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Golden Palace - online casino review
Golden Palace Casino is maybe as well known to non-gamblers as to those that regularly play online; the reason being that there has been much press about this casino’s ‘promotional techniques’.
Starting off with employing streakers to interrupt major events, the casino has recently been buying up strange items on ebay - such as a grilled cheese sandwich said to show the face of the Virgin Mary!
Yet despite this promotional activity, and despite having played online for a number of years, Golden Palace was actually brand new to me when it became time for another Online-Casinos review. As such, I decided to see what the draw was with this Playtech-powered casino.
As with most online casinos, a player must install the required software before being able to bet. With Golden Palace this software comes via an installer which means the initial download file size is only 321k. This installer then requests subsequent files from the website.
As one would hope, downloading and installing is really easy, and I was impressed with the option to install the software in any of 5 languages.
Having installed the software it was now time to register a new account, again an easy process of simple form-filling. Incidentally, I set up a US $ account, but players can also choose to play in UK £ and Euros.
The next step was to make a deposit into my account, which I promptly did by transferring $100 from my NETeller account. Of course, a number of other depositing options are available; ranging from the standard credit cards to less popular options such as FirePay and eWalletXpress.
As a new user that had deposited via NETeller, I was also entitled to claim Golden Palace’s huge 300% sign-up bonus. Of course, there are wagering requirements associated with the bonus and it is removed again upon cash-in, but deciding that I wanted a nice big bankroll I accepted the $300 bonus and so began my session with a huge $400!
The Golden Palace games are presented in a menu format with each being split by type (e.g. video slots, card & table etc.), and since the card games menu was at the top of the list, I decided I would check these games out first.
From what I could see - all the casinos favorites are available, including my favorite, Blackjack. As such, I took a seat at the multi-player table (as opposed to the single-player and multi-hand tables) and placed my first bet.
Betting limits at Golden Palace Casino are very good, ranging as they do from just $1 to hand up to a massive $500. Although I started betting small, a string of losing bets meant that I soon upped my bets to bigger amounts – I needed to stay above the initial $400 to make the bonus worthwhile!
Happily though, I had much success at the higher levels and soon found myself back on top!
As well as enjoying the good fortune I seemed to be having, I have to say that the game play at Golden Palace was also very good. The blackjack game was highly realistic with great graphics and smooth gameplay, making play really fun. The game is also played with great sound effects; including a female dealer commentates on the play as it progresses.
Although I could have quite happily have carried on playing Blackjack, I realized that my luck wouldn’t last forever - and so I decided to check out some of the other table and card games available.
Again, all played excellently, and it became clear that the high quality presentation found in the blackjack game is replicated throughout the games suite at Golden Palace.
I have to say that I had particularly good luck at Caribbean Stud Poker, where again some big bets paid off. I came out of this game with a balance of $450 - a nice $50 above my starting point.
At this point I spied a section of the casino labelled ‘live games’. Upon checking these out, I discovered that Golden Palace have live web-cam games! As such, players can bet against a real dealer instead of a computer – how great is that!
However, having had my fix of table games I decided to check out some of the slot games available. Although Golden Palace does have a decent range of slots (video, progressive etc.), the total number of slot games playable is not huge. As such, avid slot players may be slightly disappointed at the selection of games available, but for a part-time slot player like me I was more than happy.
I was even happier after playing the Gold Rally progressive game. Initially I was shocked when I pressed the maximum bet button and found I was betting $16 a spin. Yet for some reason, I decided that I would play until I had my first win. Thankfully this proved to be a good move, as my first win, on the third spin of the game, rewarded me with a huge $420 winner!
I did play on some of the other slot games available, and must say that although the range of games is not great, the ones that are available are good fun. The presentation of all the slot games is also great – it’s clear that the developers of the casino have focused hard on making the games as lifelike and enjoyable as possible.
Another slot that I did have a little play on was called $5 Million Winning Streak which, as the title suggests, pays out up to $5m! What attracted me to this game was the graphics used – maximum win is achieved by lining up 5x Virgin Mary Cheese Sandwiches! Other graphics on the slot include pictures of the streakers mentioned earlier – a very tongue-in-cheek game to say the least!
However, I didn’t have any luck with this game, although I guess that’s the way that slots go – you don’t win much for ages then get a huge win like my $420. As such, to complete the review I moved over to the Video Poker section of the casino. Again, not huge a selection of games are available, but most player favorites are.
I had a go at the Progressive MegaJacks game, and although the progressive was only just under $500 at the time of playing, it’s not a bad game for a $1.25 bet. I guess I liked this game most because of the straight flush I was dealt straight away on my very first hand!
I did have some fun playing some of the other Video Poker games available, including the Aces and Faces 25-hand game. Incidentally, all of the Video Poker games have a double-up option available for all those who like a gamble!
After all my play at Golden Palace I had $803 in my account, and once the bonus was removed again, meant that my first cash-in was $503 – a nice $403 profit on my $100 deposit!
Unfortunately, it does take a little while to get paid at Golden Palace (usually around 72 hours), but took a little longer this time because it was my first withdrawal.
Like a number of casinos, Golden Palace requires a number of documents to be sent to them for auditing before they pay out.
On the support front, Golden Palace Casino offer assistance both via telephone and email. Although email support seemed to be little slow when I tested it, with telephone support being available for instant help I don’t think this is a problem.
I was particularly impressed with the number of toll-fee numbers provided by the casino, pretty much every major country has a contact number listed.
In summary, I have to say that Golden Palace is a very good casino - and in fact it exceeded my expectations.
I think that the questionable marketing tactics had made me question this casino, but having played there I have to say I was impressed. Of course, I am sure that the big win helped shape my opinion! In all honesty though, a casino with a good selection of games and with efficient support and banking functions is OK in my book.
All in all, Golden Palace is definitely a recommended casino for those that like the Playtech platform.