Hippodrome Online Casino Review
The Hippodrome is a British gambling brand that’s been around for over a century. The Hippodrome Casino has been one of the favourite destinations for punters in the UK since the early 1900s. However, with the rise of online gaming in recent years, this household name decided to venture into the online casino world. They launched the Hippodrome Online Casino in 2013, under the management of Betway Limited.
This casino is managed by Betway Limited and operates under the jurisdictions of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission in the UK and the Malta Gaming Authority outside Britain. These are, without a doubt, the two most reputable regulatory bodies in the industry.
Still, holding these two licenses isn’t a guarantee that all players will have a pleasant online gaming experience at the casino. In fact, there have been multiple instances throughout the years where punters experienced long payment delays and had poor experiences with Hippodrome’s customer support.
The Hippodrome land-based casino has been in the business for over a hundred years, which is no easy feat. It implies that the people behind the casino know how to provide a comprehensive gaming experience and treat their players well. Therefore, the online casino should offer a variety of world-class games, have excellent bonus offers, superb customer support, and fast withdrawal times.
So how does a century of real-world experience translate to the Hippodrome Online Casino? Where does it stand today, and is it worth your time? Let’s dive into the Hippodrome Casino review and find out.
Terms & Conditions
Before we’ve even laid eyes on the casino’s Terms, we welcomed the fact that Hippodrome separates the general Terms and Conditions from the terms pertaining to the welcome bonus offer and other promotions.
This makes it considerably easier for players to find the information they’re looking for. Don’t get us wrong, you should read through the terms in full before playing at an online casino. However, at Hippodrome Online Casino, you won’t have to read through a block of text to find the wagering requirements for the welcome bonus, for instance.
Moreover, the casino implements sidebar navigation within their Terms pages. This not only facilitates our job but also makes the entire process a bit easier to endure for the players as well.
After a thorough review of the casino’s Terms, we can conclude that they do not contain any predatory or anti-player clauses. This is to be expected since the casino’s Terms must stay in accordance with rules and regulations set forth by the regulatory bodies.
One thing worth mentioning is that Hippodrome Online Casino actively promotes responsible gambling. They strive to provide a fun and fair online gambling experience but understand that some people might suffer from problem gambling. There is also a separate “Responsible Gambling” page on the site, with useful information and links towards outside help groups.
Games and Providers
There’s an overabundance of top-quality casino games on offer at the Hippodrome Online Casino. The Instant Play casino is powered by an industry giant, Microgaming. In addition, the casino’s vast library numbers over 500 games, which is continuously expanded with Microgaming’s newest titles.
The Hippodrome provides a whopping 450+ slot games, so you’ll always have something new and interesting to play. These include everything from classic 3-reel slots to visually impressive, uniquely themed 5-reel machines. Moreover, there are 15 different progressive slots available at the Hippodrome, with progressive jackpots that often reach life-changing sums.
Some of the popular Microgaming’s titles you can enjoy here include Starburst, the Mega Moolah progressive, and the 3-reel Couch Potato, with a generous RTP of 97.43%.
However, slots aren’t the only thing players can look forward to when signing up at the Hippodrome Online Casino. The casino also sports an impressive collection of table games. Currently, there are over a dozen Roulette variants, as well as twenty versions of Blackjack.
Likewise, fans of Video Poker also have plenty of options at their disposal. Lastly, the speciality games available on the site include High-Limit Baccarat, Craps, Sic Bo, Keno, and a few others.
The games are neatly organised in separate categories, making it easy to navigate to your favourites. If you know exactly what you want to play, you can leverage the search function and start betting within seconds.
What is more, the variety of games at players’ disposal contributes to a wide range of available bet sizes. So whether you’re a casual punter or a high roller, you’ll have no trouble finding the games that perfectly suit your needs and fit your bankroll.
The Hippodrome Live Casino
The Live Casino section of the Hippodrome is powered by the undisputedly best provider of live casino games, Evolution Gaming. Among the twelve live tables, players can enjoy the authentic casino experience while wagering on Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat, Hold’em, and Stud Poker.
Additionally, you can try your luck at the popular Live Dream Catcher for a chance to win fantastic prizes. The Live games are available 24/7 and are hosted by professional, friendly dealers and croupiers.
Mobile Compatibility
Nowadays, more punters enjoy playing their favourite casino games on mobile devices. The Hippodrome recognises this and provides a fully-optimised mobile website. Moreover, Android and Apple users can download a mobile app, for speed and convenience.
The bulk of the games available at the Instant Play casino are accessible via mobile devices as well, with the exclusion of some speciality games and less popular slots. You can also participate in the Live Casino via your mobile, tablet, and iPad.
The Hippodrome’s Return to Player
Speaking of games at the Hippodrome Online Casino, we must commend them for publishing the RTP of their games. In other words, you can see how much most of the individual games pay out, on average.
The RTP percentage represents how much money a game (again, on average) gives back to the players. With an RTP of 97%, players will receive £97 for every £100 wagered. But keep in mind that this doesn’t apply to individual spins or game sessions. Rather, the number is calculated over an enormous number of rounds and represents an approximate average.
You might win the jackpot off of a single spin or never win anything. That’s the nature of RNG. However, after a certain amount of rounds, it would balance out with players earning back around 97% of the money they’ve put into the machine.
You can see the RTP of Hippodrome’s games by navigating to the “Theoretical Payout Percentages” page on the website. The overall RTP of games Hippodrome offers is around 95.24%.
The payout percentages are audited and published monthly by eCORGA (e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance). You can see the seal of approval granted by this reputable auditor on the Hippodrome Online Casino’s website.
What this means is that you’ll have a rough idea of which game is, in theory, more lucrative. But more importantly, the fact that their games are certifiably fair instils trust in anyone gambling at the Hippodrome Online Casino.
Financial Information
The funny thing about the Hippodrome Online Casino is that they’re incredibly vague when money comes into play. The casino’s banking page merely lists out all the available banking options.
There is no mention of any limitations or transaction times whatsoever. However, we’ve managed to confirm with a casino representative on Live Chat that there is no withdrawal maximum. They did, however, state that, after reaching a certain withdrawal mark, punters will need to provide verification documents. However, they weren’t keen on specifying the exact amount.
Furthermore, the casino states, in their general Terms, that they incur fees while processing payments. To cover these fees, they enforce a minimum withdrawal of £10. Now, what this means for the players remains unclear.
In addition, the casino urges you to contact the support with questions regarding the associated fees. While the agent did answer all other questions promptly, they “overlooked” the one regarding the fees. Although these fees might not be too big of a deal, keep in mind that you will receive slightly less than the amount you requested, with each withdrawal.
The available currencies at the Hippodrome Online Casino are USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, SEK, and NOK. The pending time is 36 hours, but some players report the pending period lasting up to 3 days. After that, you’ll only see the message “processing commenced.”
You’ll actually have no idea how long it will take. A few days later, the message will change to “payment sent,” and it will likely take a few more days for it to reach your bank account. With that in mind, it makes little difference whether or not the casino states the withdrawal times. It’s apparent that long delays are a common occurrence.
Banking Options
Due to the long waiting times, the Hippodrome might not be the best option if you’re looking for quick payouts. There have been several reports in the past of larger, more considerable sums (£10,000 and more) being stalled for over two weeks.
Although that might not be the case today, the lack of withdrawal times on the Hippodrome’s Banking page suggests that they’re not among the fastest. You might wait a couple of days, or even a couple of weeks to receive your winnings. If you don’t mind the uncertainty, here are the available banking options:
- Credit and Debit Cards
- PayPal
- Neteller
- PaySafeCard — deposits only
- Entropay — deposits only
The available options aren’t anything out of the ordinary, but they should suffice. However, we must point out that this casino doesn’t support cryptocurrency.
Bonuses
The main incentive the Hippodrome Online Casino offers to attract new players is the £1,000 welcome bonus. As you’ve probably guessed, this “generous” offer isn’t a single-deposit bonus. In fact, it consists of three matching 100% bonuses on the first three deposits.
The first two bonuses go up to £250, while the third one will award you with a maximum of £500 bonus funds. Although, in order to claim this welcome offer, you must explicitly state so during account creation.
However, we strongly advise reading the casino’s bonus terms in full prior to ticking the box and agreeing to them. There’s an entire section on what constitutes “advantage play” that you should read and memorise if you intend to play with the casino’s bonuses.
Also, keep in mind that the bonuses are only active for 7 days. During that time, you must fulfil the wagering requirements of 50x the bonus, before requesting a withdrawal. Any excess bonus funds after you complete the playthrough will be transferred to your real money account. The minimum deposit to be eligible for these bonuses is £20.
Slots and all parlour games contribute 100% towards the wagering requirements, while the table and card games only contribute 8%. The excluded games are Classic Blackjack, All Aces Video/Power Pokers, Jacks or Better Video/Power Pokers, Baccarat, Craps, Red Dog, and Sic Bo.
There’s one thing to note here. Any wagers you place using the Gamble Feature on slots or Double Feature on video poker do not count towards the wagering requirements.
Free Spins
Apart from the matching deposit bonuses, the Hippodrome Online Casino awards new players with free spins. This is a no-deposit bonus that all new players can leverage within 7 days of creating the account.
What we find odd is that the casino doesn’t state how many spins they give out. In fact, they’re reluctant to share specific information regarding any bonuses, aside from the welcome offer, until you register an account.
The wagering requirements are 30x the winnings from the free spins. We’re not certain why the casino chooses to overcomplicate this fact in the bonus description. It’s as if they’re deliberately trying to confuse the player by stating that the winnings from the free spins turn to bonus money. Then, they refer you to the “Bonus Account General Terms” for the wagering requirements.
Furthermore, for whatever reason, they decided not to disclose which games the free spins can be used on. Although not rogue in an of itself, the vagueness regarding Hippodrome’s bonus offers suggests that something fishy is going on. We wouldn’t be surprised if the casino relied on their liberal definition of “irregular play” to void any significant winnings accrued from bonus play.
The maximum withdrawal while playing with bonuses that do not require a deposit is £50. With that in mind, the playthrough of 30x the winnings is a bit too high by our standards. The more you win off of the free spins, the worse off you are. For instance, if you get £1,000 from 50 spins, you’d have to wager £30,000 to be eligible for a £50 withdrawal. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?
Customer Support
The customer reviews on forums and watchdog portals suggest that customer support is one of the Hippodrome’s weakest points. However, that no longer appears to be the case.
There are no negative reviews mentioning the casino’s customer service in the past year. Moreover, we can attest to the fact that the casino’s representatives on Live Chat are friendly and professional. The Live Chat can take up to 5 minutes to connect, but you can see your position in the queue at all times.
The agents respond reasonably quickly and will answer your queries without beating around the bush. What’s more, if you’re dissatisfied with how the casino’s support handles your complaint, you can always reach out to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entities. For British punters, this is eCOGRA, while the players outside of the UK can raise their issues with the Malta Gaming Authority.
Although this provides a safety net of sorts to Hippodrome’s players, it can take several weeks for the ADRs to reach a conclusion. And that’s on top of the week or two that passes before you decide to issue a complaint…
So although the casino won’t wipe your account and void your winnings out of the blue, they will make you wait longer than necessary to receive your money. As you can imagine, this doesn’t exactly classify as a player-friendly approach.
No punter should have to put up with this; not when there are plenty of online casinos that pay within a day, without any complications.
Summary
Overall, the Hippodrome online casino is mediocre, at best. They do offer a nice selection of top-tier casino games, but that’s pretty much it. The withdrawals are a nightmare, and you’ll likely have to wait several weeks to claim larger winnings.
Additionally, the bonuses are hidden until you register an account, save for the welcome offer, which is nothing to write home about. On top of that, you must explicitly state that you accept the bonuses during account creation.
There have been instances where Hippodrome wanted to “pamper the players” by automatically crediting the same bonus up to 4 times. With 50x wagering requirements, the bonuses are more of a burden than a gift. They effectively prevent you from withdrawing anything in the first place.
Due to the unacceptable payment delays and dubious conduct regarding bonuses, we cannot recommend the Hippodrome Online Casino. If you want to play your favourite casino games online, we strongly suggest you look elsewhere.
Rating
| Reputation | 3 |
| Software/Games | 4 |
| Banking Options | 4 |
| Banking Times | 1 |
| Support | 4 |
| Bonuses | 2 |