With a sleek black-and-white background and red accents, PokerStars is an online casino that quickly catches the eye. A great place for poker players, but also for casual casino players and sports betters, there’s a lot to unpack in our PokerStars casino review.
Overview of PokerStarsCasino
PokerStars is a medium-sized casino whose name has been copyrighted since 2001. Owned by Rational Intellectual Holdings Limited, PokerStars was once a global casino catering even to US players. Yet, following the US Department of Justice’s ruling in 2011, its market is now contained to Europe. The casino itself is still well-stocked, with hundreds of games that include slots, table and dice games, live casino games, and sports betting.
Even so, what the brand is really known for is its poker games, for which it has a dedicated desktop and mobile app, and organizes many tournaments. During our PokerStars casino review, we also found that the casino still has a global approach. It comes in 11 languages, including English, Swedish, Polish, French and German; and has three very desirable licenses from Malta, Sweden and Portugal.
All this is great, yet, in our opinion, the casino fails to impress when it comes to its bonuses and customer support. For the former, the options are much smaller than those many other casinos hand out – though that should not be a problem if you’re not looking for a big bonus. For the latter, the options are a help section and a form you can fill out, which means there is no one to talk to via chat in real-time.
In the end, the casino is still very safe and well-stocked, so it will certainly make a good home for players who want many options without the worry of meeting bonus wagering requirements. So, that’s what we think. But, if you still haven’t made up your mind or if you’d like to go through our full PokerStars casino review, then simply keep on reading. Here, we’ve reviewed PokerStars casino licenses, bonus, safety and available payment methods.
Pros & Cons of PokerStars Casino
PROS
- An ideal place for both poker and casino players
- Hundreds of games
- Provides a mobile app
- Comes in a wide variety of languages
CONS
- Customer support isn’t great.
PokerStars Casino Bonuses
PokerStars’ bonuses are not the best of their kind. Indeed, they are pretty basic compared to those of other casinos out there. This, however, may not be a bad thing for all players, as some prefer to simply play with the money they have rather than get into a rut of playing more and more money to meet the wagering requirements of their chosen bonus. So, what types of bonuses did we find at PokerStars? Here’s a rundown.
Remember that for Welcome Bonuses, it is important to check the terms and conditions of these bonuses, particularly as you may need codes to activate the bonus and some payment methods automatically disqualify you from claiming them.
Welcome Bonus
PokerStars don’t really have any match bonuses for users, instead, they give new users who deposit money some extras. In their Casino section, new registrations that deposit at least $10 get 100 free spins split over two days. In the Poker section, meanwhile, their ‘exclusive welcome offer’ is basically $25 (or equivalent) worth of Spin & Go tickets + $5 in cash to whomever makes a first deposit of at least $20 or the equivalent. These tickets can be used in the Spin & Go Poker Tournaments.
Gamification
PokerStars is a casino that truly puts gamification into practice. For those who are new to the term, this is a type of marketing used by casinos to garner new players and keep existing ones returning for more.
Among the many gamification-style features you can find at PokerStars are the monthly $1,000,000 Casino Race, the Daily Drop Jackpots, the Random Casino Rewards, and the Live Casino Races. Other than this, we were not able to find any reload, deposit, no deposit, or cashback bonuses.
Stars Rewards
Another type of gamification bonus at PokerStars that deserves its own explanation is the Stars Rewards Program. Basically, you are given the chance to collect points every time you play real money games. The more coins you get, the bigger the chests you will be able to open. The rewards here range from $0.60 to $700.
How to Sign Up to PokerStars Casino
If you’re ready to join the world of PokerStars, then there isn’t much that you need to do to get started. Indeed, once you click the green ‘Join’ button at the top-right-hand corner of the website, you just have to follow the next few steps.
1. Select PokerStars Casino
Pressing the ‘Join’ button will open up a pop-up on your screen. This is the first of two pages where you have to input your information. On this page, the information requested of you is simply your country of residence, your email address, and your preferred username and password. When all this has been filled in, click the green ‘Continue’ button.
2. Register Your Account
The next pop-up page has two boxes you can opt to select. The first one is about receiving special offers, news, and promotions from the site. This can be left unchecked. The second box, however, is that you are at least 18 years of age, and that you agree to PokerStars’ End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy. You will have to tick this box if you want to create your account.
3. Make A Deposit
Once you click the green ‘Create An Account’ page, you will be taken to another pop-up page, where if you haven’t already ticked it, the option to receive news and promotions is once again available. Underneath this, you will find a ‘Make a Deposit’ button.
4. Start Play!
That’s pretty much it, really! Next up you can make a deposit using a variety of payment methods and start playing all your favorite casino games.
PokerStars Casino Review: Games & Software
With well over a 1,000 games to choose from, PokerStars is a decent-sized casino carrying a lot of well-known games by some of the world’s most trusted developers. These include typical online casino games like slots, card and table games, and live dealer casino games. Yet the casino also stocks instant-win games, races, tournaments, and even has a sports betting section. Yes, when it comes to games, PokerStars is quite great, really!
Slots
Found under the Casino section, the slots’ page at PokerStars is stocked with hundreds and hundreds of titles. Here you’ll find traditional slots, Megaways, progressive jackpot games, and even some exclusive titles. The developers behind the majority of these games are also super well-known and include NetEnt, Thunderkick, Play’n Go, and Big Time Gaming, among many others.
Table & Card Games
Blackjack, roulette, and baccarat have a home in the ‘Card & Table’ game section, along with a series of card games like Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, and All American. Nevertheless, anyone looking to play poker will find the game in a completely different section.
Live Dealer Casino Games
Also in the Casino section, the live games include roulette, blackjack, baccarat, dragon tiger, and Texas Hold’em, as well as live game shows like Monopoly, Crazy Time, and Deal or No Deal. The selection is varied and there’s something for everyone. Yet, as mentioned above, if you are looking for live poker, you will need to head to the Poker section.
Races & Tournaments
PokerStars takes gamification to the next level with its poker tournaments and $1,000,000 casino races. These may not be for everyone, but if they’re your cup of tea, PokerStars could quickly become your home
Sports Betting
On top of the Poker and Casino sections, our PokerStars casino review also looked at the Sports section. This is where punters can place bets on loads of different types of sports including UK football, Elite European leagues, the NBA, the Super Bowl, NHL, tennis, and basketball.
Poker
By going to the dedicated Poker page, users can download the PokerStars app and play directly on their phone or desktop computer. Poker tournaments and live poker are also available in this section.
PokerStars Casino Review: Payment Options
How you pay matters, especially when it comes to online casinos. With regards to payment methods, PokerStars is neither great nor terrible. Depending on where you’re connecting from, the options may include Visa and MasterCard credit cards, as well as a number of eWallets, namely Skrill, Neteller, MuchBetter, WebMoney, Rapid Transfer, and Trustly. Digital wallet service Apple Pay is also available, as is the paysafecard.
These are all pretty standard, though it should be noted that the site does not accept all of the above for withdrawals. Either way, neither deposits nor withdrawals should take too long to be effected.
The list is completed with Local Bank Transfer, Wire Transfer, and Direct Bank Transfer, all of which can take a few days to process your deposits and withdrawals. The minimum deposit for each method varies, but $10-$20 seems to be the minimum for all. PokerStars has no options for cryptocurrency users, so if you have Bitcoin, Litecoin or any of the others, you’ll have to find another way to pay or a different casino.
PokerStars Casino Features
PokerStars Casino offers its players safety and security foremost, however, the level of customer service is not quite as what we expected. See more below.
Customer Support at PokerStars Casino
Customer support is where PokerStars is at its weakest. In this regard, the brand offers users a pretty basic Help section, which includes answers to questions regarding deposit limits and closing an account, and an email-like contact form for logged-in users.
There is no live chat and, considering the amount of bad reviews we found online, the brand would certainly benefit from having one to help users out.
Whether the lack of live customer support is something that you should be concerned about or not, depends on what makes you feel safest. At the end of the day, if this is something that makes you feel uneasy, then you have your answer.
Safety & Security at PokerStars Casino
Safety should not be a problem at PokerStars. For a start, the brand has three very secure licenses: one from the Malta Gaming Authority, one from the Swedish Gambling Authority, and another from the Portuguese Gambling Inspection and Regulation Service. These licenses are among the most trusted in the online casino world, and they hold their licensees to very strict regulations that keep the casino safe, your data secure, and all games fair.
On top of this, the website has the all-important lock logo next to its web address. This means that any information exchanged between you and the casino, as well as vice versa, is SSL-encrypted. In other words, no one who shouldn’t be seeing it will be able to.
As we worked on our PokerStars casino review, we could find no fault with the security of the casino, which is why our verdict here is that the brand is a safe one to use.
Mobile Casino
When it comes to mobile, PokerStars has an online mobile website for its casino and a dedicated app for its poker. But how do they fare? Well, the website optimizes itself quickly and neatly on any mobile device screen, be it an iPhone, Android phone or a Microsoft phone. The same can be said for tablets, including the iPad. The mobile site has all the slots, table games and live casino games that are available on the main website.
The mobile poker app, meanwhile, is great for anyone looking to play poker on the go. Easy to install and download (directly from the website), this iPhone and Android app takes you to a gorgeous lobby where you can pick whether you want to play solo, against others, in tournaments, or even live. This app is also available for Windows and iOS computers.
Our Verdict: PokerStars Casino – Safe, Fun, Simple.
As we come to the end of our review, let’s condense everything into one, short paragraph. The main pros of this casino are that it comes in 11 languages and carries over 1,000 games (including sports betting). The main cons are that it does not have live chat customer support and that it could have better bonuses. So, should you join it? Well, we would certainly recommend checking it out!
 |  | Sign-Up | UK 18+ | Play Responsibly | T&C Apply |
