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Prestige Casino is powered by the Playtech software, which is one of the leading brands in the industry. They are operated by one of the biggest online gaming groups and by the biggest Playtech gaming group. We have been working with this group for many years now and they have been one of the most professional groups that we have actually dealt with.
They know the importance of happy customers and they go out of their way to make sure that every single customer and partner is more than just happy. There is seriously very little that one would be able to find wrong with this group and if you do, you would be really wanting to find something.
Prestige casino offers you all the online casino games that you would expect including live dealers and multiplayer games. Over and above that, they also have online poker and online bingo on offer, so you will not need to move around to various establishments if you are looking for a bit of variation.
Since it's opening in early 2000,
Prestige Casino has operated using software from a few different providers. Now it operates under the Playtech banner and as I had not played at the playtech site before I decided it was time to review prestige online casino.
The
Prestige Casino website, which players must visit to download the required software, is easy on the eye yet still provides all the information that a new player would want to know. For example, the ¡® About Us ¡¯ section provides details of the casino's operators and gives some information about the software used - I always think it's good when a casino provides some background information
The actual file required for download is very small - just 312k in size. However, this is actually just a download client which connects to the internet to download the remaining files. A flash version is also available from the website homepage allowing access to a mini version of the casino.
Installing the casino software itself is easy and a nice touch is that the casino can be installed in four languages - English, German, French and Spanish. Similarly, new player registration is straight forward with a player having to complete a quick and easy form to sign up as a new player. I completed the required form without problem and then headed straight to the cashier to make my deposit.
Deposit options are varied and include favourites such as NeTeller, Credit Card and FirePay. One thing I have to say is that the cashier page of the website (i.e. not the actual casino cashier) is excellent - it lists every payment option available along with currencies the payment is available for (the casino can be played in US Dollars, UK Pounds and Euros) as well as any bonuses available. I deposited $100 via Neteller and received a 10% deposit bonus as well as 100% new-player bonus. Incidentally, for bonus hunters Prestige is brilliant - 100% match is available up to $499 and for players depositing $500 there is a whopping $800 bonus awarded! Of course, bonuses do come with wagering requirements and a player must check these out before accepting a bonus.
Games at Prestige are navigated to via the casino lobby where the games are listed via a menu system. The Prestige lobby itself is very attractive with high quality music playing in the background as a player chooses the game they want to play.
As Blackjack is the most popular game playable in a casino, I decided to check out what the Prestige Blackjack was like. Although there is only one form of Blackjack available (apart from the ¡® live games ¡¯ , more of which comes later!), players do have the option of choosing table betting limits - from $1 to $100 for the low-rollers and then from $5-$300 for the bigger bettors. These table limits are fine for the small bettors, although some players may want more from the higher end betting ranges.
However, for me everything was fine and I started by making some $2 bets. Since Prestige allows multi-hand play, I decided to play three hands at once. After playing a bit of Blackjack, I have to say I was impressed by the Prestige offering - quality graphics are used and each round of play is accompanied by a male voiceover. The game speed was also good and a player could get through a number of hands each hour if they so wished. I also found the fairness of the games reasonable, although an equal number of winners and losers meant I actually came out of this game around even.
Now, as stated earlier this is the only ¡® traditional ¡¯ virtual blackjack game playable at Prestige. However, what is also available is a selection of live games of which Blackjack is one! By utilising video web cam technology, Prestige allows players to bet against a real life dealer where oversize cards are transmitted live to players. This is great and lays to rest any doubts that a player may have about internet casino fairness. This development really does make virtual gaming as real as it every will be - there¡¯s even the option to tip the dealer!
I did play at the live table for a while, but because the game is ¡®real¡¯ it did mean that game speed is slow - just as it would be at a real casino. In fact, I am so used to playing super-speed games that I only played a few rounds before moving on to the Video Poker selection at Prestige.
Video Poker is another favourite of mine and Prestige has a reasonable selection of games - favourites such as Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild can be found with many games having multi-hand varieties. The actual game play I experienced was similar to that experienced when playing the table games at Prestige - good graphics are used and are accompanied with subtle sound effects. One nice feature I discovered when playing the Prestige Video Poker is that a player can gamble all, half or none of their winnings on a higher or lower card game. At other casinos I have found you risk all or nothing, so it was good fun to bank half a win and then gamble the rest.
Again, I did reasonably well at Video Poker - no huge wins but some regular but small wins kept my going. I was tempted to risk my $34 win on Aces and Faces but decided that the money would be best if I collected it!
Finally I moved on to the slot selection at Prestige - the combined progressive jackpot total for all games at the time of playing was a massive $1.7m and I definitely fancied grabbing a slice of that action! The actual slots available provide a decent range for players - classic three wheel slots sit along side more advanced ¡®video style¡¯ games where 5 reels are used to show winning combinations.
In terms of the actual quality of games I have to say it was varied. Some slots, such as the Cinerama progressive I played had attractive, bright graphics that are similar in class to those of the competition. However, some games, such as the bizarre Art Auction game (using antiques as play symbols) just looked dated. I have to say that I did not do great on the slots either. I decided to bet $3 a spin on the Fountain of Wealth slot and whilst I knew this was a reasonable bet amount each spin, still expected some winners to keep my bankroll healthy. Unfortunately I got through about $50 of spins with only two winners, each of only $4! As such, this game created a huge dent in my bankroll.
Whilst I did find my luck a little better on the unique Prestige Slots (created exclusively for this casino) as well as the Cinerama progressive (why couldn¡¯t I have hit the $17,000 jackpot?!) I came away from the slots very bruised.
I knew at this point that I was not going to be a winner and so had a final look around the lobby and went back to the Megaball game - a game that I had first looked at earlier in my session. This lottery style game sees 6 balls drawn a minute and a player can bet on a number of different outcomes (total of the balls, colour of the balls and much, much more). I actually really enjoyed this game and with draws only once a minute it was nice to have a change of pace. The graphics used in this game are also really fun which added to my enjoyment. Unfortunately, with my dismal slot performance I only had a small bankroll entering this game and before I knew it there was nothing to cash out.
However, if I had been lucky enough to win, Prestige claim that withdrawals are processed 4 days after the cash-in request. This is a little on the slow side
when compared to some of the competition, but then again I have waited months for cash-ins from some of the more unscrupulous casinos out there. As such, I have no real qualms with the banking processes at Prestige although high rollers should note that the maximum withdrawal allowed each month (excluding progressives) is $10,000.
Finally, I tested Prestige support and discovered that things were generally OK. Support can be emailed and for US players, a toll-free telephone number is provided. It would have been nice to see more international numbers available but this is made up for by the use of an in-game live chat facility. A response I received to an email proved to be courteous and helpful.
In summary, Prestige is a good casino. There is not one aspect that really sets is apart from the competition (apart from maybe the live games), but it does do things pretty well - a decent game selection with nice graphics and sound makes gaming enjoyable. Similarly, whilst support and banking facilities are not mind-blowing, they will be perfectly acceptable to the majority of players. As such, for somewhere different to play where some unusual games are available (e.g. Megaball), gamblers can do much worse than checking out the Prestige offering.