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Winner Casino is an online casino established in 2013. Ever since then, it went through quite a few transitions, changes, and scandals. Although it is licensed by a strong body and owns software by one of the best companies in the industry, this online gambling website fell short when it came to offering good services to its users.
In this review, we tried searching through all the online archives in order to find and understand what Winner Casino did to lose its reputation and credibility. For now, it is blacklisted on most watchdog websites, and we will check whether this should be the case with us as well.
First Impression
Once we’ve first seen the homepage of this casino, we were pleasantly surprised. Their interface looks very well done, it is easy to navigate, and offers a variety of games. You’re immediately greeted by the welcome deposit bonus of 200% up to 375 euros (about $429). As for the wagering requirements, the casino mentions them in their terms and conditions, but we couldn’t find out what they were. This is quite vague, and it seems like the casino is trying to hide this information, which might be an indicator of some ulterior motives. Moreover, the casino offers a couple of other bonuses as well, such as free spins Tuesday and refer a friend casino bonus. In addition, players usually like promotions, and this is the perfect way to attract an audience.
Furthermore, this casino’s website is available in a couple of languages too, such as English, Swedish, German, Polish, Russian, Italian, etc. So far, we’re loving this attempt by the casino to get closer to its audience and build a connection. But here’s the thing that has us concerned though; can Winner Casino stay respectful to its bonuses? Does it even pay out? According to what we saw online, it doesn’t seem to be so.
We found a lot of complaints on the Internet that have remained unresolved for years now, and this made an enormous impact on the reputation of this casino today.
Games and Software
The first thing we liked seeing was that all of the games at Winner are produced by PlayTech and NetEnt, hugely popular names in the gambling industry. Also, a big part of the website is dedicated to slots with vast themes, reasonably so, as there is plenty of proof most players today prefer playing slots over card games. If you happen to click on the “all games” section, you will notice that some of the slots have jackpot numbers plastered over them. A very witty attempt of Winner Casino to attract players to particular slots. Moreover, some video slots are based on the very popular Marvel movies, while others are fairy-tale and history-based. This way, the casino really made sure to offer something to match everyone’s taste.
Next to slots, you’ll be able to find a lot of live casino game in case you’re a strategic type of player. You can choose between Blackjack, Baccarat, and Hold’em, as well as roulette and video poker. And just like most online casinos, Winner dedicated an entire part of their website to sports betting — a leisure most players enjoy. As for the players who are always in a hurry and on the go, the casino made sure to develop a smartphone application. Is there really anything to stop you from trying to win a round of slots while waiting for that boring meeting to end?
So the question is how did Winner find itself on the list of blacklisted casinos if it offers so much? To find this out, we’ve dedicated some time to users and their somewhat unpleasant experiences with this casino.
User Experience
In case you’re about to gamble with an online casino and find out if there’s anything shady hiding behind that seemingly perfect facade, this is who you should refer to. Users will tell you everything you need to know and provide you with all the necessary proof. What we found out was that Winner has fooled and angered quite a number of players.
But let’s begin with the licensing. Winner Casino was licensed by the MGA (Malta Gaming Authority), which is always a wonderful thing to see. However, it accepts players from the UK without having a UKGC license (UK Gambling Commission). And any experienced gambler knows that a casino must have this license in order to be able to let players from the UK bet. Therefore, we’re absolutely sure that Winner is aware of this fact yet chooses to ignore it. Moreover, the business practices of this online casino are extremely sketchy.
The first unrealistic bit players felt on their skin were the winnings with progressive jackpots. There was a case of a player winning over $7.8 million in this casino. Now that’s an enormous amount of money! But here’s the problem though; according to the terms and conditions of Winner, the maximum monthly payout is $9.990. So you would need well over 60 years in order to fully receive your winnings. In the end, we’re not sure if the casino paid out the money to the player in the end due to lack of evidence, but if we were to compare it to the unresolved payout issues, there’s probably a high chance it didn’t.
The casino has a history of randomly closing players’ accounts for no good reason at all. Just Imagine having $5 000+ on your account and then trying to log in one day just to find out that your account was closed and that your money was gone. In addition, once the users complained, they were asked to go through ID verification, which didn’t really result in anything. The cases are still unresolved to this day (that’s good 3–4 years).
The Withdrawal Period
It is extremely long; if you’re able to withdraw at all. There’s a player claiming that they won a significant amount of money, and once they tried to withdraw, they couldn’t. Upon speaking to customer service, they technically blackmailed the user into depositing 10 more British Pounds in order to be able to withdraw the money. Unfortunately, the player never withdrew anything, as any further contact with the customer support was completely hopeless — they never replied.
And here’s one more horrible case of a player never receiving any money from their winnings. This user was asked to deliver a copy of their passport, utility bill, and ownership for a moneybookers account. Note that the third one doesn’t even exist, and as a result, cannot be provided. And the worst thing about it all is that the player was instructed to send these copies to an address located in the Philippines. But after refusing to do so, the casino told him he didn’t have to send them; this went on back and forth — some customer service agents demanded the documents and some didn’t. And the worst part is that the documentation could have been provided via e-mail as well. In the end, the player’s winnings completely disappeared from their account because the casino claimed that the user violated their terms and conditions.
In the end, after months of horrible communication, the player never received their money, as the casino eventually stopped responding altogether.
Moreover, many more users complained about bad customer support, and in addition to this, there is no live chat option for this casino either. In addition, the answers from customer support employees seem to be quite scripted, without any genuine desire to help and with a complete lack of empathy.
Pros and Cons
Winner Casino has done some pretty horrible things to its players in the past and apparently continues to do so. For your convenience, we’ve summed up a short list of pros and cons just in case you still decide to test them out (which we do not advise):
Pros:
- Software by PlayTech and NetEnt
- Licensed by the MGA
Cons:
- Long withdrawal times or no withdrawal at all
- Shady terms and conditions
- Horrible customer service
- No live chat option
- Accepts players from the UK without an appropriate license
- Randomly locking users’ accounts
With all these cons and so little pros, do you still wish to check them out? We hope not. We believe you shouldn’t even dedicate a minute of your time to this casino.
Our Verdict
Our final judgment is that the Winner Casino is completely rogue. The bottom line is that it tricked far too many players, never paid them out, and blatantly continues to exist pretending there are no unresolved issues left to deal with. We highly advise you to stay away from this casino and not trust it with a cent. The people behind it seem to have a very poor moral compass, and they only care about your money.
Casino Rating
- Complaint Resolution — 1/10 stars
- Jurisdiction — 8/10 stars
- Software — 10/10 stars
- Cashout Time — 1/10 stars
Overall, we rate Winner Casino with 5 out of 10 stars. Had it not been for such good software and license, we would have rated it with a 1 star. All in all, watch out for rogue online casinos like this one and make sure to always do your research before you trust one with your money. So good luck, and happy betting!
