Bwin Casino

Editorial Review

bwin is an online entertainment site that offers a broad selection of games, including Sports Betting, Poker, and Casino facilities, as well as a range of competitive skill games.

The design of the bwin.com site is slightly different to other sites, and it seems to be targeting a mostly younger male audience, with a techy, black layout, boisterous advertisements, a slant towards football in the Sports Betting section, and advertising relationships with the Pussycat Dolls.

Certainly, for the audience they are aiming for, the site does a very good job, offering mobile services so that users can stay up to date with the latest news, and having a selection of games available in the browser, with no download required.

At the time of writing, the Sports Betting section covered 37 sports, and there were 5686 bets available, sports include football, horse racing, boxing, cricket, tennis, snooker, motorsports, rugby, and more, so there should never be a shortage of things to bet on.

There is a live betting feature which highlights games in progress, and the sports betting page also offers relevant sporting news, so you can keep up to date with your favourite sport while you bet. The news coverage is not comprehensive, but you can see forthcoming events, recent results, and some highlights.

The poker section has a poker tutorial, along with casual quick plays, and regular tournaments. They have ties to the Poker Island tournament, and offer Freeroll tournament qualifiers, as well as ‘Cheaproll’ and cash game qualifiers, so there are plenty of ways for you to prove your skills if you are looking to take part in a major tournament event.

Poker options include browser play, a downloadable client, and a mobile phone client. The downloadable client software only works on Windows, so Mac and Linux users have to use the browser based versions of the game.

There are currently 70 games in the Casino section, including card games, table games, slot machines, and video poker. The range is not quite as broad as in some more specialist casinos, but there are plenty of games to keep you entertained, and there are some impressive jackpots on offer. The payout rate for the casino over all in the month of July 2008 was 97.15%, which is quite good for an online casino.

The Skill Games section offers games such as Scarab Solitaire, Mahjong, and Virtual Champions League. You can play many of the games for fun without registering, but naturally, registration is required for money play. The games load quickly on a broadband connection, and are quite attractively designed. They do, however, have annoying ‘elevator music’ playing by default, so if you are playing at work you may want to turn down your sound before launching a game.

The registration process is quick and easy, and the site accepts a large list of payment options. There is a surcharge for using a Visa, Maestro or Mastercard, but other options such as Paypal, Moneybookers and NETeller are free.

The site takes responsible gaming and fair play seriously. The bwin.com site has a number of pages offering advice and suggestions to players who are concerned about their gambling, including the World Health Organisation test, which helps you identify any issues you may have, and offers suggestions for people looking to control their gambling. The site recommends playing sensibly, with fixed spending limits, and avoiding gambling when drunk.

The games on bwin.com are powered by a certified random number generator, and the site is a member of the European Gaming and Betting Association.

New users get a welcome bonus of 50% on their first deposit, up to a value of EUR 100. There is also a b’inside Members Program, which offers points for regular players. These points can be redeemed for both cash and a range of products and privileges.

The deposit bonuses are lower than those offered by many other casinos, and there is a lack of any ‘happy hour’ promotions, but the published rates and jackpots are very good, which may make up for the lack of promotions.   If you’re looking for a quality ‘all in one’ site that caters to sports and poker fans, then this may be a good choice for you.