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Anyone who visited the Sahara desert was mesmerized by this desert. Those who were lucky enough to see it in person were also spellbound by the African culture. Oh, how we wish that Sahara Sands could spark a similar emotion. This casino will not make your nights memorable or enchant you with what it has to offer.
Sahara Sands is a part of the Cyberrock Entertainment Group. Admittedly, to some casino aficionados, this piece of information is sufficient to encourage them to stay away from this website at all costs. The operator is infamous in the gambling industry for owning a myriad of online casinos that “enjoy” an unenviable reputation. If you delve deeper, you would notice that all of them share three distinctive characteristics: slow payouts, non-payment, and predatory Terms and Conditions.
We are sure that this is enough for you to decide that, unlike the Sahara, this casino is not worthy of your attention.
General Information
Sahara Sands Casino was created in 2014. From the get-go, Cyberrock Entertainment Group managed to acquire the license from the government of Curaçao. In the beginning, this casino did not stand out from a myriad of others. However, it did not take long for some of the popular watchdog portals to dig deeper. After their investigation, they began blacklisting this site because some players started to share their shocking stories. In them, they emphasized the casino’s tendency to avoid payouts whenever they could.
And when it comes to their customer service, gamblers are on the fence. Some players point out how friendly and approachable they are. On the other hand, there is a number of those who were repulsed by their treatment. For instance, once someone would demand their money back, they would become rude and unhelpful. With this in mind, we might be able to determine one thing — they are nice just as long as you do not request to get what is rightfully yours.
Additionally, this casino does deserve its rogue status, and the below reasons will prove this.
First Impression
As you are going to notice immediately, the site features an Egyptian-inspired style and is quite pleasing to the eye. The homepage is decorated with palaces, palm trees, and sand. In other words, who wouldn’t want to spin a reel or two while having this beauty in the background? It makes for an aesthetically pleasing experience, to say the least.
Aside from this, you will notice several sections at the top of the page. And each of these categories is there so as to ensure that you will find everything without any hitch. For instance, if you were to click the “Getting Started” option, then the website would launch a step-by-step explanation on how you can start playing. The provided screenshots walk you through the site which, we believe, is helpful to those who perhaps are not as tech-savvy.
Furthermore, as with most casinos, there is a special section which lists all the promotions. From the looks of it, it seems to be well-written and straight to the point. It even goes as far as to recommend how paramount it is for you to read their Terms and Conditions. No, not only read them — you should endeavor to understand them as well.
Those who are in dire need of help can reach Sahara Sands’ customer support either via email or live chat. In this age, people have become accustomed to getting assistance right away. They do not want to wait several hours to receive a response. This is why they resort to using live chat. And when this method of contact is available 24/7, like in Sahara Sands’ case, it will more than please some gamblers.
Moreover, if you want to check which payment methods are available, you can do so by accessing the “Cashier” page. They are similar to their sister casinos in that they provide almost the same options, including Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, and Paysafe, to name a few. Moreover, those who wish might use bitcoin which is becoming a popular payment option in the gambling community. If you are not acquainted with it, don’t worry, the site has you covered. Namely, it has included a category which explains how this payment option works.
To be fair, the website is user-friendly and has an interesting design that might attract a vast number of players. It makes us morose that they are not using this for good. Instead, they have allowed themselves to join the likes of other rogue casinos.
Games and Software
Sahara Sands is powered by Rival Gaming software. If you are a fan of it, then you might know that the casino offers a variety of different games from this provider that might attract your attention.
Depending on your choice, you can play in three different ways. To be specific, you can download and install the actual software on your computer or laptop. Alternatively, there is another option of simply playing directly on the website just as long you are logged into your account (this is instant play from your selected browser).
We believe that the first option is more practical than the other one, but, as they say, to each their own. Besides this, it caters to those who are always on the go and want to play a game on their mobile phone. If you have issues with your Internet connection, then there is also a “Lite mode” that will provide faster loading.
As for the actual assortment, they have table games and video poker, but it would seem that slot games are their main attraction. This is quite natural given how popular this pastime is in some countries — particularly in those where gambling is widespread. We suggest that you carefully examine the selection of games and opt for your go-to one. You can choose from the likes of “Coins of Olympus”, “Fast Lane”, and “Future Fortunes”, to name a few.
In addition, if you opt to try out Sahara Sands, then we need to mention some of their casino bonuses. Like many other websites that are vying for more players, this one offers a welcome bonus too. At the time of writing, the promotion is a 300% match up to ($,£,€) 600. Of course, this bonus is subject to some Terms and Conditions. According to them, the wagering requirement is 30x (d+b). Besides, the minimum deposit is ($,£,€) 25 whereas the maximum is ($,£,€) 200. Bear in mind that the bonus is non-withdrawable, and it will be removed by the casino when you request a cashout.
They will grant you 100 free spins once you fulfill the playthrough. However, even these spins come with their wagering requirement. In this case, they have a 60x playthrough. It is worth mentioning that certain casino games are not eligible for these two bonuses. Therefore, as with its sister casinos, we urge you to go over their Terms and Conditions to avoid being scammed.
User Experience
We were not surprised when we stumbled upon numerous complaints on some watchdog portals. It just goes to show how incorrigible this casino operator is. It also testifies that they are ready to cheat their players on multiple websites.
As previously mentioned, a lot of casinos from this group have Terms and Conditions that, in the end, work in their favor. In the past, some claimed that they even went as far to change them so that they would be detrimental to the players. More often than not, they would phrase them in a way that would ultimately help them to generate more income.
In particular, one player experienced this first-hand. Namely, he was lured by the promises of the no-deposit bonus. Since he had not read the policy carefully, he did not know that his country had a higher wagering requirement compared to others. Without having noticed that, he played his preferred game and wanted to cash out. You see, he thought that he had met all the requirements. Imagine his surprise when they told him that he was not eligible to get the prize yet. This was enough to ruin the whole experience for him and make him stop playing at this online casino.
On top of it, another complaint shed light on how bad their customer service could get and on their practice of non-payment. One customer support agent advised the player to send the necessary documents so that they could proceed with his request for the withdrawal. Following this, he received an email from them which confirmed that everything was going according to the plan and that the request was approved. However, he did not receive his money which prompted him to contact customer service once again. They were not helpful at all and, after some time, he got an email. This time around it detailed their decision to close down his account.
This decision was seemingly influenced by the fact that they were reluctant to give the player what was rightfully his. And, frankly, this seems to be standard practice at Sahara Sands as evidenced by another complaint. In this case, the player waited for over two weeks to get his money. He stated that the customer support lied to him. They strived to convince him that his payout would reach the bank account soon. Instead of payout, they informed him that they decided to terminate his account. In the end, both players did not even get a refund from Sahara Sands Casino.
Pros and Cons
| PROS Great softwareInteresting website24/7 Customer service | CONS Payment issues (including not paying out)Dodgy Terms and ConditionsSticky bonus |
Our Verdict
In conclusion, Sahara Sands Casino has a lot of traits which can work in their favor — from the interestingly designed website to the Rival Powered games. On the other hand, we are sad to see that it is following in the footsteps of its sister casinos. After all, one would think that Cyberrock Entertainment would start learning from the past at some point. Unfortunately, riddled with complaints about non-payment, this casino is probably going down the same path.
Casino Rating
Customer support: 6/10
Cashout time: 4/10
Software: 8/10
Jurisdiction: 6/10
Total: 6/10
