Butlers Bingo Review:

While the majority of modern online bingo sites are trying to offer more in a bid to keep experienced players happy, Butlers Bingo has taken a different approach. Catering to the other end of the skill spectrum, this site has opted to keep things simple at all times. By focusing on two bingo formats and tailoring its bonuses to suit lower volume players, Butlers is a place that seems to have everything in place for those just starting out on their online journey.

When you’re searching for signs that a bingo site is safe, there are certain hallmarks of quality you should be looking out for. Fortunately, you don’t have to look too hard to find the list of credentials Butlers Bingo is serving up. First and foremost, the site is owned by Broadway Gaming Ltd which is registered and licensed in Malta by the Malta Gaming Authority. On top of this regulatory oversight, the company has been approved for operations in the UK by the UK Gambling Commission.

Of course, valid licences only deal with issues such as how your money is handled, whether each game is fair (the site’s software is certified by eCOGRA) and the way the site conducts itself. What these licences don’t tell you is how the site actually performs and whether or not players actually like it.

To address these points, Butlers Bingo has made sure it shows off its awards. At the bottom of the homepage you’ll notice the site is certified by the Responsible Gambling Trust. Beyond this, it’s also won two gaming awards. The first was received in 2016 for Excellence in Service, while the second came in 2017 courtesy of the BingoPort Players’ Choice Awards.

In short, if you’re looking for a site with strong credentials as well as the support of satisfied players, Butlers Bingo ticks the right boxes. The fact that Broadway Gaming runs several other popular, well-regarded bingo sites, including Glossy Bingo, Rosy Bingo and Dotty Bingo, adds to the feeling that you’re with a safe pair of hands.

Butlers Bingo offers all the major payment options with deposits set at a minimum rate of £10, while withdrawals must be at least £20. One point to note is that you’ll only be allowed one free withdrawal per week.

As a newbie, you’ll get access to a welcome bonus worth up to £40 when you join Butlers Bingo and spend £10 on tickets. They also throw in 100 free spins on the Suntide slot game. We’d describe this offer as above average, but it’s pretty much in line with the value and structure of the welcome bingo bonuses you would expect from most of the leading bingo sites, give or take £5-10. Anyway, it’s certainly a bonus worth pursuing.

However, there is one caveat which might frustrate big money players. Although the 5x wagering requirement on bingo bonuses is fairly standard (if you receive a casino game bonus, it’s 40x the amount), the reality is that you can only withdraw a certain amount of your winnings. In simple terms, you can only withdraw 10x of your deposit earned from your free credits. For example, if you picked up a £40 welcome bonus and used this cash to win £600, you’d only be allowed to withdraw £400 while the remaining £100 would be taken from you.

Now, 10x any bonus amount can equate to a fair sum of money. However, this clause could certainly prove costly if you manage to win one of the site’s jackpot games. Because of this, it’s worth aiming for lower stake prizes until you’ve played through a bonus’s wagering requirements and then withdrawn it.

It’s also worth noting that table games like roulette and blackjack only contribute 8% to the wagering requirements for the casino game bonus. Slots, on the other hand, contribute 100% of money wagered.

Beyond the welcome bonus, Butlers Bingo does offer a fairly varied selection of promo games and VIP offers. On the “promotions” page you’ll find a calendar showing which bonus bingo games are running on each day. These games can include jackpot prizes, sessions offering on-the-spot payouts and Bingo Boom with its special bonus symbol balls. These exclusive games typically run at night, so you’ll have to be active from around 9pm on a given day to get any value from them.

For regular players, the VIP system allows you to exchange 100 points for £1 in bonus cash (minimum exchange is 500 points), as well as earn increasing rewards based on your VIP level. Everything from slots tournaments to free credits can be earned as a VIP.

We like that the site clearly presents the benefits that players can earn as they move up the ladder. Too many sites maintain an air of mystery about exactly what VIP players can expect. What we don’t like is that there’s no clear information on how much you need to wager in order to move up the VIP ladder.

Butlers Bingo is a well-organised site, which makes navigation simple. Although some would say the overall design is fairly uninspiring and, in some respects, a little dated, the functionality is good and that’s all that really matters.

In terms of bingo games, Butlers Bingo has kept things simple once again. 90-ball and 75-ball are the only two variants you’ll find, which might put off those of you who prefer speed games. However, assuming you’re happy with a longer format, Butlers offers a combination of in-house games as well as the themed room, Immortal Romance, roughly every 10 minutes.

As a Microgaming network bingo site, there is also a good range of progressive jackpot games, as well as a network room that’s exclusive to Broadway properties, which include Rehab Bingo and Glossy Bingo.

Beyond bingo, the site is awash with slots and casino games. In fact, despite being a bingo site, you’ll actually find more casino games than bingo sessions.

However, as counterintuitive as that might seem, it does give you a chance to continue betting in between sessions. Whether you’re into big brand slots like Tomb Raider and Thunderstruck II or you like casual casino games such as Sic Bo or Red Dog, there are nearly 200 Microgaming slots and 16 casino table games to play.

Impressive, but by comparison it makes the lack of bingo variety on offer at Butlers harder to understand. Despite the overall quality of its offering, we’d like to see a few more options available to keep the more experienced players happy.

Butlers doesn’t have a dedicated app that you can download, but the website does all of the heavy technical lifting well – whatever device you’re playing on, it’s entirely responsive, so you’ll get a native experience on any mobile or tablet device.

In fact, simply because the developers haven’t invested any time in creating iOS and Android apps, it means Blackberry and Windows Phone users can enjoy the same range of games and bonuses with just as much ease.

Moreover, because the site was developed almost exclusively in HTML5, you’ll be able to experience a full range of bingo games and a good chunk of the casino games available on the full site, with close to 100 slots and a handful of table games available when you visit the site via your phone or tablet. All the other functionality you might need, such as the cashier, live chat and help centre, is available on mobile to the same level as you get on the desktop site.

Although some might bemoan the lack of a proper app, we think the Butlers mobile site works as well as any bingo app we’ve tested. It’s cleanly designed, easy to navigate and offers all the functionality you need.