The Best Casino Sites in UK
Welcome to Casivo.co.uk. We’re here to take the hassle out of finding the best casino in UK that perfectly suits your tastes and preferences. With Casivo, our team of industry professionals provides you with a top list of recommended casinos for the UK market, making it easy for you to make an informed choice.
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Best Online Casinos February 2019
Guide to the Best Casino
What we do at Casivo is quite simple. We bring you the very best casinos in UK so that you can play with peace on mind. As such, you can be rest assured that we only recommend playing at 100% safe and legitimate casinos, so that you can have the best experience ever!
We fully understand how daunting it can be to search for a great UK online casino, especially with new casinos popping up in the hundreds. Our tools, team and sophisticated software allow us to filter through all of the UK casino sites and to hand select only the best. This way, you don’t need to worry about doing a long search and end up wasting your hard earned cash to test a few casino sites. Some of our recommendations are more suitable for beginners, others for high rollers or for those who prefer to play via their mobile phones.
Before publishing any casino on our site, the casino operator is tested based on a number of key elements to ensure that they meet our criteria of being the best.
Our UK Casino Test Criteria
- Safety and Security
- Legitimate Licensing
- Customer Support
- Brand Recognition, History and Awards
- Ease of Use, Navigation and Design
- Games Software and Fairness
- Range of Promotions and Casino Bonuses
- Products such as Sports Betting, Poker, Bingo, Live Casino
- Terms and Conditions and Wagering Requirements
- Payment Methods and Turnaround Times
When searching for the best online casino on the market, our attention is always drawn to the safety and security of players. We ask the questions of whether UK players can deposit and withdraw their money with ease and whether sensitive data is protected by SSL encryption. We also look at where the casino is licensed to prove its legitimacy of operation in the UK.
Apart from this, the best casino sites should also have great customer support to ensure that your needs are attended to. We test the live chat, email and call facilities of each of recommended casinos to assess the level of quality service rendered to the UK community. A top casino site also has some sort of recognition in the market and it is for this reason that we dig deep to see if the operator has any awards or history that makes them stand out from the rest.
Furthermore, it’s our duty to sign up at a casino and test the usability and functionality of the site as a whole. We check how easy it is to navigate from page to page and how fast the loading times are for games. All of this forms part and parcel of how responsive the casino site design is which is vital factor when making a recommendation.
We then move onto games fairness and play a few games for real money over a period of time to check the true RTP and whether the games are audited for fair play. The range of software providers also play a huge role in our testing stages, as each provider has something unique to offer.
To avoid any unexpected surprises, we carefully read through the casino’s terms and conditions to make sure that the casino does not have any requirements that are difficult to understand or that in any way might ruin your experience. This includes anything from verifying that no hidden fees are taken for payments and that the bonus terms are what they should be.
One of our final testing stages include looking at how diverse the casino site is in offering additional products such as sports betting, live casino, bingo or poker games, allowing you to conveniently play at one spot.
Of course, casino bonuses are also carefully reviewed where we put a lot effort into creating an understanding of how good the bonus actually is by looking at the welcome offer including both deposit bonuses and free spins. Another thing that has been quite important is the wagering requirements that sometimes can be a bit hard to understand. For your own sake, it is always good to read the terms and conditions for each casino you sign up to. Furthermore, we will also check how frequently and what type of promotions the casino campaigns on a regular basis.
With Casivo, you can find a list of only the best casinos by simply using our handy filter function, helping you discover the right casino just for you!
Casino Bonuses
As a casino player, we have to admit that there are few things in life that could compare to the value of a good casino bonus and we’re sure you can agree. However, we know that it can be quite a task to firstly search for, and then compare different casino bonuses.
Casivo Word of Advice from Industry Expert Adam Scott:
“Your first step to guide you within the land of welcome offers and bonuses, is to look at the entire bonus offer and focus on the percentage match of a deposit bonus rather than how big it is. This is quite a common mistake most new players make when signing up with a casino. ” – Adam Scott
When looking at casino promotions, it is common that the casino site only advertises their total bonus amount not taking into consideration how much or how many times you need to make a deposit. Hence, it’s hard to realise that a single deposit bonus of 200% up to £1000 is much better than four deposit bonuses matched by 50% up to £2000.
Apart from this, a key factor in deciding whether a bonus has great value is its wagering requirements. Most casino sites in UK ask that you to play through a casino bonus a certain number of times before you can even attempt to withdraw any winnings accrued from such a bonus.
It would be way too easy to deposit money, claim a bonus and withdraw everything without even playing, which in fact, defeats the purpose of the bonus completely. The industry standard to wagering requirements is set between 30x to 40x, which is a reasonable range.
What’s trending on the market these days is a combination of a welcome deposit offer plus an additional amount of free spins on a featured slot or fruity machine. In most cases, these set of free spins also carry the same wagering requirements of the deposit bonus, allowing you to withdraw your winnings after meeting the requirements.
Now that you’ve got a good understanding about finding a great casino in UK, we recommend selecting a casino site with a welcome offer that matches the deposit bonus with a high percentage along with a set of free spins and a low wagering requirement.
Latest Casino News
Online Casino UK
Consider yourself a slots fan from the UK? If so, you have the option to play at hundreds of sites that cater for your needs. Online casinos in UK have certainly evolved over the years to bring you tons of games from multiple software providers.
In most cases, slot games are produced and distributed to a casino by software developers such as Microgaming, NetEnt, IGT, and Bally, amongst others. The game providers are responsible for creating all the graphics, mechanics and different features for the games, which they then lease to casinos in return for royalties. In rare cases though, casino games are developed in-house by the casino itself, which is why you often find the usual titles across a broad range of online casinos.
However, not all slots are the same and vary based on:
- RTP
- Reels
- Paylines
- Bonus Games
- Multipliers
- Number of coins
- Design
- Theme
- Symbols
These elements determine how much and how often you can win. Further to this, not all slots come with reels where all you need is three similar symbols in a row. Today, some slot machines are more similar to video games using top modern graphics and technology to entertain you as a player. Such slots, referred to as video slots, also offer more combinations of winning lines that create more possibilities where you can win money.
Thomas Kent, Casivo Slots Expert Says:
“Did you know that slot machines were called one-armed bandits back in the day due to its iconic lever placed on the side of the machines? While these were originally created for land-based casinos, you can find the mordernised versions of the slot machine, also known as fruit machines or fruities, at online casino sites in UK and abroad. Today’s slots are way more sophisticated with start of the art graphics and functionality to appeal to a wider audience and player psyche.” – Thomas Kent
Casivo Top Tip on Winning Big on Slots:
- To win big money, as you may know, jackpot slots are the way to go. In the UK, you can find a solid variety of jackpot or progressive slot machines where several casino sites are linked to the same machine or jackpot network. For progressive slots, every failed attempt to win, results in increasing the jackpot even further, giving you the chance to rake in on massive amounts of cash.
- Do bear in mind though that in order to win big, you may have to wager at the maximum bet or number of coins.
Our conclusion is, that if you are looking for the best online casino there is, we make sure that our recommended list of top UK casinos only employ the best there is in casino games software, provide a great variety of slots and that there is a value for money welcome bonus to take advantage of. For more information about a specific casino site, dig deeper into our in-depth casino reviews.
Mobile Casinos
As technology is at its best in our current era, most casino sites have adjusted their functionality of their platforms to be optimized for mobile. As a result, playing on your iOS, Android, Windows or Blackberry device is quite similar to playing at a casino via web on laptop or PC. This is all thanks to HTML5 technology that allows you to play seamlessly across a number of mobile devices. Several brands also make app versions of their casinos available to marketplaces such as the Apple App Store and Google Play as a download option. Downloading a casino app allows you to play in a much faster environment in terms of loading times as the entire interface is uniquely designed for mobile usage. To play on the go from the UK, all you need is a stable Wi-Fi or 4G connection to play wherever and whenever you want.
Live Casinos
Technology is truly at its best, especially considering that you can now play land-based casino games in a live environment! All that’s needed is solid internet connection to play against live table dealers for a completely immersive experience. There’s no doubt that the concept of live casinos in UK has become a popular choice for players as it allows you to stream and play the game in real time and in 3D alongside croupiers and other players! As a social player, live casino gaming is a perfect choice!
Questions & Answers
Why should I trust Casivo?
Casivo is run by a team with years of experience within the gambling industry. By that, we have developed our own framework to make casino reviews as objective as possible. All the reviews you find at Casivo are thoroughly tested and verified before recommendations. If you have any complaints or questions, please feel free to contact us.
What are wagering requirements?
A wager requirement is a tool used by most casinos to prevent fraud when in terms of bonuses and free spins. When accepting a bonus with wagering requirements, you’ll need to wager or play through your bonus money before you can withdraw any cash. For a bonus of 100% up to £100 with a wager requirement of 35, this means that you must wager 35*100 = £3500 before you can cash out the bonus money. Do note that in some cases that you can withdraw your own cash at anytime; however, you may forfeit the bonus amount.
How much is a casino bonus worth?
Usually, depending on the type of bonus, a casino bonus is worth a certain percentage based on your deposit. The extra money you receive from the casino is considered as bonus money, which you often have to wager. With a wager requirement of 35 times the bonus amount, about 50% of the value gets converted to real cash. However, only 20% of the bonuses get converted due to the fact that some players win really big.
What is return to player on a slot machine?
Return to player, often referred to as RTP, is a percentage that reflects how much you can expect in returns from a casino game over a long period of time. In terms of slots, a standard RTP is around 96%. This can be compared to the NetEnt slot Blood Suckers that has 98% in RTP or the classic casino game Roulette that has 97,3% in RTP.
What is a progressive Jackpot?
Progressive jackpots are also known as pooled jackpots. It works in a way that several players from a number of casino sites play to win the big jackpot, which often exceeds several millions. Every lost bet from any player, further contributes in increasing the overall jackpot prize amount.
Are slot machines rigged?
No. Slots are rarely developed by casino sites and cannot be controlled or adjusted in any sense by a particular online casino. Instead, slot machines and other casino games are developed by game providers that are under regulation by the UK Gambling Commission to ensure that the pay-out ratio and other factors follow the rules that are stated.
Best Slots
High Roller Slots
Key Features of High Roller Slots
- High Volatility
- High Return to Player (RTP)
- Big Wins
As a high roller, key player or VIP member, we bet that you’re already on the casino’s radar that you’re playing at. As such, you may be privy to special treatment such as receiving gifts, tailor-made casino bonuses, free spins, access to tournaments or even game previews. Hence, you’d want the possibility to wager a lot of money on the slots you are playing. By that, you should focus on slots with high RTP (return to player). This may require you to compromise on other elements such as graphics, bonus rounds or other cool effects. Simply put, your focus should be to wager a lot of money and converting your VIP-bonuses while chasing a big win.
For high rollers, the slots volatility is what matters most. It’s the make or break in terms of getting your returns on your deposits and wagers. Slots volatility simply means how balanced the winnings are, and your main focus should be on medium to high volatility slot games. The reason for that is that most high rollers aim to win big and therefore should play slots with the chance to score more.
Beginner Slots
Key Features of Beginner Slots
- Low Volatility
- Small, But Frequent Wins
- Popular Games
If you are new online casinos in the UK, you should aim to play slot games with a high chance of winning. This way, you get off on a good start as to not burn through your cash as quickly as possible. By choosing to play a slot of low volatility or variance, it means that you will have more frequent returns, however in smaller amounts as compared to high volatility slots.
To get started, we recommend selecting a few slots that have great graphics with wilds, scatters and bonus games. Why not try your hand at any of the slots that are based on popular TV-series or blockbuster movies? These are often associated to low variance slots that boast superb graphics and bonus games. These types of games are commonly featured as top slots and are often associated to casino promotional campaigns such as free spins offers.
Mobile Slots
Key Features of Mobile Slots
- Play on the Go
- Download Options
- Pure Convenience
Choosing a mobile slot game should be a really simple process, but when a game loads slowly, it spells trouble. This is why you have to take note on how long a mobile slot’s load times are as it may indicate further problems down the line. Apart from this, another key element to great mobile slots is layout and navigation. The slot game should replicate its PC version in terms of usability, functionality and design. The casino games we recommend trying out in this category are those that are developed with mobile optimisation by games providers. As such, you’ll have comfort in knowing that you can play with ease as these games are 100% mobile ready. Quite a few slot games are also available as a download option or available as an entire suite via a casino app, allowing you to take advantage of winning wherever you go.
Jackpot Slots
Key Features of Jackpot Slots
- Big Winning Possibilities
- Can Reach in Excess of Millions
- Constantly Increases in Value
There’s no doubt about it, all casino players dream of hitting it really big. Just picturing how it will all work out is pure bliss; the anticipation, the reaction, what to buy and how it can simply change your life for the better by winning the jackpot. Most UK casinos understand this desire and make quite a few jackpot slots available for the chance to strike it lucky. We reckon that you look for those progressive jackpot slots that are connected to one network, giving you the opportunity to hit jackpot amounts that often exceed £10 million in just one single spin. These types of slots often come with smaller jackpots such as a small, major, or mega amounts you can win. If you have never tried a jackpot slot before we recommend that you at least give it a go just for the thrill of it!
Casivo supports responsible gaming
Problem gambling is real and can often go by undetected. It can happen to anyone and it’s complicated to pinpoint when someone has it or not. Problem gambling is quite serious and can also extend to other areas other than financial issues. A few common signs to look out for are if you or someone close to you spends too much time playing at online casinos, or if the person has excuses for gambling and attempts to borrow cash for playing. This is why we feel strongly about encouraging our readers to only play with cash that they can afford to spend. If you feel that your gambling is problematic and that you need help, we urge you to get in touch with the National Gambling Helpline on number 08088020133 (toll-free).