888Casino Review
You've seen it on TV, read about it in newspapers, magazines and online. 888 Casino is a major attraction for gamers and you should read this review to learn more about it if you're considering becoming a customer.
Table of Contents
There are dozens of highly rated online casinos to choose from, like the one you'll find in my review of Casino Luck and they all have their own special attractions, advantages and even some disadvantages. We don't live in a perfect world, at least not yet.
So in order to get the best you can get, you need to look around and learn which casino is offering you, the player, the best deal and best gaming environment for you as an individual.
One of those top rated casinos I used to strongly advise you to take a close look at was 888.
Not any more.
Following reports of a catalog of reputation damaging incidents including poor customer relations, very slow payouts and general disatisfaction of a number of players, I have taken the decision to no longer promote this casino or its sister sites (William Hill and Mr Green).
I will leave this old review up for anyone wanting to read through how this used to be a well respected place to play, but there are no links or advertisements to the casino.
This review takes you through the most important aspects of this spectacular casino and lays it out before you so that you can make your decision to sign up based on the facts and not on a lot of fancy sales patter.
Benefits of Being an 888 Casino Customer
I'm sure you're really keen to find out what sets 888Casino apart from the others and what the benefits to you will be by choosing to become their customer. Here is a summary of those benefits that I believe can be the deal breaker that cements your final decision that 888 is the best casino for you to join and play at:
- More chances of winning! Sure you play for enjoyment but you also play to win, right? At 888, you get more chances to do exactly that because there are more games than ever that provide you with so many different ways to win.
- Better games! You don't want to play yesterday's games. You want the latest, greatest most cutting edge mega games that will blow your mind, right? Right! That's what you get at 888!
- Better jackpots! You get access to some of the biggest payout games in the business with multi-millions just waiting for you to play for!
- Bonuses you can really use! All online casinos offer a sign up bonus of some kind and some of them look pretty amazing. But you have to jump through hoops of fire to claim what you win when you use the bonus money which is not so great. At 888, the process is much more streamlined and simple to work with, meaning you get to play with their money, win and keep what you win!
- No risk! Here is a brand you can trust because 888Casino has been in the online casino business since 1997. It has a long track record of fair play and honesty that the rest simply can't match. When you sign up as a customer here, you'll enjoy the nice feeling of security and knowing that your money is safe and you can get at it whenever you want without any hassle.
888 Casino Games
Casinos are places where you get to play great games with the added attraction that you can bet on them using your skill and knowhow and stand a chance of winning some serious cash. The online versions of those huge sprawling Vegas casinos bring you a mind boggling array of widely different games that give you so much more choice than even the biggest brick and mortar casino could ever hope to do.
Here's where 888 Casino really comes into its own with a huge collection of over 200 games powered by their own software. That means you won't find these particular games in this format at other online casino!
You'll certainly have fun browsing through and will almost certainly have exactly what you want to play. To give you some idea of what's in store when you decide to start playing there, I'll give you a few spoilers:
Slots
One of the most popular of all casino games, slots encompass an extremely wide genre of games. From the traditional three reel one-arm bandits to the mega function five reel, multiple win line behemoths that come with multi-million pound jackpots and everything else in-between, there is something for everyone in a fruit machine game!
Just so that you can have an idea of what's available at this amazing casino, here are mini-reviews of two of their most popular slots games:
Millionaire Genie
For those who love exciting, interactive slots games with big payouts that you won't find in other casinos, Millionaire Genie is for you! Here is a 15 pay line video slot game that comes with a special Sticky Wild feature plus a very cool bonus game.
The Sticky Wild comes into play during free spins, where the Genie seemingly magically adds wild symbols onto the reels that will boost your winning chances when they come up. These wilds will remain on the reels for the duration of the free spins session and to keep thing interesting, the Genie changes their position every so often.
You get the free spins by landing three scatter symbols on the reels in any position, which summons the genie to do his thing. The more scatter symbols you get, the more free spins are granted.
The bonus game comes into play randomly where you are granted two wishes. The wishes are actually bonus cash that you collect via a multiplier round, the best part being that whatever it says you win is what you win, guaranteed!
Nightmare on Elm Street
Another favourite video slots game at 888 that you won't find anywhere else is the Nightmare on Elm Street game. It features graphics and images from the popular movie series starring Robert Englund as the demented killer Freddy Krueger and is a 30 pay line slots with some thrillingly cool features.
The Expanding Wild feature swings into action when the wild symbol appears on reel 3. The symbol slowly and chillingly expands to cover all the positions on that reel. All the wins covered by the Expanding Wild on the paylines are doubled and the Wild only expands if there is a winning combination on the reels.
The scatter symbols trigger free spins when three or more turn up on the reels. Three scatters will give you 10 free spins, four gives you 20 free spins and five gives you 30 free spins. Not to be sniffed at, right?
There is a Pick Me game that gets activated whenever a wild symbol appears on reels 1 and 5 at the same time. Two "Pick Me" symbols show up on the reels and the player needs to click one of them which reveals a cool prize. One of those prizes might include another chance to play Pick Me! All prizes are added automatically to the pay line wins.
The Never Sleep Again bonus game is something to watch out for because it's really cool and is triggered by getting three Bonus symbols up. The game has four levels where a player needs to choose an item that will help them stay awake to stop Freddy Krueger chasing you in your dreams!
Each of the items has a certain value and the bonus prize amount is derived from each of those values. Whatever you win in the bonus game is added to your bankroll.
There are no less than two separate Progressive Jackpots in this game, named appropriately the Freddy Krueger Jackpot and the Nightmare on Elm Street Jackpot. These jackpot prizes are actually awarded randomly, so there is no symbol combination you need to get up to win.
That means you can be playing and not see anything obvious on your win lines, yet you can suddenly be millions of pounds richer! The probability of winning one of the jackpots will depend on the size of your bet as well as the number of pay lines you select, but every player has a chance of winning a truly major prize when they play this game. No wonder it's so popular!
Blackjack
One of the most popular Vegas table games, blackjack enables players to use their skill and know-how to influence the outcome of each game.
Roulette
The excitement and compelling attraction of the roulette table is no less tempting at an online casino as it is at a live, brick and mortar casino. At 888 you get the best games any software can create.
Live Dealer Games
If playing against a machine is not your bag, you can choose to play live dealer games where a real person deals your cards, spins the roulette wheel and takes your bets. The nearest thing to a live casino on your computer screen, streaming video of pretty female dealers running the games is a spectacular leap forward in gaming experience.
Bingo
If you like to play online bingo, you won't find it any longer on the 888.com site. I have put together a snumber of bingo review sites that you might prefer to visit instaed HERE
Being able to access and play the best games is obviously the major reason why anyone signs up to an online bingo room in the first place. All the bonuses, free bets and promotions are just gravy, when you really sit down and think about it. But if you're going to have gravy, it might as well be the best!
888Casino Bonuses and Promotions
For the everyday, guy-on-the-street gamer, all the flashy bonuses and promos are all very nice. But they have a tendency to confuse someone who is only really interested in firing up their favourite slots game, feeding it virtual coins and playing it for enjoyment with the chance of winning some nice cash prizes.
This becomes more of an issue when you look at the very tempting offer of betting with the casino's money and being able to keep what you win. Many players are a little intimidated by these flashy offers and wary of what the catch is, so they don't take them and prefer to just play their own money, win or lose.
More seasoned players will of course know better and see a deposit match bonus as free money they can use and virtually extend their bankrolls. The limitations and rules governing how any winnings gained from betting with bonus money don't really bother them so much because they see it as a long term venture and are quite happy to work with those rules and get their money when they have satisfied them.
888Casino's bonus to new players is no less tempting, exciting and intimidating at the same time than bonuses at other online casinos. You can take advantage of the 100% deposit mach bonus up to £200 if you're willing to accept the cashout rules, so it will help if the rules are explained in everyday language to demystify and help to make them more accessible.
Welcome Bonus Rules
The rule for cashing out after winning when playing with bonus money is actually pretty simple at 888 Casino. You need to play through 30x the bonus amount before you can withdraw your winnings.
That means if you deposited £200 and took the 100% match bonus of a further £200, you would need to wager 30x that amount (£6,000) before you could cash out.
For experienced players, this is generally not a problem as they will bet from their bankroll and re-bet winnings and soon accumulate £6,000 in bets. That doesn't mean it has cost them £6,000 of their own money to be eligible to cash out. It just means the total value of the bets they have made must equal £6,000.
Let's take a hypothetical example to explain how it works:
Say you deposit £200, take the £200 bonus and start playing. You are effectively playing with a £400 bankroll.
Say you play slots and keep betting the same coin amount of £10 per play. You play 40 spins that cost £400, but during that time you win some and lose some so at the end of play, you are left with £300 in your bankroll.
Spend after 40 spins = £400
Bankroll after 40 spins = £300
So you resume playing sometime later and play 30 spins at £10 a spin as before. Again you win some and lose some, but did better this time and finished £100 up. You are left with £400 in your bankroll.
Spend after 70 spins = £700
Bankroll after 70 spins = £400
See how this is working? Let's continue. You play another 40 spins at £10 a spin as before. Again you finish up on the day and now have £500 in your bankroll.
Spend after 110 spins = £1100
Bankroll after 110 spins = £500
You keep playing, this time 50 spins at £10 a spin. For the sake of brevity, lets assume you have a big win and finish up with £5,000 in your bankroll.
Spend after 160 spins = £1,600
Bankroll after 160 spins = £5,000
Your next round you go big and increase your bets to £100 a spin. You play 50 spins which costs your entire £5,000 but you end up down on the day. You're left with £3,000 in your bankroll.
Spend after 210 spins = £6,600
Bankroll after 210 spins = £3,000
You want to cash out and buy yourself something nice. You check your account and see that you have wagered more than the necessary £6,000 and so you can happily cash out your £3,000 winnings and go enjoy yourself!
And that's how it works!
But I understand completely if you don't want to have to deal with all that. You can simply sign up and not accept the bonus, just play with your own money and cash out whenever you want with no limitations.
Deposits and Withdrawals at 888Casino
Like all top online gaming sites, 888Casino is open for business 24/7, which means you have access to your account all the time. Funding your account has been made as simple and hassle free as possible to keep customers as happy as possible. You can add finds to your account via most financial transfer methods.
These include all major credit and debit cards, e-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill etc as well as bank transfers. You can check the full list of deposit options in your account.
All withdrawals have a three day buffer after the request is made before the processing actually starts. This is to give you time to cancel a withdrawal if you suddenly decide you want to keep the money in your account after all and continue playing.
It's just a failsafe to save you taking money out then having to deposit again just to keep playing. Withdrawing is also relatively seamless, although some restrictions apply. I'll list these so you can see at a glance what they are:
Transfers to e-wallets:
You can withdraw cash from your accounts to e-wallets Neteller, Skrill and Paypal and it takes 4-5 working days to complete. Cashing out to your Moneta account takes 4-5 days, while to your Entropay card it takes 5-6 days. To a Webmoney account takes 5-7 days.
Credit and Debit Cards:
Major credit and debit cards can be withdrawn to. They take additional time to process once the initial three days buffer is complete. In the case of Visa credit cards, the total time until the cash lands in your Visa account is up to 8 days (although it is usually less). UK issued Mastercard via BACS takes just 6 days to complete. Maestro debit card withdrawals take up to 10 days.
Direct deposit to bank accounts:
Bank draft or cheque takes 7-10 days for UK withdrawals, 13-18 days for other European countries and up to 24-31 days for the rest of the world. These timings may seem excessive, but will be influenced by the receiving bank and their own deposit process as well as international transfer procedures.
Wire transfers:
Cashing out via wire transfer can take 7-10 working days and funds are sent via Cassava Enterprises or WorldPay AP Limited. This is the slowest method of getting your money out but is open to just about anyone who needs it.
While some transfer methods can be slower and more cumbersome, for players who use e-wallets (and that's the majority of gamers these days), the process is generally quick and efficient.
Comp Points
There is a great loyalty program at 888 whereby for every £10 you bet, you collect one comp point. As your collections of comp points increases, as they will over time, you can exchange them for credits toward free bets or cash.
As an example, 100 comp points can be exchanged for £1.00 worth of free credits. For frequent depositors, there are additional bonuses to be had. For example, every 5th, 10th or 15th deposit of a minimum £50 during a calendar month will entitle a player to bonuses worth £25, £50 and £75 respectively. Please note that these bonuses carry a 40x play through requirement before the proceeds can be withdrawn.
Extras
If winning a hand of blackjack or having a nice jackpot drop in your lap from a slots game, there are some cool extras you can participate in for decent prizes. On most days, there will be a low cost tournament you can get involved with, referred to as a "casino race."
Prizes include iPads and Android tablets, home entertainment systems and all manner of cool stuff for winners to claim.
How to Sign Up with 888Casino
As you got this far, I think we both know you are pretty sure you want to take the next step and actually sign up as an 888Casino customer. Well, lucky for you it's a process that couldn't be simpler.
Below, we've provided a nice glitzy promotional advertising banner that you can click with your mouse or tap with your finger (if you're on a mobile or tablet) that will open the official sign up page at 888Casino.
Once you're there, just complete the simple sign up form with your details and you'll can choose whether you want to download the software onto your computing device or play the Instant Play via the website.
