UK Casino Reviews 2020
Looking for honest online casino reviews to help you separate the wheat from the chaff? Thanks to our UK casino reviews, we point you in the right direction towards those fair and licensed casino sites that are offering the most rewarding experiences for British players, so that you can avoid dodgy operators in favour of those who offer more value, enjoyment and peace of mind. With so many casino brands emerging online, it can be tricky to find secure and reliable ones, especially now that the gambling scene in the UK is undergoing significant changes! But fear not, our UK online casino reviews will cover every aspect of each casino, to connect you to the right ones for you!
Latest Online Casino Reviews UK
The gambling scene in the UK is currently undergoing some major changes. As regulations are growing stricter, some online casinos are no longer catering to the UK market, whereas several unregulated sites seek to attract British players with dodgy bonuses and unfair measures. CasinoHawks is well aware of the changes, and is constantly updating its list of UK casino reviews by reviewing only those casinos that are fully licensed and proven to be fair. Check out the newest casino reviews below, or scroll down to the bottom of this page to view the full list of UK casino reviews.
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How we review casinos in the UK
We are constantly on the lookout for new casinos that are catering to the UK market, which we review to be able to help you decide whether they’re worth joining or not. But before we review a casino, we always make sure that it is fully licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, the regulatory authority that seeks to make gambling safe and fair for British players.
So what else should you look for when we review an online casino? If you’d like to enjoy a rewarding gambling experience in the long term, then you should be well aware of the characteristics that make up the best casino platforms. In this section, we’ll let you know what we give importance to in our reviews.
1. Checking out Bonuses and Promotions for UK players
Admittedly, a casino’s bonuses and promotions are the first thing that attract our attention when we review a casino. This is because the best casinos also tend to have the best bonuses. But what makes the best bonuses in the long term? Is it just the amount of money they offer or are there other things to be taken into account?
Casino Welcome Bonus
The best casinos we review typically offer an attractive welcome bonus or package on players’ first deposit, or even on their first two, three or four deposits. As things are getting increasingly stricter from a legal point of view, there are now fewer casinos offering big welcome bonuses, however luckily there are still some amazing bonuses around.
The best bonuses are those that give players a real chance of keeping some of their winnings. For this reason, the lower the wagering requirements on the bonus, the better it is. In our online casino reviews, we also look at other limitations like caps on winnings and time for wagering the bonus, since these all dictate how much you can profit in the end. You can find more information on casinos with low wagering requirements here.
Free Spins
If a casino offers slot games, then we also review the free spins offers that players may benefit from. The best casinos are those that run regular free spins promotions, providing players with the opportunity to claim more spins either as part of a weekly reload or by winning spins following an online tournament or prize draw. Just like bonuses, the best free spins offers come with lower wagering requirements or no wagering at all!
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Offers and Promotions
Who minds a good dose of excitement from time to time? We believe that the best casinos are those that have regular offers that existing players can claim either by depositing or by simply playing their favourite casino games. As we review a casino, we have a very close look at its offers to determine how rewarding they actually are. Whether it’s a tournament or a guaranteed deposit match, we want our visitors to stand a good chance of benefiting from these casino promotions!
Unibet UK, for instance, holds massive prize drops on slot games every month, which award thousands of pounds in wager-free cash to the winners. Check it out below!
VIP and Rewards Programs
Last but not least, in our casino reviews we have a look at a casino’s VIP or Rewards Program. A good rewards program will include bonuses and other treats that are not too difficult to claim. For example, PlayOjo casino UK rewards players with cash back on every real money bet they place, which means that players can keep getting rewarded in the long term!
On the other hand, players who have not yet reached VIP level should also expect to benefit from the casino's Loyalty or Rewards Program. A good rewards scheme will include bonuses and other treats that are not too difficult to claim.
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2. Reviewing the selection of Games and Providers
Variety is one of the keys to success for any online casino these days, as different players seek for different kinds of games depending on their personal preferences. In our online casino review, we give a lot of importance to the selection of games offered by each operator.
Online Slots Selection
If it’s video slots or online slot machines you enjoy playing, then it’s important to find casinos that are focused on providing the best online slot gaming experience, by offering a good variety of slots with high RTP and a good slot hit rate. Such casinos will tailor their bonuses and rewards to slot players, and will also update their game collection regularly with new releases. Look for a casino which offers games by a range of developers if you love to discover different content, or, if you like a particular developer (such as NetEnt or Quickspin), check whether the casino offers its games as soon as they are released.
Online Table Games
If, on the other hand, it’s Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat, Poker or another table game you’re interested in, you should find a casino that tailors its offering to table game players. In all our casino reviews, we list what kind of table games and variants each casino has on offer.
Live Dealer tables
Nowadays, almost all casinos have opened their own live dealer tables, enabling players to enjoy an authentic table game experience streamed to their desktop or mobile in real time! The best ones will offer VIP tables for live Blackjack and Roulette and tables with different limits to suit all budgets. what's more, the best live casinos also offer a welcome bonus and promotions specifically for live casino, while others also have their own bespoke virtual live casino! This is an immersive experience which gives you the feel of being inside a real land-based casino, allowing you to move between tables and 'meet' real players and live dealers!
Casino Game Providers available
The online games at a casino are usually not developed in-house, but are created by independent game providers and studios with whom the operator partners up. The more providers a casino partners up with, the greater its game selection will be, and the best casinos typically offer games by a multitude of providers. This is why in every casino review, we list all the game providers whose games are available at each casino.
If you’re into slots and would like to enjoy the best games in the market, look out for Netent, Microgaming, Play N Go and Quickspin among the casino’s providers list. On the other hand, if you enjoy live casino games, check whether the casino hosts tables by Evolution Gaming, Playtech or Netent Live, which are the top live casino providers in the industry.
Exclusives Games and Branded Tables
Finally, some online casinos offer games that others don’t. This is because they make special deals with providers to offer some of their titles exclusively on their platform. In our casino reviews, we check out whether or not a casino offers exclusive games in order to be able to inform our visitors.
What’s more, when it comes to live casino tables, some of the best casino sites also offer their own branded live tables, which means that the live dealer games are given a distinct makeover based on the operator’s brand. While the games play out by the same rules, their look and feel will be different if you take a seat at a branded table.
3. Online Casino Payment Methods
Another important factor that may affect your decision whether or not to join a casino is the payment methods supported. Every player would like to be able to deposit and withdraw using his or her preferred method, so in our casino reviews we make sure we list which options are available for each casino.
Popular Casino Deposit & Withdrawal Methods
Almost all casinos in the UK accept VISA and Mastercard debit cards as deposit and withdrawal options (all credit cards, including those linked to e-wallets, are banned as from the 14th of April 2020). However, due to the time it takes to withdraw money to a debit card, a lot of players prefer to make use of e-wallets or mobile payment solutions in order to benefit from instant withdrawals. Here are the most popular deposit and withdrawal methods that are accepted by the best casinos in the UK:
- PayPal: this popular e-wallet is an excellent casino payment method for obvious reasons; it’s accepted as a payment method not only at online casinos, but across online merchants, and is highly secure.
- Skrill: a popular e-wallet for casinos online, Skrill was previously known as MoneyBookers, and also allows you to conduct instant deposits and withdrawals.
- NetEller - Skrill’s previous rival Neteller is an e-money transfer service that is used across 85% of online gambling platforms.
- Ecopayz - this is an online payment solution that allows you to deposit and withdraw money at online casinos without the need for a bank account.
- Trustly - another online payment method that allows you to deposit instantaneously from your bank account if you have an account with a partner bank (which include Lloyds, HSBC, Barclay, Natwest, Royal Bank and others in the UK).
- PaysafeCard - this is a prepaid card which you can buy locally to make online casino deposits with. Withdrawals are not possible with PaysafeCard.
4. Casino Payout Percentage Rate
A Return to Player Percentage, or RTP, refers to the percentage that a casino pays back to customers in the long run. This is the very opposite of the house edge: while the house edge refers to the percentage that a casino keeps (thanks to the fact that the odds of the games are in its favour) the RTP is the percentage of players’ bets that is paid back in the form of winnings.
The best payout casinos in the UK will have a higher RTP rate than average, mainly because of two factors:
1. They have a great selection of games with high RTP; AND
2. They give away great bonuses, cashback and rewards that increase the casino RTP rate.
Of course, when we review an online casino, we take into account what kind of games and bonuses are available, and also check the official RTP rate of the casino if this has been published.
How to find a casino’s RTP rate
A casino may publish its official RTP rate on the website, or may also decide to publish the RTP of every one of its games. You’ll typically find the list at the footer of the casino website, or in the About Us section.
CasinoHawks can recommend the friendly PlayOjo casino as a casino with a great RTP rate. This is because at PlayOjo, players get a small percentage of cash back on every wager they make, which allows them to accumulate a decent amount in the long term. What’s more, all bonuses and spins at PlayOjo Casino are wager-free, allowing players to keep all their profits from such offers!
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5. Level of Customer Support
Most of us would agree that customer service is what makes or breaks any business, and casinos online are no exception. If you are wagering real money online, you’d want to be able to get help if needed, and therefore the best casinos offer 24/7 support to their customers. You can typically contact support via live chat or email, though some casinos will also have a phone number.
Before writing our online casino reviews, we test out the customer support team via random chats, and rate the level of support based on the promptness, accuracy and helpfulness of the replies we get.
6. Mobile Casino Experience
There can be no future for a casino without mobile gaming, which is why we download or test the mobile-optimized version of each casino site before we write our reviews.
Some of them have also developed their own casino app to make life even easier for their players. The best mobile casinos allow you to shift between desktop and mobile gaming using the same account, while qualifying for the same bonuses and offers. As more and more online games are being adapted to HTML5, the selection of games available on mobile is getting vaster, and you should be able to locate them easily and launch them quickly on the go!
7. Responsible Gaming
All of the casinos that we review here at CasinoHawks comply with strict responsible gambling standards to protect vulnerable or underage players. Most of them have responsible gambling tools that players can make use of, including:
- Questionnaires - to determine if you’re at risk of developing a gambling problem
- Self-exclusion - the facility to exclude yourself temporarily or permanently from real money gambling at the casino and to stop the casino from sending you marketing material.
- Session limits - the option to limit your playing time or to limit your spending on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
All the casinos on our list will feature the BeGambleAware logo on their site, making sure that help is only one click away. This is an organization that offers confidential 24/7 support related to problem gamblers on a national level.
8. Casino License
The license that a casino has acquired is of utmost importance to us. The UK is a highly regulated market, which means that if a casino is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, it complies with very strict standards when it comes to responsible gambling, fair gaming and transparent advertising. Therefore, all of the online casinos we review here at CasinoHawks are licensed by the UKCG, with no exceptions whatsoever!
Types of Casinos we review
The kind of games you like to play will of course be the first thing that determines your choice of casino. As online casinos are starting to diversify themselves from their competitors, some are focusing on offering certain types of games over others. Let’s look into what types of casinos we review and what they offer.
Classic Online Casino
This is the jack-of-all trades, and would offer a variety of slots, table games, Keno, Bingo, Video Poker as well as live casino games. Most of the casinos we recommend on our website fall into this category, although the collection of online slots at these casinos is typically the largest. In fact, such casinos may categorize their slots into classic slot machines and video slots, while having separate categories for their Video Poker, Table Games and Bingo titles.
Slot Sites
A lof of casinos in the UK have a strong focus on online slots, and offer hundreds of titles by dozens of providers. At the best slot sites, you’ll find different kinds of online slot machines, such as three-reel slots, megaways slots, jackpot slots, video slots and various branded slots, and players can enjoy all the latest releases by the big names in the industry. What’s more, slot casinos will also typically offer bonuses tailored to slot players, such as free spins bonuses or welcome packages involving both free spins and deposit matches.
Live Casinos
Some casinos focus more strongly on table games, especially live dealer games, which are growing in popularity as we speak! The best live casinos would offer different variants of live Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat, as well as live Poker and other games. You will also find a selection of VIP tables with different betting limits, giving you the option to take a seat at a table that’s best suited to your budget.
Of particular interest lately are the live game shows by Evolution Gaming, such as the Dream Catcher Wheel, Deal or No Deal Live and Monopoly Live. These entertaining games of chance give you the impression that you’re playing at a real TV show, thanks to the professional host and presenter that runs the game, as well as the visual and auditory effects of the studio they are streamed from.
List of Online Casino Reviews UK
Our Casino Reviews help you play with the very best!
If you’ve been wondering which casinos you can join from the UK, then look no further! Check out our UK casino reviews to get to know which are those fully-licensed casino sites that keep rewarding British players with bonuses and other treats, and visit CasinoHawks from time to time to discover new casinos that have entered the market. We’ll help you avoid dodgy casinos and introduce you to those that will provide real value, security and entertainment!
FAQs
All the casinos that are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission are legitimate casinos that observe very strict standards related to player safety and security. To check whether a casino is legit or not, scroll down to the bottom of its homepage and look for the license details.
The best casinos are those that can offer a good variety of games coupled with regular bonuses and rewards without compromising on player safety and security. We recommend joining a licensed casino site that welcomes UK players with a bonus and which also runs several offers to keep rewarding existing players.
Although casino games are games of chance, there are ways of increasing your chances of making money at an online casino. These include playing high RTP games, joining a casino with a good cashback scheme, and playing games with a rewarding bonus round.
If they want to accept players from the UK, online casinos have to obtain a license from the UK Gambling Commission and also comply with the rules set out by the Advertising Standards Authority. To do this, they need to implement responsible gambling policies, have clear and transparent terms and also offer fair games that have obtained a UK license.
