Party Casino Review:

Partycasino has long been a major player in the online casino industry. Although it was seen as more of an auxiliary site to the mighty partypoker when it launched in 2006, it’s since become the gaming group’s most lucrative asset. Indeed, thanks to a merger with bwin in 2011 that created bwin.party, the platform has become known for its quality over quantity approach. As a publicly-listed company it is one of the best-known online casino brands in the UK, and one of the first places an inexperienced player might visit on their search for a site to play at. Parytcasino’s mixture of an attractive welcome bonus, polished site, and well-sourced games catalogue seems to promise good times, but does it deliver? Check out our in-depth Party Casino review to find out.

Whenever you’re running the rule over a new online casino you’re thinking of joining, the first thing you should look for is a valid licence. Partycasino has licences from the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner and the UK Gambling Commission.

Another sure sign that an online casino is legit is whether or not it’s a publicly-listed company. Although some highly-regarded platforms are private entities, operators listed on a recognised stock exchange always stand out simply because it offers another layer of accountability and legitimacy. Partycasino is one such, as it’s now part of the GVC Group listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Finally, just in case all that wasn’t enough to ease your mind, partycasino is part of the European Betting & Gaming Association and it’s been certified as fair by eCOGRA, which is accredited by the UKGC. Partycasino’s iTech Labs testing reports can be accessed via the homepage (click the iTech Labs icon). Here you’ll see a list of monthly reports showing how the site’s RTP for table games is 101.84% while slots tick over at an average RTP of 96.14%. It’s always reassuring when a casino makes it easy to access third-party reports on its homepage.

It’s worth noting that although nobody on the PlayRight team has experienced any issues while using partycasino, there are users on player forums such as The POGG that claim that they have had trouble withdrawing bonuses or winnings.

One payout option that stands out is the live cashouts at Dusk Till Dawn. A partnership with the UK poker room means players can send their winnings to the cash desk (between £10 and £50,000) and pick them up in person the next day.

On a less positive note, partycasino’s monthly withdrawal limit means that if you’re lucky enough to hit it big on a progressive jackpot game it’s possible you’ll have to take your prize in monthly instalments.

As we’ve said, partycasino is more concerned with quality than quantity, which is why you’ll only be able to claim up to £100 as a casino welcome promo.

After creating an account, your first deposit of at least £10 will be jacked up by a 100% multiplier when you use the code “WELCOMEBONUS“. Once you’ve successfully unlocked the bonus, you’ll have 30 days to clear it, which is fairly standard.

However, where partycasino differs slightly from its peers is the way you actually clear the bonus wagering requirements. The requirements are framed a little differently than normal, which can make it a little difficult to work out what’s required of you.

Instead of saying you need to wager a certain multiple of the bonus (usually expressed as 40x, for example), partycasino instead requires you to earn a certain number of Loyalty Points based on the total of your deposit and bonus.

If you deposited £50 to receive a £50 bonus, you would take the total, which is £100 in this case, then multiply it by the “points-ratio”, which is 1.3, to get to the number of points you need to achieve. In this example you’d have to earn 130 Loyalty Points to be able to withdraw your bonus.

Now, we just need to work out how much we need to wager in order to earn a single Loyalty Point, and we can finally understand what’s required of us in order to release the bonus.

You need to click through to another page to get to a breakdown of how Loyalty Points are accrued. The table tells us that we can earn

• 1 point for $25 wagered on slots
• 1 point for $125 wagered on video poker, roulette, table and live games
• 1 point for $250 wagered on blackjack

It then takes a live chat conversation (with a helpful and efficient support agent, it should be pointed out) to discern that in this case $25 = £25.

Now, with a little mental arithmetic we can work out that if we play slots, we need to wager the total of our deposit and bonus 32.5x to release the bonus. Blackjack counts 10% towards wagering requirements, and roulette counts 20%.

It’s a shame, because the wagering requirements and game contribution percentages aren’t bad, but the lack of clarity makes it difficult to work that out.

Partycasino has found a good balance between quality and quantity here. The operators haven’t gone out and tried to cram and every game into the desktop platform. In fact, when you scroll through the list of just over 400 games, you’ll only really see the very finest offerings from the likes of NetEnt casinos, Evolution Gaming, Cryptologic and IGT.

In fact, a further testament to this focus is partycasino’s exclusive gaming options. Thanks to an in-house software team, this operator is able to produce its own exclusive games that are tailored specifically to the type of players who frequent the site.

Another feature of the partycasino platform is the fact you can download the software. In an age where operators are moving away from heavy, downloadable products, partycasino has decided to stay traditional. Now, in reality, most players will simply use the online interface. However, if you do choose to download the casino’s software, you will get access to some exclusives such as entry to the progressive slots Raffle Jackpot and vintage games like Fire Drake.

Regardless of the medium you choose, you can play everything from progressive jackpots to live dealer roulette from as little as £0.01.

While the overall look, feel and accessibility of partycasino is great, and the range of instant-play games is good, there is one gripe: free games. Yes, they are available, but it’s not obvious. Unlike most uk casinos that offer two action buttons (usually “play now” and “demo mode”), partycasino does things in a slightly more convoluted way. Instead of two action buttons, you first have to click on “play now” to enter a real money game. Once the window has loaded, you’ll then have to flick a switch at the bottom of the page from “real” to “play”. Although this isn’t the biggest issue in the world, it does seem like a strange way to handle things given that other online casinos appear to have more straightforward systems in place.

As well as its casino the Party brand is probably most famous for its sister poker room – Party Poker – which you can play from the same account.

For those that like to game on the go, partycasino has dedicated iOS and Android apps. Naturally, both require users to have operating systems that are fairly up-to-date. Additionally, the actual size of the download is quite large for an app (70.1mb), so you’ll need to make sure you have the space.

In terms of signing up and logging in, the initial process takes just a minute or so and you then have the option to speed things up by either choosing to “stay logged in” or activating “Touch ID” (iPhone users). The second of these two options is great if you’re worried about security but still want to complete the login process in less than a second.

Once you’re into the lobby, partycasino doesn’t skip a beat in terms of gaming options or offers. Because the developers haven’t flooded the desktop site with options, it means they’ve been able to carry a lot over to the mobile apps, with 115 slots available and a selection of 11 table games. Only one live games makes it over to the mobile app, though. The end result is a handheld casino where you’ll have almost as much entertainment and functionality on the move as you would at home.

Owing to partycasino’s links with partypoker, loyalty is valued heavily when you join this site. Although VIP schemes and loyalty points are common in the online poker world, they’re not as common when it comes to casino gaming. Fortunately, partycasino does things a little differently and that means you get more rewards the more you play.

First off, there are reload bonuses available throughout the week. Operating on a similar principle to the welcome bonus, you’ll need to get a special bonus code from your account page and use it to get a random multiplier on one of the following days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

As impressive as this offer is, the way it works is dependent on your VIP level, which leads us on to the main reason regular players will love this site. Basically, the more bets you place, the higher up the VIP ladder you’ll climb. To earn points, you’ll need to follow the formulas below:

• Slots/Games = £25 per loyalty point
• Video Poker/Roulette/All Table & Live Games = £125 per loyalty point
• Blackjack = £250 per loyalty point

Once you’re off and running, you’ll move up the levels, picking up an ever-increasing selection of rewards, including customised bonuses, in-game offers and priority service.