|
Hammers
casino
Hammers Casino Review
Visit Hammers Casino nowUpdated May 12 2006
This is a very difficult review for me to write. Honestly, it pains
me. You see, it is operated by West Ham United and I am a Manchester
United fan. So, it is very difficult for me to stay objective. It
would be simpler for me to just ignore this one and move on.
But, I know the people who market the casino and operate the back
end, so it is difficult for me not to write a review either. They
are the same people who operate the well known Casino Tropez and if
you have read any of my other reviews about this group, you will
know that I am a very big supporter of them. the online casino
group.. not the soccer club - stop trying to put words in my mouth!
They have always treated their players well, irrelevant at which
casino they are playing at and I have absolutely no doubt that here
will be no different. If you are a West Ham United fan - no offence
- you would probably feel the same if Manchester United brought out
an online casino as well, right? This is a perfect place for you
fans to play at as well, because you get the chance to win fan
articles and tickets to games as well as taking part in their
loyalty program!
In the online world, casinos often use
different themes to entice players to sign up and gamble. Yet few
casinos have yet to cash in on partnering with real-world brands to
attract players. Hammer’s Casino, on the other hand, is different as
its entire theme is based on the UK football club West Ham United
(known as the Hammers). This is quite a strange link up as West Ham
is by no means a really major football club. Nevertheless, this
trusted name may well attract players, particularly those from the
UK.
It is my opinion that this Playtech-powered casino is actually
operated by a third party that have simply come to an arrangement
about using the West Ham name as opposed to the club taking an
active part in the management of the casino. This, however, doesn’t
particularly concern me as long as the casino offers a good service.
As such, I decided to check out what the Hammer’s Casino had to
offer.
As stated earlier, the casino is powered by Playtech software which
must be downloaded from the website. The software itself is
delivered to a player’s computer through the use of an installer
which, at just 284k in size, should be easy to download for all
players. Of course, further files are then downloaded and installed
before the casino is up and running.
Registration at the casino is straight forward and after a bit of
form filling I had created my account. I set up an account in UK £
since this UK-themed casino is likely to attract UK players.
However, Euros and US $ accounts can also be created.
The next thing I had to do was to visit the cashier. As with
registration, purchasing casino credits is easy and a decent number
of deposit options are available. I purchased £50 via NeTeller but
credit cards, Click 2 Pay, Firepay, Wire transfer, Citadel amongst
others are all alternatives. As this was my first purchase I was
also awarded with a free £50 bonus. A new player bonus of up to 500
credits is available to those that are interested, although wagering
requirements must then be met before any cash is withdrawn.
Hammer’s Casino has a decent number of different games and to make
navigation easier, a menu system is used grouping games by type
(e.g. Video Poker, Slot etc.). I like this kind of navigation and
think it’s much easier to find a specific game using a menu as
opposed to scrolling through all available games. The West-ham
themed lobby also contains links to other sections of the casino
such as ‘promotions’ and ‘support’, which I think is a nice touch.
To begin my play I decided to check out the Video Poker section of
the casino.
From what I saw, Hammer’s has a reasonable number of games including
some unique games such as Two Way Royal Video Poker. However, the
total number of video poker games totals 12 including multi-hand
variations and as such there are casinos with more video poker games
available. Similarly, whilst some 4-hand games exist, there’s only
one 10-hand and one 25-hand game which again might disappoint some
hardened Video Poker players. Nevertheless, I was happy enough as it
meant I was less likely to lose money trying out all the games
available!
One game I did quite like is the 2-ways royal. I have never hit a
royal flush so I guessed this game gave me doubled the odds!
Basically, a 4000 coin payout is achieved through hitting a standard
Royal Flush but also by hitting a straight flush running 2-6. Sadly,
I didn’t hit any royals, and the reduced payouts on some of the
lower hands meant this game didn’t really do anything for my
bankroll! Thankfully, my 4-line Jacks or Better play was a little
more productive and saw my bankroll rise up to the £130 mark.
With regards to the actual video presentation, I must say I was
pretty impressed. The graphics used are vibrant and of a high
quality and coupled with the sound effects it makes playing a
pleasure. Indeed, these games look better than their counterparts I
have seen in real casinos! Of course, one thing a gambler likes is a
decent game speed and on that front Hammer’s works well. No hang-ups
on these games.
With my Video Poker play complete I now contemplated what to play
next and it was at this point I had a bright idea! Usually I settle
down to play either table games or slots, but this time I decided to
mix the two up! Again, I was trying to maintain my bankroll and
reckoned that what I lost on the slots I would make up on the table
games!
Specifically, I started this grand plan with some play on the Gold
Rally slot. This is an expensive progressive slot which, at £16 a
spin, is probably the most costly slot available online. However,
the jackpots can be huge (average hit for this game is 629,000
credits!) and with such a high per bet amount, non-jackpot wins can
also be decent. In fact, my play on this game started well and quite
early on I got an £80 spin which boosted my bankroll up to £164.
Although I was tempted to carry on playing this game, I have made
this mistake before so moved over to the Poker 3 table game. This
game is Hammer’s version of 3-card poker which is a pretty fun table
game to play. The game has a skill element to it like Blackjack, but
the side bet can pay off handsomely more in line with a decent slot
game. Of course, any game of this nature can be volatile, but
thankfully I was able to get a few winners to boost my bankroll even
further.
As with the Video Poker games, the presentation of the slot and
table games was again excellent. Although some of the slot graphics
were slightly mediocre, generally the graphics used on these games
was excellent. Similarly, suitable sound effects are used where
appropriate and there’s even a dealer voice over available on some
of the table games.
With my bankroll now looking healthy, I moved back to some of the
other slot games available. There is a decent number of these with
both progressive and non-progressive games available. The only type
of slot there is much of is feature slots where a feature sub-game
can be activated. However, apart from this I would think most slot
players would be happy. Some of the slots allow huge bets too –
Desert Treasure allows a maximum bet of £/$/€ 1000!
This was obliviously a stake too high for me and as such I tried out
the ‘A Night Out’ slot game. Unfortunately this 5-line slot wasn’t
great for me and soon my bank balance was reduced to the £150 mark.
The same was true of the Golden Tour game which reduced my bank roll
further.
With my bank roll starting to take a hit and with a decent amount of
wagering requirement still left, I decided to see if the table games
would do anything for me. I decided that Pai Gow poker would be the
game for me. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a great move and even though
the minimum bet for this game was just £1, I stupidly chose to bet
more than this. Incidentally, the maximum bet for this game was
£300.
I did test out some of the other table games such as Caribbean Stud
Poker, but ultimately the wagering requirements meant I hit zero
before being able to cash out. I was particularly annoyed at the
multi-hand Blackjack game where I had 5 decent hands, only to be
blown out by a dealer 21. Again, my big bets probably didn’t help me
here! For the record, the betting range for Blackjack (with up to 5
hands playable at once) was from £1 to £300.
And so, I ended up with nothing. Of course, the annoying thing here
is that if I didn’t take the bonus, I could have cashed in a healthy
amount early on in my session that’s the risk with taking a bonus.
Knowing my luck, if I hadn’t taken the bonus I would have crashed
out in seconds and been kicking myself for not accepting the offer
of more play money!
Although I had no money to cash in this time, I did investigate the
timeframes for cashing in. Unfortunately the website does not make
it clear how long withdrawals take to be processed, but by
telephoning support I found out that withdrawals stay in pending for
4 business days and then take about 2-3 days longer to be paid.
Whilst this is not terrible, many casinos online nowadays process
much faster than this and as such this is a negative in my book.
As stated above, customer support is provided over the telephone and
also via email. Toll free numbers are available for the US and the
UK but not for anywhere else. Again, this is a slight let down.
Similarly, whilst the representative was helpful in answering my
question about withdrawals, when I asked to have my account closed I
was told I would have to email. I personally dislike it when support
personnel are not able to deal with relatively easy requests such as
this. Having said that, I did receive an email response to my query
within 15 minutes which is impressive.
To conclude, I think Hammer’s is a reasonable casino to play at. The
software used to power this casino is very decent with a variety of
games presented in a high quality. Similarly, the sign up bonus is
nice although wagering requirements can be harsh as I found out! The
only downside is the functions such as banking and support. Whilst
these are present and do work, I just feel in today’s online world
this casino needs to do more to address these parts of the service.
There are definitely other casinos out there that are better in
these areas. Nevertheless, for a change to the ordinary or for those
attracted by the theme, Hammer’s Casino is still a trustworthy
casino that could be worth trying out.
 |
