888 Casino review. 888 Casino review is a review that tells whether 888 Casino is legit or a scam. 888 Casino claims to be the best online casino since 2007. They also guarantee that, in the house, you’ll be entertained to the max, and increase your bankroll, including the opportunity of hitting the occasional life changing jackpot.
This 888 Casino review will examine if 888 Casino legit or scam, real or fake and every other thing about 888 Casino to provide the information that will help you decide if the casino is worth trying.
888 Casino at a glance
- Owned and operated by Cassava Enterprises Limited – a wholly owned subsidiary of 888 Holdings plc.
- Licensed by the Gibraltar Gaming Commission (GGC) and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC)
- Holds the eCOGRA seal of approval to be fair, and uses standard RSA certificates to ensure it is safe
- Draws games from multiple providers (IGT/ WagerWorks, Net Entertainment, Amaya and Microgaming), in addition to games from in-house software Drangonfish (formerly Random logic)
- Tons of promotions that provide daily rewards
888 Casino – Background
The 888 brand has been in operation since 1997; and its online casino was launched in 2007. It is owned and operated by Cassava Enterprises Limited which is a subsidiary of 888 Holdings plc. Over the years, 888 Casino has made a name as one of the most trusted casinos, and has gathered over 25 million members as a result.
As long as you’re above 18 years and belong to any of the countries allowed to join the house, you can play at 888 Casino.
Legitimacy, Safety and Security
Is 888 Casino legit?
Yes, you should ask if any online platform or 888 Casino is legit or a scam, especially when you have to send in your hard earned money. There are many fraudsters parading the internet, and you just cannot be too careful. In this regard, that 888 Casino is legit is not in doubt.
First, let me start with their awards. In 2015, they won the “Casino Operator of the Year” award, which was awarded by Gaming Intelligence, which is an authority in the analysis and coverage of developments in the gaming industry. The Global Gaming Awards (GGA), which is one of the most respected ceremonies in the gaming industry, awarded 888 casino with the “Digital Operator of the Year Award” for 2014. 888 Casino also won the “Casino Operator of the Year” for 2013 by eGaming Review (EGR), which is a reputable organization that provides coverage on the gaming industry.
If 888 Casino is not legit, then all the industry experts are wrong. Take the GGR awards for example, a panel of 7 industry experts select the nominations for each category, and a committee of over 50 experts decide the winner.
Their sheer longetivity is another testament to their legitimacy. 888 has been in operation since 1997 with more than 25 million members worldwide. That is not a profile that can be associated with a platform that is a scam. Scam houses are revealed for what they are in a few fews, and will pack up and close shop.
If the awards and profile do not cut it for you, you can still establish that 888 casino is legit by using the standard check, which is a valid license to provide gaming services.
In this regard, 888 is 100 legal, and therefore legit, as they hold multiple gaming licenses from reputable jurisdictions. They are licensed by the Gibraltar Gaming Commission (GGC), as well as by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). The GGC is one of the more reputable gaming regulators out there; while the UKGC is widely considered as the most reputable gaming regulator. The UKGC, for example, have strict requirements that any house must meet to have and retain their license. Needless to say, many casinos run from such oversight; but not 888 Casino.
Also, 888 Holdings Ltd (the company that owns and operate 888 Casino) is listed in the London stock exchange. You only need to look up the listing and admission requirements of the London Stock Exchange, and you’ll know that there’s no way 888 casino will be listed if it wasn’t legit.
Are games in 888 casino real and fair?
You want to make sure that 888 Casino is real and fake, and there is a chance of actually winning and increasing your bankroll when playing a casino’s games. When there is no chance of winning a casino game; then the casino is simply ripping you off, and therefore is a scam house.
In this regard, you can test for the fairness of the games yourself, but it will entail spending a lot of money. Alternatively, you can check whether the casino has seals/ certificates from independent casino games testing labs. Usually, casino games are tested by these independent third parties; and the casinos will openly display the seals/ certificates to show that their games have been tested and certified fair.
888 casinos have the eCOGRA seal of approval which shows that the casino is safe and fair.
Is 888 casino safe?
When you join and play real money games in a casino, you send them personal information such as names, contact address, phone number, date of birth etc. If this information gets into the wrong hands, you can have your identity stolen. Also, you’ll have to share banking details (such as credit card information) with the casino. If that gets not the wrong hand, you’ll have your account wiped clean. Thus, you should make sure that the casino you’re about joining is safe (that is, has structures to prevent the information you share with it from falling into the wrong hands).
In this regard, 888 Casino uses RSA public and private key encryption technology to ensure that sensitive data is transferred securely over the internet. This means your credit card details, as well as every other personal information in their systems, is protected by industry standard security protocols. Yes, 888 Casino is safe.
Games
Software Provider
888 Casino draws games from a lot of online games providers; these include IGT/ WagerWorks, Net Entertainment, Amaya and Microgaming. They also provide a lot of proprietary games. Their in house software is dragonfish (formerly called Random Logic). This means they are able to offer a host of games with a variety of unique features – graphics and game style plays.
This put them ahead of casinos that draw games from only one software provider.
Games Selection
Remember the promise about being entertained to the max? 888 Casino makes sure of this by offering a wide array of exciting games. One impressive thing about 888 Casino is that they offer a lot of games that are developed in house, which means you cannot find them in any other casino. This is in addition to all the popular online games that are found in other casinos. Their games category consists of slots, table games, video poker etc.
Slot Games
Slot machines are the cream of casinos mostly because of the ease of playing the slot games. As a result, many of the games in casinos’ library are slot games. 888 Casino follows the trend.
The casino provides over 200 online slot games for your gaming pleasure. You’ll find traditional 3 reel machines, as well as the more popular 5 reel machines.
In addition to amazing graphics and sound effect, you’ll also find engaging themes that will keep you entertained no matter your taste. If you are into horror themed fun, slots like A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Unholy will be satisfying; if you’re into races, you can rev up your engines on slots like Drive. Adventure, travel, sport… name it. There is a theme for every taste.
Many of the slot games are exclusive to 888 Casino, and cannot be found anywhere else; these includes titles like the Unholy, Ray of Light, Under Construction, and Ultimate Grill Thrills. However, you’ll also find many of the generic titles in 889 Casino; these include popular slots like Cleopatra, Planets of the Apes, Merlin’s Millions and Starbursts.
Other games
While slot games are are more, you’ll also find a good variety of table games and video poker games.
For fans of video poker, you have all the popular titles like Jacks or Better, Joker’s Wild, Deuces Wild, Aces and Faces, Tens or Better, and Bonus Poker; but there is also lesser known titles like American Stars.
For the table games; 888 Casino gives you all the classics – Baccarat, Roulette, Craps, Pai Gow Poker, Caribbean Poker, Red Dog, 3 card poker, classic Keno and more. You’ll find that there are many variants of some of the games. For example, for Roulette, they offer European roulette, American roulette, 3d roulette, French roulette and Low stakes roulette; also the Blackjack variants include Multihand Blackjack, American Blackjack, Classic Blackjack and High Limit Blackjack.
However, 889 Casino has more unique table games than you’ll find in many casinos.
Live dealer Games
Online casino grew because of its convenience; but like they say, “there’s nothing like the real thing”. This time, the real thing is land based casinos, with real live dealers, and other human players. Well, you can still have some of that human element when playing online casino, one that offers live dealer games.
Thankfully, 888 casinos offers live dealer games. You’ll have human dealers stationed in their land based casino dealing the cards, and the action is relayed to your screen through video feed, along with pop ups prompting you to make your move. Their live dealer games include Roulette, Blackjack, Casino hold ’em, Baccarat, and 3-card poker.
Casinos like using beautiful women as live dealers; 888 Casino has got some too. If it means anything to you, they also have some handsome men as live dealers.
Progressive Jackpots
One reason for joining a casino is the opportunity to increase the bankroll. It is even more appealing when there are jackpots available where players can hit big.
888 casinos has over 35 games with progressive jackpots attached. Many of these games have amounts that are over $1,000,000; these include games like Millionaire Genie, Irish Riches, Rise of the Pharaohs, Pirates Millions, and Santa’s Super Slot. Many of the games with 6 figures jackpot amounts have high RTP, which means that you have a good chance of hitting the big score.
The many games with progressive jackpots and the high RTP of many of these game combine to make 888 Casino an ideal choice for jackpot chasers.
Mobile Compatibility
In this age, a casino cannot compete if it is not compatible with mobile devices. Many persons will rather fill long waiting hours in queues or transit with exciting gaming experience; and portable mobile devices is the only answer.
888 casinos works well on mobile devices, as they support the popular mobile operating systems (Android and iOS). However, you should know that the mobile casino does not hold the full library of games, so you’ll find that there are fewer games available via mobile than are available on your desktop platforms. A little too few in my opinion compared to the total games available. Nevertheless, the mobile casino holds more than enough games to meet your entertainment needs.
Bonuses and Promotion
Casino business is a very competitive one; and one way casinos attract new players and keep old ones is to offer bonuses and promotions. See these as freebies that a casino gives to players just for joining and playing in the house.
Admittedly, many players will head to houses that gives them more freebies; after all, in every casino game, the edge is on the house, and giving back some of that edge by way of bonuses and promotions is very much welcomed.
In this regard, 888 Casino offers a lot of enticing bonuses which include welcome bonuses, match bonuses, and no deposit bonuses.
Welcome Bonus
This is the casino’s way of saying “thank you for joining the house”. 888 Casino gives a welcome bonus of 100% up to $200 on your first deposit. This mean you will double your account balance if you join the casino and make the first deposit.
While having your first deposit doubled is fine, you can only max the bonus to $200. You’ll definitely find that there are much better offers. For example, you’ll easily find casinos that give you 200% or more of your first deposit up to $1000.
Maybe aware that the basic welcome bonus is too conservative, 888 Casino gives another bonus tagged “premium welcome package”. This is simply a welcome bonus that is staggered to cover your first five deposits.
Using the premium welcome package promo codes, you’ll get 100% up to $100 on your first deposit, and 30% up to $350 on the second to fifth deposits. You can max the bonus to $1500. While that is enticing enough, there is a catch; which is that the five deposits must be made within 7 days. Another condition is that, from the second deposit to the fifth, before you can redeem any of the bonuses, you’ll have to wager the deposit three times.
Match Bonuses
These are freebies directed at existing players in the house, in order to keep the house exciting to play in, and prevent them from moving to other betting houses.
There’s a “21st of the month” match bonus that gives players a cash bonus by simply making a deposit on the 21st of the month. The bonus is 20% up to $300, and it is for free play in multi hand Blackjack only. A small annoyance is that you’ll have to wager the deposit 10x before redeeming the bonus with the promo code.
888 Casino gives daily freebies just for making deposit and playing games on any day of the week. These freebies include free plays, cash bonus and cashback. Free play expires within 14 days of being granted. Also, the free play wins are converted to bonus, and must be wagered 30 times before any withdrawal can be made; and you have 90 days to complete the applicable wagering requirements.
If you make a deposit of $20 or more on any Sunday and play any amount, you’re entered into a raffle draw that will give 100 players a cash bonus. The 1st place gets $500 free play, the 2nd to 10th places get $50 free play, and the 11th to 100th places get $20 free play.
- Monday – “Jackpot Manic Monday”
If you deposit $20 or more and wager it 3x by 23:59 GMT on Monday, you’ll get 30% up to $150 free play to spin in five top jackpot video slots (Nightmare on Elm Street, Millionaire Genie, Jungle Goals, Casino Reels, and Ultimate Universe).
- Tuesday – “Table Tuesday”
If you deposit $20 or more and wager it 5x by 23:59 GMT on Tuesday, you’ll get 30% up to $150 free play to take a seat at three top table games (European Roulette, Multihand Blackjack, and Casino Reels).
- Wednesdays – “Winning Wednesday”
If you make a deposit of $20 or more on Wednesdays and play any casino game on the same day, you don’t have to worry about losing because if you do, the “Winning Wednesday” promotion will get you 20% up to $20 of your net losses during the day. The draw is that Cashback will be credited as real money, and there are no wagering requirements to be met for a withdrawal to be made.
- Thursday – “Traveller Thursday”
If you deposit $20 or more and wager it 3x by 23:59 GMT on Thursday, you’ll get 20% up to $100 FreePlay on two top destination games (Café de Paris and Viva L’Italia).
If you deposit $20 or more and wager it three times by 23:59 GMT on Friday, you’ll get free play on certain games. The draw is that you get to choose the amount of free play: deposit $20 – $49, and get $8 free play; deposit $50 – $119, and get $25 free play; and deposit $120 or more, and get $60 free play.
- Saturday’s – “Saturday Night Live”
If you deposit $20 or more and wager it three times by 23:59 GMT on Saturday, you’ll get 20% up to $100 bonus to play the casino live dealer games.
While it’s good that the daily deals give you something free simply by participating in the casino on any day of the week, the freebies are very conservative.
888 Casino, like most casinos, also offer a Comp Point program where they give you comp points, that you can convert to cash, just by playing in the house. The conversion rate is: 100 comp points = $1.00. You can earn up to a maximum of one million comp points in a calender year; this means you can get up to $10,000 in a year from the comp points program.
For fans of live dealer games, there are other promotions that should get you excited.
No Deposit Bonus
Many of the bonuses discussed require you to make a deposit before you can redeem them. How about getting the freebies without having to make any deposit? Enticing! 888 Casino offers different such no deposit bonuses.
One that is currently running is the “Pinch Punch” or “1st of the month” bonus. This gives 26 players a share of $888 for simply logging into their accounts on the first of every month. 2 players will get $188 bonus each, 4 players will get $88 bonus each, and 20 players will get $8 bonus each.
You’ll notice that on many of the promotions, you’ll have to roll over your deposit a number of times before you get the bonus, then you’ll have to roll over the bonus to meet the wagering requirements before you can clear it. Simply put, this is a deal breaker. I’ll rather a casino’s deposit bonus be just that – a bonus you get simply for making deposits. Having to wager the deposit a couple of times before getting a bonus is a no-no.
Another thing that need mention here is that the winnings (except jackpots) from every play with the casino bonuses are capped at 500 depending on your account currency. That is, if you’re playing in USD, if you use a bonus to win $1,200; your payout will only be $500, the the casino will void the remaining $700. It is only when your bonus winnings is from a jackpot that you can get paid above $500. At this juncture, I’ll say there’s no point of a huge bonus of up to $1500, when the maximum winnings I can get with it is only $500.
Banking Options
If alternative banking options is a big deal for you, then you’ll find joy in 888 Casino. They offer a wide range of options for making deposit and withdrawing, ensuring that no matter where you physically are, you’ll find a banking option you can conveniently use.
Deposit
For making deposits, 888 Casino supports he following banking options: VISA credit card and Debit cards, Master Card, ApplePay, ecoPayz, EntroPay Virtual Visa Card, iDebit, MuchBetter, NETELLER, PayPal, Postepay, Skrill, WebMoney, Wire Transfer, Qiwi VISA Virtual, Bank Transfer, Boleto (players in Brazil), Diners credit card, EPS (for players in Australia), Trustly, Todito Cash, Nordea, Op-Pohjola (players in Finland), Verkkopankki (players in Finland), Sofortuberweisung /Sofortbanking (players in Germany and Spain), Transferencia Bancaria (available in Brazil, Mexico and Chile), Instant Banking powered by Citadel, Instadebit, Multibanco (available in Portugal), Visa QIWI Wallet (for players in Russia and Kazakhstan), AstroPay Card, and Yandex.Money.
The particular options you can use will depend on where you live; but because they break the roof with the sheer number of options they support, you’re sure to find many available to you no matter where you live.
Also, with many of the options, the deposit is instant (not later than 10 minutes of processing time). Its only with a few options that you’ll have to wait a couple of days for the deposit to be reflected in your account (e.g. Boleto and wire transfers could take 5 business days, while bank transfers and Qiwi Visa wallet could take up to 10 business days). The minimum deposit is $20, but the maximum varies depending on the banking option used.
Withdrawals
As expected, it is not all the deposit methods that are available for making withdrawals. The methods 888 casinos supports for withdrawing winnings are: VISA credit card and Debit cards, Master Card, ApplePay, ecoPayz, EntroPay Virtual Visa Card, iDebit, MuchBetter, NETELLER, PayPal, Postepay, Skrill, WebMoney, Wire Transfer, and Qiwi VISA Virtual.
Like every casino, there are minimum and maximum withdrawal limits. The limits depends on the withdrawal method and the currency used. For example, for wire transfers, the minimum withdrawal is $20 (or €15, £15, 20 CAD, 150 SEK, 120 DKK). However, the minimum withdrawal is $15 (or €15, £15, 20 CAD, 150 SEK, 125 DKK) for the following methods- Skrill, NETELLER, PayPal, UK credit cards via BACS, credit card, debit card, WebMoney, and EntroPay card.
Maximum withdrawal will also depend on the banking option used; but it cannot exceed $30,000 in a calender month.
Generally, it takes 888 casino three business days from the date of request to process all withdrawal request. After the request is approved and sent out, how fast you receive the payout then depends on the withdrawal method chosen. For most e-wallets, it’s 1 – 2 days; for cards it’s 3 – 5 days; and for wire transfer, it’s 4 – 7 days.
It should be said here that issues relating to payouts are the main reasons why a lot of casinos are blacklisted. The general issues are slow payouts. Thankfully, 888 Casino is not plagued by this problem. However, they’ve had their own share of issues, although not significant to warrant them being blacklisted.
The problem relate to 888 casino voiding some winnings using a clause in their terms of service. The clause is that you are not allowed to claim a welcome bonus with 888 Casino if you’ve claimed previously claimed one in any of the casinos in their group. The problem is that, most players do not know which casinos is in their group as this information is not readily provided by 888 Casino.
When they’re wagering more to meet bonus rollover requirements, 888 Casino will not mind; when they lose all bonus and deposit, 888 Casino will not mind; but when they win, 888 Casino will dig up that they’ve claimed a bonus in “another” (but associated) casino and feel good about voiding the winnings. I think what is done in another casino should remain in that casino, whether associated or not. And to be fair, if winnings will not be paid using that clause, then losing deposits should also be voided, and not retained by 888 Casino.
Restricted Countries
Many countries have laws that make it illegal for their residents to wager money online, therefore casinos do not allow players from every place. Many casino restrict to many countries; but 888 Casino go the other way by restrictingnonly a few countries, and allowing a lot.
If you’re in any of the following countries, you are allowed to join and play games in 888 Casino: Aland Islands, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antartica, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangledish, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Caribbean Netherlands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Comoros, Congo, Congo DR, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D’ivoire, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Savador, Equitorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethopia, Falkland Island, Faroe Island, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Holy See (Vatican City State), Honduras, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (South), Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Maldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papau New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samao, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten, Solomon Island, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Island, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British), Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Customer Support
Playing in a casino entail engaging the casino’s customer support service. Thus, it’s important to consider the channels the casino provides for reaching them, as well as the effectiveness of these channels.
You can contact 888 casino using email via support@888.com; or using the online support ticket available on their website. With either method, you’ll be contacted via email, and the response can take up to 36 hours.
If you’ll rather have instant feedback, 888 Casino provides toll free lines that you can use. However, there is no alternative instant feedback channel like the live chat.
Summary
The 888 brand has over two decades of experience in the gaming industry; and the reasons were clear in this review of its online casino. There’s a commitment to giving players all the needed – a wide variety of quality games from multiple providers to ensure maximum entertainment, a host of promotions to keep you excited, and convenient banking and customer support options. On top of this, the casino is 100% legal, legit, and safe. It is licensed and regulated by the Gibraltar Gaming Commission and the UK Gaming Commission. There’s every reason you should consider playing in the house.
I liked:
- Recognition by gaming industry experts via awards
- Regulated by arguably the most strict gaming commission
- Unique games via proprietary software
- Daily rewards
- A good number of progressive jackpots
- Support of a wide range of banking options for making deposit and withdrawals
I didn’t like:
- Relatively few mobile games
- Rewards are too conservative
- Having to roll over deposit to earn free plays, and wins from free plays being converted to bonus that must be rollover 30x to meet bonus wagering requirements
- Capping bonus winnings to $500
- Voiding winnings of players you use welcome bonus, because they’ve previously claimed welcome bonus in another casino associated with 888 Holding.
- Absence of live chat
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