Casino Site Expert Review: Casino.com Casino

History

Casino.com was operated as a gambling advertising site from 1997. In 2007 this much sought after domain name was acquired by the Mansion gambling brand and was converted to an online casino. Casino.com itself is run by ONISAC Limited, a subsidiary company of Mansion, which is a company founded and registered in Gibraltar.

Casino Website

The casino lobby is designed with a classic black background with some swirling yellow colours just to spice things up a bit. It looks good and, with the casino opening in one compact new window, everything you need is in easy reach. Your account details and online support are in a bar at the top of the window. At the bottom are links to the help section, VIP, contact us, options, and there’s also a handy indicator which tells you if you’re in real money or practice mode. The central part of the page is devoted to the games. There’s a menu on the left with the games divided into ten categories – New Games, Slot Machines, Live Dealer, Table Games, Card Games, Video Pokers, Progressives, Asian Games, Arcade Games, and a handy Favourites category. When you select a category then the games on offer all appear in the centre of the page for easy choosing. All-in-all it’s a very nicely compact casino lobby – you’re not distracted by too many promotional banners or ads, but everything you need is still easily accessible.

Software

The casino uses Playtech software, one of the most well-known and reliable software providers around, with a great and ever expanding range of games. It is offered as both a download and an instant-play Flash version. There are slightly fewer games available for instant play, but you’ll still find all the casino favourites that you’d expect, such as Blackjack, Roulette, Video Poker and many, many slots with a good range of progressive jackpots.

Live Casino

If you like that feel of a real casino then Casino.com has a great range of games for you to enjoy, featuring Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette and Hold’em. There are different tables available with different versions of the games and different betting limits. You can pick the table you want based on this or also, of course, on the basis if which dealer you like best!

Customer Support

The customer services on offer are very good, as you would expect from a reputable and reliable casino operator. There is a live chat facility linked to from nearly every page – you submit a question to a customer service representative and they reply as soon as possible, usually very quickly. They also have multilingual telephone support, with freephone numbers for thirteen different countries including the UK. And if you prefer a written response to your query then you can email them. For general queries about the site and how it works the FAQ section is fairly comprehensive.

Payment Methods

There is focus on payment methods that are safe and enable instant deposits. All the usual methods are available, such as credit and debit cards, Moneybookers/Skrill, Neteller, Ukash, Paysafecard and Bank Transfer. The aim is for instant availability of deposits but some methods, like bank transfers, might take longer depending on if the bank itself has a processing time. Most of the most popular deposit methods can also be used for withdrawals, such as debit/credit cards, Moneybookers and Neteller, usually with a waiting period of 1-2 business days. Other methods, such as wire transfer and bank draft, could take up to a week or longer to process. They do insist on your identity being verified before issuing any withdrawals, but this is easy to do and provides a reassuring extra level of financial security.

Safety and Security

Their privacy policy is clearly stated on the site so you know how your personal information is used, and they have as SSL certificate issued by Norton which guarantees that all communications are encrypted and that the company itself has been verified as a valid business and the owner of the site.

Licence

The casino operates under a license issued in the jurisdiction of Gibraltar, which has one of the strictest and most comprehensive gambling regulatory frameworks in the world. You can be sure of the integrity and reliability of the business!

Reliability & Fairness

Casino.com take this very seriously, as it is one of the key areas that sets a good casino apart from its competitors – you must be able to trust them! The fairness of the games is guaranteed by both by its regulation by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner as well as regular testing by TST (Technical Systems Testing North America), which is a leading testing company who ensure fairness and reliability in payouts and the use of random number generators. The latest report by TST is linked to on the homepage.

Social Engagement

It’s always nice to think you’re dealing with a company that sees its purpose as being slightly more than just trying to make money. Casino.com takes the social aspect of its role quite seriously. It strongly supports responsible gambling, with information on how to gamble safely available on the homepage, and links to responsible gambling organisations like Gamble Aware and Gamcare. Its parent company, Mansion, is well known as the shirt sponsors of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in the UK.

Mobile / Tablets

A new mobile casino has recently been launched. It works on both Apple and Android mobiles and tablets. If you enter your mobile number on the webpage you will be sent a link that will enable you to start playing, or alternatively you can go straight to the casino page on your mobile browser. Currently the games offered are slightly more limited than some other sites, having Roulette, Blackjack and quite a good range of slots. But more are being added regularly so you can expect a continuously expanding collection!

Free Demo Play

Most games have a practice play mode. When you select the game initially you will be offered the choice of ‘Play Now’ which is the real money mode, or ‘Practice’. This is a great facility which isn’t available on every casino site, and enables you to practice and familiarise yourself with new games before risking your cash.

Promotions and bonuses

There is currently a headline welcome bonus of £3200. This is comprised of a 100% first deposit bonus up to £400, followed by another seven reload bonuses of 25% up to £400. The reload bonuses are only available on Tuesdays though, not all games can be played using the bonuses, and the wagering requirement of 40x the bonus is quite high. So it sounds good but the conditions attached are not as good as at other casinos. There are other bonuses available too, such as a mid-month reload bonus worth up to £500, a refer-a-friend bonus of £50, and some bonuses specific to certain games, such as the chance to win the hire of an Aston Martin car or even some spy training by playing the Bond Experience.

Loyalty Scheme

Like most casinos Casino.com has a loyalty scheme. You continuously earn loyalty points every time you bet. These can be converted into cash, and they also move you up the VIP levels which open up even more bonuses and quicker accumulation of loyalty points. The loyalty points are earned at different rates on different games though, with a £15 bet on slots giving you one point, but that same point needing a £200 bet on craps, so you may not accumulate them as fast as you would like.

VIP Scheme

There is a five level VIP scheme, from Bronze to VIP Elite, with this final elite level by invitation only. Other levels are achieved by accumulating loyalty points with, for example, it needing 500 points to move from Bronze to Silver. There are many benefits attached to becoming a VIP, including more and better promotions, faster accumulation of loyalty points, exclusive VIP tournaments, invitations to real world sporting events, and even the services of a personal account manager.

Pros

• Great customer service – ready to answer any queries quickly
• Simple, classy looking casino lobby – a pleasure to use
• Superior range of live dealer games

Cons

• Quite stringent conditions attached to some bonuses
• Limited games on mobile casino (though more promised!)
• No info available on the live dealers

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