The state of UK online casinos

[Bally6354]

I thought I would give a brief overview of the state of UK online casinos for anybody that maybe new to the game and considering playing at some of these.

My main advice would be Don't waste your time

Why? There is a big change in the way these operations run now due to the new (and not so new) responsible gambling laws that they are obliged to operate under.

By law now, these operations are supposed to take steps to ensure that a customer is gambling responsibly and within their means. What this involves is some quite intrusive steps into your personal affairs like asking for bank statements and asking where you are getting your funds from for your gambling activity.

What they tend to do is to wait until you try and make a withdrawal and this could be for as little as a few hundred and then you will get bombarded by them wanting all this extra information which is beyond identifying you through some photo ID and a utility bill.

If you refuse to provide them with this information, they can either suspend or close down your account and a lot of them are witholding the players winnings.

You only have to go on Trustpilot and read some of the reviews from what one might consider even reputable brands such as 'grosvenor' and 'genting' and you will read some horror stories. In fact, I don't even think the UK version of Genting online is even owned by Genting anymore and whoever runs them is just using their name.

It irks me because it seems like the casinos are using the new rules in different ways to their advantage and to the detriment of customers who shouldn't have to jump through so many hoops just to get their winnings.
The customer services have now become very slow and players are having to wait up to a week just to get responses when replying to the casino's questions or demands for information.

So are there any alternatives? Well again, you need to be very careful because a lot of people have turned their attention to what's called Crypto Casino's. They sound great because they are not regulated by the UK gambling Commission and so don't need to adhere to the stricter responsible gambling regulations. The problem is these Casino's are owned by some very shady individuals and there are loads of reports of players not getting paid out winnings and the Casino just outright closing their accounts stating they have broken terms and conditions or something equally as silly.

So in conclusion, the state of the Online Casino industry in the UK at the moment is a bit of a minefield and my advice would be to steer well clear from it until the situation improves.

cheers

[Smith]

Hi Bally,

I live in the UK and play online, mainly at the Hippodrome which as you probably know is a real B&M casino in London. Playing at the actual tables with "real" punters makes me feel more secure that I'm not being ripped off, which wouldn't be the case if I was playing against an RNG or even a live non-B&M casino. So far I haven't had any issues.

I've also played at Grosvenor (also online) again without issues, although I registered there some time ago before the changes, but they haven't asked me for any additional documents as yet. As you mention, the trustpilot reviews are largely negative (61% one star!) but I take these with a pinch of salt because I think you're more likely to post a bad review if you lose than if you win, and most players lose.

What do you think of casino review sites like Casinomeister or The Pogg? I'm wary of them because I'm pretty sure they're affiliated with casinos and at least sometimes make recommendations which aren't genuine. It's often really hard to know what info to trust online.

[Bally6354]

Hello Smith,

 Yes, you make some good points. I agree that a lot of the negative remarks on TrustPilot are likely from disgruntled losing players but a common issue in a lot of the complaints is also lack of response from the casino and going around in circles providing ID, bank statements, proof of income etc..

If my post sounded harsh or melodramatic, it's only because I wouldn't want players to go to the trouble of building up a decent amount of winnings and then have to jump through hoops to get the money out when you can just go to your local B+M and get paid out straight away but I realise not everyone has a B+M close by.

Regarding CasinoMeister, askgamblers etc...  They get invited to a lot of the expos and meet up with software providers and online casino owners and so it wouldn't surprise me if a few kickbacks are floating around.

Good luck at the Hippodrome (either online or B+M) I have visited down there several times and that's probably the coolest casino I have been to in the UK.

cheers