Winner Review

Trustworthiness 1/10

Only one of the reviewers who works regularly for this site holds an account with Winner casino and that account has been open less than 6 months. Unfortunately they report negative experiences with this venue.

Having deposited £100 and played without a bonus our reviewer was asked to supply Notarized ID for a withdrawal of £175. For those not familiar with the nortarization process, this generally involves an appointment with a lawyer and will cost in the region of £40-100. Given the small size of the win and the lack of any bonus, this is an excessively aggressive security measure. It should be noted that after a week of communication – our review was clear that Winner were unresponsive to email communication and they therefore had to contact live support to get assistance – Winner did eventually back down on this request. However, for such a small withdrawal – especially given that there was no bonus involved - the request should never have been made in the first place and given the slow responses of Winner’s security department this issue really delayed the payment of a small win an unreasonable length of time.

When we did the background research for this review, we found that this security procedure was far from an isolated incident. In the following 3 complaints Notarized ID was requested (http://www.askgamblers.com/casino-complaints/winner-casino-slow-pay-c1031, http://www.askgamblers.com/casino-complaints/slow-withdrawal-at-winner-casino-c1316 and http://www.askgamblers.com/casino-complaints/winner-casino-wont-pay-notarized-documents-c1358). In the next case Notarized ID was requested and the casino confiscated winnings based on a vague ‘spirit of the bonus’ type term (http://www.askgamblers.com/casino-complaints/winner-casino-can-not-withdraw-my-money-c985). In this case Notarized ID was requested and Winner refused to engage in the mediation process (http://www.gamblinggrumbles.com/Reports/Winner-Casino_It-keeps-asking-for-documents-it-has-received) and finally another complaint that went unresponded to (http://www.askgamblers.com/casino-complaints/winner-casino-fixed-site-c1656).

Getting ID Notarized is a highly invasive process and one which the player inevitably has to fund themselves. As such it should only be requested in the most extreme of circumstances where a player has won a large amount of money (think 5 figures) and tripped numerous security flags. The volume of reports of requests for this type of ID is indicative of a group that is vastly overusing this policy - simply put, there are many other casinos that just don't end up with all these player reports regarding Notarized ID - and our reviewer’s experience is a perfect example of bad practice, even if it was eventually rescinded.

When recommending venues to play we would almost always advise player to stay away from casinos that are more likely to require Notarized ID. This equates to a sign-up fee, however by the time you are asked to pay it they've already got your money and you're not getting any money back until you pay up.

Alongside all of this Winner appear to have copied some of their terms and conditions from Betfair casino as the game weightings in their bonus terms refer to Zero Roulette, Zero Blackjack, Zero Video Poker, Zero Baccarat. They do not – as far as we could see – offer any Zero games and the only Playtech casino we are aware of that does is Betfair. Given that terms and conditions are legally binding documents, copying them off someone else is never a good idea.

In summery, Winner appear to be requesting a highly invasive security procedure more regularly than other venues, appear to have enforced a spirit of the bonus term for confiscation of funds, failed to respond to another complaint and appear to have copied at least some parts of their terms and conditions from other properties - far from a good start.

Payout Speed and Banking 5/10

Our reviewer reports their withdrawal being paid within 24 hours of Winner recinding the request for Notarized ID, however this seems to have been expediated due to the circumstance as live support stated within 4 business days. We would emphasize that specifically speeding up the withdrawal process when there has been an issue is a very good customer service policy, but this section is designed to rate the standard policy not the exceptions.

Banking options available - Credit/Debit cards, Neteller, Skrill (Moneybookers), Click2Pay, UKash, PaySafeCard, Entropay, Bank Wire, ClickandBuy or Cheque

We recommend using Neteller for speed, convenience and security. To sign-up to Neteller click here.

Customer Service 10/10

Our review reports that communication became a lot less expedient after the issue of Notarized ID was raised, with customer service not responding to email. However they report their payout being paid far faster than the stated timeframe once the issue was resolved. As such we'll be basing the Customer Service rating solely on the email testing.

Email Testing Record

• January 2013 - 1st email - 11 hours 24 minutes

Slots RTP 0/10

Winner do not release the house edge/RTP figures of any of the slots games they offer.

Software and Game selection 10/10

Winner casino use Playtech software for their download casino. Check out our Playtech Software Review.

Game selections are as follows;

Download

Table Games – 37

Slots – 125

Video Poker – 15

Live – 6

Jackpot - 52

To find out how our bonus ratings are calculated see Bonus Rating System.

Bonus;

200% up to €350.

Sticky - Can never be withdrawn. At the time of your first withdrawal the bonus will be removed from your account.

Wagering Requirements;

• Slots - 33xbonus
• Blackjack - 165xbonus
• Roulette - 132xbonus
• Baccarat - 165xbonus
• Video Poker - 165xbonus
• Table Poker - 132xbonus

Adjustments to ratings;

Game Weightings (already account for in Wagering Requirements)

• Slots (all varieties) 100%
• Scratch Cards 100%
• Pai Gow (all varieties), Red Dog, Let It Ride 25%
• Casino Hold'em (all varieties) 25%
• Roulette (all varieties including Wild Vikings) 25%
• Baccarat (all varieties) 20%
• Blackjack (all varieties excluding Blackjack Switch & Pontoon) 20%
• Stravaganza 20%
• Craps (all varieties), Sic Bo (all varieties) 20%
• Video Poker (all varieties) 20%
• Blackjack Switch , Pontoon (all varieties) 5%
• Casino War 5%
• Lucky Wheel (Spin a Win) 5%
• All double options on slots & Video Poker (all varieties) 0%
• Zero Roulette, Zero Blackjack, Zero Video Poker, Zero Baccarat 0%
• All other games 100%

Notes

Several sign-up bonuses available - the highest scoring one has been reviewed.

Comp Point Program 8/10

Winner offer the standard Playtech comp point program wherein you receive one comp point for every £10 wagered and 100 comp points can be converted into £1. The redemptions rates do improve as your VIP levels increase.

Licencing and Contact information 5/10

Winner are licensed by the Antigua and Barbuda Directorate of Offshore Gaming (DOG - http://www.antiguagaming.gov.ag/). The Directorate of Offshore Gaming is not seen as one of the stronger regulators available today – see our .

The following countries are restricted from participation with Winner - AFGHANISTAN, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, BULGARIA, CHINA, CUBA, CYPRUS, ESTONIA, FRANCE AND IT'S TERRITORIES, HONG KONG, IRAN, IRAQ, ISRAEL, KAHNAWAKE, LIBYA, MACAU, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES, REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, SUDAN, SYRIA, THE PHILIPPINES, TURKEY, USA AND ITS TERRITORIES

Contact Information;

Email :	casino@winner.com
Phone :	+44-808-1203-498 (UK)
	+1-888-382-2258 (CA)
	+359-240-07802 (International)
Fax :	+448000 328 832
Address :	P.O. Box 2642
	Makati Post Office
	Gil Puyat Avenue
	Makati City
	Philippines