutes ago, and now we have a blackjack game. But not just any old blackjack game; this one has elements of solitaire included in the gameplay. 21 Blitz is wildly popular and can be found on many sites and apps online.

This card game is a fast-paced combination of Blackjack and Solitaire, where you’re pitched against competing players for a chance to win cash. Like many games, you can play for free and improve your skills to a point when you’re ready to fund a playing account and challenge an opponent with a stake on the line. The game itself is simple. You have to make 21s or stacks of 5 cards to score points. Bonuses are awarded for doing well in the rounds.

You can get the full rundown on exactly how the game works by downloading the 21 Blitz app from the Apple Store, or Android users can visit the Play Store.

The app is also available on the Skillz mobile gaming platform.

Lucky Day

     Last, we come to one of the leading sweepstake apps – Lucky Day. This app follows a familiar format where players play free games that include daily scratch-offs and raffles, with any winnings building up as virtual coins or tokens in your account to eventually be cashed out via a Paypal transfer of a gift card.

Given this app has had something like 10 million installs, you won’t be surprised to find there have already been plenty of winners. Indeed, the internet is awash with Luck Day reviews which seem to confirm it’s legit, and you can end up with extra cash. Some players won’t like the constant stream of ads, but the makers need to earn their money somehow!

It’s worth noting that it’s not just gaming on offer; there are additional ways to build up your token bank by completing surveys, accepting special offers, watching videos, and inviting friends that become subsequent members.

Visit the Lucky Day professional-looking website for complete details or download the Luck Day app from the Apple Store.

Spin Royale : Play the slots app to win real money

Spin Royale is one of the leading sweepstakes rewards apps that offers Android and iOS players the chance to win cash with slots spins for free in competitions every single day. There’s nothing to pay to complete the download of the Spin Royale app from the Google Play store or the Apple store. Just press the spin button, match three of the displayed symbols, and take your opportunity to win cash or tokens.

This popular cash app is owned and operated by Viker Ltd, a UK-based games development company. Viker has built Spin Royale so you can cash out using various banking options, including PayPal, Visa, gift cards, and in-game currencies.  The app makes money by displaying video ads to players.

You won’t be earning lots of money, and some of the ads can be misleading, but it’s a simple enough way of maybe earning a small amount in dollars without very much effort.

Gamee

Gamee is another highly-rated app offering ways to play games based on luck, compete in tournaments, or even just log in consistently over a period of days to collect tickets and win one of Gamee’s real money prizes. The Gamee site states there is up to $10,000 available in instant prizes to win every week and all you have to do is spin the Fortune Wheel, play the Lucky Games, or take part in the Daily Gamee Lotto.

Get the Gamee app here at Google Play or download from the Apple Store.

WSOP Real Money Poker

Online poker players are spoilt for choice in their gaming and there are many poker sites like Pokerstars or 888Poker that offer cash games and tournaments. One of the most prestigious, though, is the WSOP poker site where players can also download apps and play. WSOP stands for World Series of Poker and is responsible for some major global tournaments.

You can read much more about the WSOP organisation here and download the app for Android or iPhone on this page.

List of 21 types of real money games

We’ve seen the five gaming categories, so it’s time to look at the specific game types.

As promised, we have a comprehensive collection of 21 that will help you determine what’s best for you. Find the right one, and you might be on the way to a payout of real money and maybe a pocket full of coins.

What are the risks in playing games for real money?

Most ways of trying to win money playing games involve risking money you already have. You might sometimes win, but the odds of winning consistently are not great. The exception is in skill-based gaming,, where you can turn the odds in your favor by using your ability to get an edge.

So gambling involves risks. The risk of losing cash you can’t afford to lose, the risk of becoming addicted, and the risk of both of those having adverse effects on you, your friends, and your family members. Those are part of the price you may have to pay if you can’t control your gambling activities.

Read the responsible gambling page and apply what you read before you make any attempt to deposit money and play – it’ll help any players to understand what’s at stake when problem gambling is involved, the signs to watch out for and how to avoid issues, and where to get help if you do get into any problems.

Another risk to note is that of security and safety. Fortunately, most licensed gaming operators take these subjects very seriously, ensuring your money is secure and your privacy usually is safeguarded.

Where can you watch real money gaming videos?

If you prefer your information delivered in a more visual fashion, there are a few places to visit where you’ll find long lists of videos related to cash gaming and playing for real money. The best of them include both Youtube and Rumble.

Indeed, there are thousands of videos published that cover every aspect of real money gaming. And many operators publish their own promotional videos that explain how the games work.

Which books have a real money games theme?

Books about real money gaming that will make good reads are limited, although readers will find many written guides on specific games like blackjack, roulette, slots, bingo, and many other gambling-type games. There are a few however about the overall subjects of gaming and money that are well worth reading:

• The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier.
• The God Game by Gerald Suster.
• Money by Joe Cribb.

Summary

Real money gaming is a vast subject. To conclude, we’ve seen five key ways of playing online game apps to win real money and 21 different cash prize games, plus a couple of extras for luck that also pay to play. That adds up to a substantial number of real money games. If you play or bet, you might be one of the winners of a cash reward, and you’ll undoubtedly have some fun along the way.

Some ways to make real money from playing games are easy, while others are not straightforward. Some offer more accessible winning opportunities than others. There are choices of games based on skill or on chance, which will determine the likely outcomes. Some are free, while others, like those at casino sites, need a deposit and entail a risk of losing that deposit. You can play most games for cash prizes on mobile phone apps or desktop or laptop devices.

They all offer players realistic opportunities to win cash prizes and payouts. Success and winning at online gambling or betting probably means specializing in at least one of them or enjoying plenty of luck.

Whatever path you choose, I wish you luck and hope you’re a winner.

Be especially cautious whenever you’ve made a deposit and risk your own money to win any cash prizes. Try to ensure your online gaming experience is what it’s supposed to be… enjoyable and fun.

Pay serious attention to the risks of addiction. Problem gambling is a widely experienced issue in all forms of real cash gaming or betting, and we don’t want anyone to experience harm in the activity. Remember, you’re paying for entertainment by playing real money games with the bonus of possibly winning something. The reality is that most players lose money.

It would be best if you were careful. Very careful. Make every effort to ensure that you don’t overpay for your gambling entertainment, and it may just be that you’ll enjoy a few wins and get some great moments of fun from playing games for real money.

Author: Steve Cross/realmoneygames

Real Money Games FAQ

While the target of realmoney.games is to cover all forms of cash gaming, it’s a broad subject, and it may not always be possible to cover every aspect, even on the most complete blog.  Our realmoneygames blog carries some valuable info that might fill in some gaps.

If you have questions that have not been answered, feel free to email steve@realmoney.games. I’ll aim to help answer your query.

Alternatively, you can search a recommended directory like Curlie, where many websites will be listed that cover our subject. For now, let’s look at some questions that come up the most frequently: