The fact that Golden Nugget Online Casino is packed with over 600 great games (633 as of this writing) is certainly one of the reasons for its tremendous popularity. But it isn’t the only one. Whatever level of player you are, everyone’s a winner at Golden Nugget.

Golden Nugget is the only NJ gambling website that offers weekly, monthly, and year-end races where you go for the gold by competing against other players. The object is to try to rack up as many Golden Points as possible by making deposits and playing your favorite NJ online casino games. All registered players are eligible to compete. Those who play often enough and big enough will each win a prize.

How far can you climb up the Golden Nugget leaderboard this month? You won’t know until you try. But don’t put it off because right now the September race is on!

2019 Million Dollar Race

It’s great that all year long Golden Nugget Online Casino players can compete for bonus money prizes in weekly and monthly races. But ultimately, all of you who are entertaining the idea of winning a supersize prize should set your sights on the 2019 Million Dollar Race Grand Finale, as that’s where the big money is at.

The top 50 players on the leaderboard for the entire year will share a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000!

In many prize drawings, the bottom rung prizes are so tiny, players see them as a waste of time, but not this time. Players who finish in 21^st through 50^th place will receive $1,200 in bonus money. And, of course, from that point on up, the prizes keep getting even more spectacular.

It will take a lot of play to snag the third place, second place, or Grand Prize. But take a look at what Golden Nugget will be giving the three top winners.

• Third place: A year of Fine Dining or $12,000 in bonus money!
• Second place: A Vegas Dream Vacation for the winner and 10 friends or $18,000 in bonus money!
• Grand Prize: A year-long lease on a Rolls Royce or $36,000 in bonus money!

Third place, second place, and Grand Prize winners who choose to take bonus dollars in lieu of the other prize will receive the money in monthly installments. Otherwise, all bonus money prizes will be given out in one lump sum.

All year-end bonus money prizes come with the same wagering requirements and other terms and conditions as the bonuses awarded in the weekly and monthly races.

Everyone’s a Winner at Golden Nugget Online Casino in September

Win your share of a $75K prize pool

Every month of the year, Golden Nugget holds a new race with a guaranteed prize pool of at least $50,000. However, during some mystery months, Golden Nugget increases the prize pool to $75K or $100K. September just happens to be one of those mystery months. On day 1 (Sept. 1) Golden Nugget loaded the prize pool with $75,000 instead of the usual $50,000, and that’s just for starters. By the end of the month, the size of the prize pool could amount to a lot more.

Whatever leaderboard points you earn will be doubled

Your September play also counts extra, so those of you with a shot at winning one of the year-end prizes should take note. Just like in August, all leaderboard points that you earn from your play in September will be doubled. Players earn double points again in October and November, and triple points in December as the 2019 Million Dollar Race gets closer and closer to the finish line.

Top prizes for the top 15 players plus additional prizes for everyone

The September race is special in yet another way. Golden Nugget Online Casino holds a new race every month, but it’s been a while since the promotion included the Everyone’s a Winner feature. Now, for September, 2019, it’s back and here’s how it works.

After each day of the monthlong promotion period when one or more players win $15,000 or more, $200 will be added to the pot. But after each day when no one wins $15,000 or more, $1,000 will be added to the pot.

At the end of the month, the entire pot will be divvied up. First, the top 15 players on the leaderboard will each receive a designated fixed prize based on their respective rankings. Then the remainder of the prize pool will be distributed among all eligible participating players. All prizes will be in the form of bonus money credited to players’ accounts.

How to participate in the September race at Golden Nugget Online Casino

All of the monthly races start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. But if you haven’t opted in yet for September, you can still do so. Just keep in mind that you will be competing against other players who have been earning Golden Points from the beginning of the month, so you will need to step up the pace if you hope to catch them. But the good news is that in this race, everyone’s a winner. So even if you don’t finish in the top 15, you’re still in the money.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

• Log into your GoldenNuggetCasino.com account.
• Go to Available Bonuses and opt into this month’s race.
• Make a single deposit of at least $20.
• Earn at least 50 Golden Points playing your favorite Golden Nugget online casino games

 Distribution of prizes

As mentioned, all prizes will be in the form of bonus money. The following table shows what each of the top 15 players will win as their initial prize. They will also receive a secondary prize, as will everybody else. However, the amount will depend on how much more gets added to the $75,000 starting prize pool, so it won’t be known until the end of the month.

Rank              Prize

1                      $10,000

2                      $  7,500

3                      $  5,000

4                      $  4,000

5                      $  3,500

6                      $  2,500

7                      $  2,000

8                      $  1,500

9                     $   1,250

10                   $   1,000

11                    $     750

12                    $     600

13                    $     500

14                    $     350

15                    $     250

After the above amounts are subtracted from the prize pool, the remainder will be divvied up among all eligible participating players.

Bonus money wagering requirements

All bonuses will be awarded by 5 p.m. Wed., Sept. 2. Players will then have up to seven days to meet the stipulated wagering requirements. The bonus can be used either for casino play or sports wagering, whichever the player prefers.

Casino play

•  Most slots: 1x bonus
• Video poker, roulette, blackjack, and other table games: 4x bonus
• Excluded slots*: 5x bonus

*Out of the 585 slot games that Golden Nugget Online Casino currently offers, the overwhelming majority of them count 100 percent towards clearing the bonus. So all you have to do to clear the bonus is wager it once.

However, the remaining 21 slots only count 20 percent towards clearing the bonus. So the amount you have to wager if you choose any of these “excluded” slots jumps to 5x the bonus. See the casino website for the list of these 21 slots. We recommend that you hold off playing them until you don’t have a bonus to clear.

Sports bets

 The wagering requirement for clearing the bonus with sports bets is 1x the bonus.

Additional terms and conditions

Before you start your wagers to clear the bonus, you will need to decide which one of the two types of bonuses you want: the casino bonus or the sports bonus. You cannot combine the two or switch to the other once you have made your selection.

Golden Nugget is giving you up to seven days to clear the bonus from the time you receive it. Prior to completing this wagering, both the bonus money itself and any additional winnings resulting from it will remain temporarily unavailable for withdrawal. However, you still have access to other money in your cashable wallet that is not related to the bonus.

Canceling the bonus, attempting to withdraw unavailable funds prematurely, or failure to clear the bonus within the allotted seven days period will result in forfeiture of both the bonus and any additional associated winnings.

Golden Nugget Weekly Missions

The monthly race isn’t the only one that is currently ongoing for Golden Nugget Online Casino players. Every week you can compete in a new Weekly Mission, too!

What the Weekly Missions entail

As with the monthly races, the weekly races are also competitions to try to rack up as many Golden Points as possible. Keep in mind that the weekly races take place every week of the year, so there are a total of 52. Each weekly race starts on Monday and ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

However, an important difference from the monthly races is that the weekly prizes are not guaranteed. Golden Nugget will only award them when the total number of Golden Points earned by all of the participants combined amounts to at least the designated Community total. Whenever that number falls short, the prize pool for that week is rolled over to the following week.

For those weeks when there is no rollover, the top 400 players will share a $3,000 prize pool. With a rollover, the amount by which the prize pool is increased will depend on the number of consecutive weeks in which the weekly prize pool was not awarded.

How to participate in the Golden Nugget Weekly Missions

You don’t necessarily have to play every day, but it’s best to start at the beginning of the week (Monday). If you wait until midweek or later to start playing, other players will have probably already registered an insurmountable lead. Also, before you start your play on any given day, don’t forget to opt into the promotion so you will get full credit for all of your play.

You must earn a minimum of 50 Golden Points over the course of the week to be eligible for a possible prize. Players can earn a maximum of 100 points per day and 700 per week.

Awarding of prizes

On the Tuesday after each week in which the number of Golden Points earned by all participating players combined equals or exceeds the indicated Community total, prizes will be awarded to the top 400 players. A random drawing will determine how these prizes will be distributed. For all prize pools consisting of the standard $3,000, individual prizes range from $2 free play to $500 free play. Prize amounts will increase whenever the prize pool is larger due to a rollover.

Additional wagering requirements

All players who are entitled to a prize will receive it by 5 p.m. on the same day as the drawing. See the above section pertaining to the wagering requirements and terms and conditions for bonuses won in the monthly race. They apply to all bonuses awarded in the Weekly Missions as well.

Are the weekly challenges, monthly races, and year-end Million Dollar Race for you?

Golden Nugget is well known for its love of grand scale promotions, and these races are a perfect example. Everything about them screams “bigger is better.” But, of course, since both your odds of winning a prize and the size of the prize are predicated on how many Golden Points you earn, the only way to win big is to bet big.

In other words, these promotions are not for everyone. If you’re new to Golden Nugget Online Casino or if this is the first time you’re thinking about entering these races, first make sure that you can afford the level of play required for a realistic shot at winning. Don’t be misled by the meager $20 deposit requirement for the monthly races or 50 Golden Points minimum for either the monthly races or Weekly Missions. If all you play is the minimum, you will be wasting your time, as you will have zero chance of ranking on the leaderboard.

Before you start, check how many points the leaders have. If you think you can earn anywhere near that many, go ahead and enter. If not, follow the races from the sidelines (the leaderboards are updated daily) and take advantage of other special promotions at Golden Nugget like 50 percent and 100 percent deposit match bonuses and double Golden Points on the Game of the Week.

On the other hand, the September monthly race is special because you don’t have to rank among the top players on the leaderboard to win a prize. So this is the rare time when I would make an exception and recommend this promotion enthusiastically and unequivocally for all Golden Nugget players, including those who only bet small amounts. Why? Because everyone’s a winner!