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In this online casino review, we will check out OtoBet, a casino blacklisted due to slow payments, notorious business practices such as software piracy, and money confiscation.
Rogue Casino Review: OtoBet
OtoBet Casino was established by Repus Apud, under the gaming license by MEIC from Costa Rica. Eventually, it became unresponsive and was finally shut down by the end of 2016.
OtoBet was a site reserved not only for gambling. Apart from the Casino and the Live Casino, it also supported Sports betting and Binary options. The site was available in English and Polish languages. Moreover, it had customer service available over e-mail and telephone line. In addition, there were multiple telephone lines for different countries among which were the UK and the US. However, their players were restricted from playing at this online casino.
Moreover, some additional restricted countries were Belarus, Russia, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Ukraine. Furthermore, the supported payment methods were Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Skrill, and more, with a $50 minimum payout limit.
The casino attracted new members with its 200% up to $1000 first deposit bonus with a wagering requirement of 35x bonus.
First Impression
As far as rogue casinos go, this one didn’t look too shabby. The interface was clean, easy to understand, and it gave a positive feel. However, we have to mention that we believe that the huge ad for their no-deposit bonus for new players was a bit too big, as it dominated the screen and left very little room for options that most players find more important.
Games and Software
As we’ve said, the site had a smooth and user-friendly interface, in mostly warm colors — red, yellow, white, and black. Too bad everything else was a total wreck. Their software provider was Novomatic — only without Novomatic being notified about it. Novomatic is a reputable software provider from Austria, present on the global market since the 1980s.
So on average, featuring their titles would usually get a casino a significant number of players willing to spend their money in exchange for their top-notch games.
Unfortunately, OtoBet seemed to be perfectly aware of that fact, but they weren’t quite willing to pay for the software. From everything we can gather online, they were using pirated versions of Novomatic games.
One of the strongest pieces of evidence for those claims lies in the fact that OtoBet loved to show off their winners. And according to them, several US players won jackpots on the game called “Book of Ra.” In and of itself, that wouldn’t be that strange in normal circumstances. After all, Book of Ra is one of Novomatic’s most popular titles.
However, the issue lies in the fact that Novomatic software isn’t available for players from the US. So to put it simply, the chances are that they used pirated games. We should also mention that OtoBet is a sister casino to Casino Atlanta. The main reason we are bringing that up is the fact that Casino Atlanta has also been caught using pirated games developed by NetEnt, further corroborating the story about stolen software.
Licensing Jurisdiction
This casino boasts a license from Costa Rica. Which, for a very good reason, doesn’t really make us feel better about it. The MEIC license is, simply put — highly questionable. Even though there is a link to their “license,” if you take a closer look, you will see that it actually has nothing to do with online gambling. It doesn’t appoint any complaint center, gaming regulations, or secured funds. Simply put, in case of a scam, no one can react to protect you, and this is precisely what used to happen while this site was still operating. So while they did “technically” have a license, you should never truly relax with casinos that are licensed by Costa Rica.
User Experience
The list of players complaints is long, and it usually comprises of delayed or no payouts or replies. So no wonder there was no information on the RTP values anywhere on the site. After all, why even talk about the “return to player” if the casino never planned to allow the players to withdraw their funds.
Moreover, in one particular case, the player requested to withdraw their winnings of 5,000 Euros. For most of us, that figure sounds like a lot of money, but the fact of the matter is that any casino that is operating with more than a handful of players should easily be able to pay their players such sums without breaking the bank.
Now, we have seen casinos come up with various reasons to explain why they failed to pay their players. But this time around, nobody even got a reply. The funds were simply seized, and the casino never replied to complaints or comments left by the user in question.
What is more, there were cases of OtoBet seizing the funds and deleting the accounts of players on trumped-up charges. But the thing is, the casino usually wouldn’t mind.
In addition, there are also reports of them changing their Terms and Conditions how and when they pleased, and of accounts suddenly getting deleted, usually, at the moment the players started winning. Arguments for these actions were ranging from nonsense to obvious lies.
Pros and Cons
PROS
- User-friendly interface
CONS
- Poor license
- Pirated software
- Poor customer support (lying to their customers)
- Confiscating players’ money
- Refusing to pay out their users
Our Verdict
Is there even a need to say anything else except that we feel very fortunate to see this site shut down. This kind of criminal business practice should be avoided by all means.
Casino Rating
Customer Support: 1/10
Cashout Time: 1/10
Software: 1/10
Jurisdiction: 1/10
Total: 1/10
