Is Jackpot247 a scam? Our detailed review will inspect why Jackpot247 online casino was blacklisted and give you a thorough overview of its features and reputation issues.
Jackpot247 Casino Review
Jackpot247 Casino is considered to be among the most popular online casinos for UK players, however, it was blacklisted as of 2017 by many reputable watchdog sites because of an issue regarding suspicious jackpot payouts and unclear terms and conditions. There have also been some negative user experiences concerning withdrawals and payouts.
Jackpot247 seems legitimate at first glance and appears to be a very big UK brand, but this review will inspect why many online portals consider it to be a blacklisted casino.
General Information
Jackpot247
Jackpot247 was launched in the late 2000s as an online casino and TV brand. The brand was originally called Challenge Jackpot, but it got renamed when a company called Betsson bought their operator, Netplay TV, for over 30$ million. Jackpot247 airs its live games on British TV channels and strives to give its players the experience of playing in a real casino from their homes.
Regarding the online casino, it offers a fairly basic range of over 300 games which can be played on mobile, in an internet browser or as a download. There is a large selection of slot games including movie-themed slots and progressive jackpot slots. The casino mostly offers Playtech titles. Playtech is a well-known developer that offers highly popular casino games, progressive slots, and movie-themed slots such as Grease, the Matrix, Justice League, etc. Also, the casino also offers games designed by other providers like Quickspin and IGT, which can be found in the “Vegas” section of the site.
Even though there is a large suite of slots, table games, and video poker, this online casino is popular mostly for its live games that are broadcast on television. Jackpot247 develops and runs its own roulette variants that users can play online while the live action is shown on television, which is a very unique feature of this online casino.
Casino Details
On the surface, Jackpot247 seems like a genuine and legitimate gambling site. Its website openly displays the information most players look for when choosing a reliable casino. The site states that it has a revered license from the Gambling Commission of the United Kingdom, that players’ personal data is secured with a standard encryption, and that customer service can be contacted 24/7 through email, live chat or phone for any questions.
Jackpot247 casino caters to UK players only and doesn’t allow users from the US or any other country. The casino also doesn’t accept players from the UK territories of the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland.
In terms of payment methods, transactions in this casino can only be made in GBP. The payment methods that are available for deposits are PayPal, Mastercard or Visa, Neteller, Skrill as well as PaySafeCard. For withdrawals, players can get their money through PayPal, Skrill or Neteller, which is quite limited. The minimum amounts for deposits and withdrawals are £10, and the maximum for one withdrawal is £5,000. Withdrawal transactions can last from 48 hours to 5 business days after verification, depending on the transaction method. New players can get a £200 casino bonus for a deposit of £10 (wagering requirement 25x deposit and bonus). However, the offer is not available if Skrill, PaySafeCard or Neteller are used as the deposit method, and more information is listed in the bonus terms.
When looking over the Jackpot247 website, we noticed a simple layout and nothing too extraordinary concerning the look and functionality of this casino. The games are organized in separate categories and players can access them relatively quickly, but, the site can get a bit choppy and have a long loading time sometimes, which can be frustrating. The unique thing about this casino is that, as their site states, the live game action can be aired in real time, so when players make bets with live dealers and win, the audience can watch on TV, and it can be much more exciting than only playing a regular internet casino game.
Overall, Jackpot247 doesn’t seem like a terrible casino and certainly doesn’t look suspicious on the surface. But, we have to inspect and address some of the major issues and reveal why the casino was blacklisted all over the online gambling community.
First Impression
Is Jackpot 247 a Scam?
In terms of a first impression, the casino and its operator appear to adhere to all the standard rules. The casino even has one of the strictest gambling licenses in the business. In fact, the Gambling Commission has placed no sanctions or warnings on the license, which was obtained by Jackpot247’s operator, Netplay. Jackpot247 seems like a trustworthy casino, so why is it not recommended by many gambling portals?
The big issue concerning this casino is related to the terms and conditions and the payouts of progressive jackpots. Many watchdog portals have noticed that the terms are unclear and extremely unethical. Those portals and reviews claim that the casino has exploited their own T&C’s in order to permit itself to change progressive jackpot payouts.
Why Was it Blacklisted?
The terms of Jackpot247 state that during progressive wins, the casino has permission to decide how much money it will pay out to the winners. The problem here is that progressive jackpots are made available by game providers, in this case, Playtech, who are in charge of paying out the winners. The casino has no rights to claim any money related to those progressive jackpots, and it certainly doesn’t have the right to determine the sum of progressive jackpot winnings that players are allowed to receive.
When the original terms and conditions were posted on a reputable review site as proof and Jackpot247 was blacklisted, the rules were quickly changed. The practice of retroactively editing the T&C’s is something reputable casinos should never do as a way to hide their mistakes, and this is enough to make Jackpot247 unreliable. Yet, Jackpot247 didn’t even bother to hide their mistakes. In fact, the cherry on top is that the updated terms and conditions are even worse than the original version.
Evil Progressive Jackpot Terms
In the original terms, Jackpot247 stated they have permission to send the jackpot winnings in monthly payments (£10,000). This is extremely unethical in many ways. First, the action borders on the confiscation of funds. The fact that the casino has allowed itself to pay back jackpots in monthly payments means they either want members to spend their money by playing it back or that they aim to stall the payment process until they can decrease the jackpot payout in some way and remove it entirely. And that’s not all because the shadiness doesn’t end there.
The updated T&C’s are simply ridiculous: the casino states yet again that they can pay back the progressive wins in installments and that their staff can determine how much money they can subtract from a player’s jackpot wins. Plus, they gave themselves the ability to determine the size of the monthly installments. There are no guidelines that can put limits on the casino, meaning that they could simply decide to pay out incredibly small sums of money. After that, the terms state that the casino has the ability to cancel the jackpot at their discretion and appropriate a player’s winnings.
In short, Jackpot247 gave itself permission to pay back jackpot winnings in installments and then stated that they could confiscate the progressive jackpot wins after some time, which is utterly absurd. In other words, good luck picking up that $50,000 win four years from now.
Games and Software
As mentioned previously, the casino has a decent game library that is separated into categories named “Casino” featuring Playtech games and “Vegas” including games by other providers. The live games that are shown on TV are in a separate category and they were created by the casino.
The “Casino” category features table games, video poker, slots, and specialty games by Playtech and the “Vegas” category has slots and progressive games by Quickspin and IGT (over 150 games). Concerning the Playtech games, you can find slot titles like Prince of Olympus, Age of Gods, Berry Berry Bonanza and more. There are some great game variants such as 21 Duel Blackjack, 3D Roulette, and Joker Poker.
Overall, when it comes to those game providers, players will know what to expect since those developers are some of the best out there today. However, one thing that caught our attention is that the site categories can get confusing and the search function is quite useless. There is no way to show new games, search by provider, or select game types like video poker and others. The casino definitely needs to improve the search function, and overall user interface as it can be quite slow and take some time to find a game.
However, it seems that the casino really does shine when it comes to its proprietary live TV games. To play on TV, users simply need to pick a game like Roulette, Blackjack or Baccarat and play it on their device at a predetermined broadcast time. There are 8 live games in total.
Despite the suspicious terms and conditions of this casino, we can say that the game choice is pretty decent overall. It’s not perfect and the website can be very slow, but it does offer some fun ways to gamble.
User Experience
What did real players have to say about this casino? Some users have recently complained that the casino didn’t transfer deposits into their member accounts and that their payments were stalled for longer than usual. So far, it appears that the casino was quick at solving the problems, but there seem to be way too many complaints related to delayed payments of winnings of more than a couple of thousand dollars.
Regarding the rogue progressive terms, let us remind you of a case from 2008 when a woman won a progressive jackpot of $4+ million and was told she would get the money in monthly payments of $9,000. The payout time for that jackpot would last almost 40 years. The casino also used Playtech casino software, and the developer didn’t comment much on the situation, except for saying that the woman willingly agreed to the T&C’s.
The casino then made an agreement with the woman and gave her half of the $4 million win at once. Forum posts all over the internet have brought up this case while discussing the terms of Jackpot247, and the general conclusion is that the casino is extremely suspicious. In fact, this not the only online casino with those shady T&C’s and there are quite a few of them still online. One of the things that bothers us the most is that UKGC is allegedly not taking any action against Jackpot247 for its vicious terms and conditions.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Decent game choice.
- Strong license by UKGC.
- Interesting live TV games.
Cons
- Evil and unethical progressive jackpot terms(!!!).
- Slow website response.
- Too many complaints on review sites and forums.
Our Verdict
If you are looking for a clear verdict: we can tell you that this contradictory casino has definitely confused us. It looks genuine and legit on the surface, but its terms and conditions regarding the progressive jackpot payouts are enough for us to say that it should be avoided by all means. Some reviews claim that since the site has changed ownership to Betsson, its rogue tactics might have been changed. However, those diabolical terms and conditions are still on the site, and as long as the casino has permission to change the outcomes of progressive jackpot wins, chances are that you are highly likely to get scammed. If you win a huge progressive jackpot, you could end up waiting for years to get your money or worse, Jackpot247 could just tell you that they will discontinue that progressive jackpot and appropriate your money, which is just astonishingly evil.
Casino Rating
- Customer support: 5/10 – Nothing unusual here – good record of solving complaints.
- Cashout time: 4/10 – Too many complaints about withdrawal times.
- Software: 7/10 – Good offer of providers and proprietary live games.
- Jurisdiction: 10/10 – Legit UKGC license.
- Total: 6.5/10