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As Casino-On-Net, the site we now call 888.com was a pioneer
in the online betting industry. The site launched in 1997, when
many of the big names in the Web-based sportsbook and gambling
industries didn't even exist.
- 888 is one of the biggest names in online gaming. Well, according to Wikipedia 888 did more than $454 million in 2014. It's not surprising, really. 888's been in business more than 20 years, offering multiple gambling products, which include a sportsbook, poker room and bingo hall.
- 888 is a well-known international gambling brand. You might even have an account at one of their sites – maybe their casino, bingo hall or sportsbook. You may have even already read one of our other 888 reviews on their casino or sportsbook. In this review, however, we're going to cover their poker room.
Overview
888.com is based in Gibraltar, licensed by the UK and
Gibraltar gambling commissions, and uses a combination of
several software platforms to host sports betting, casino games,
poker, bingo, and a variety of other skill and luck-based
contests.
The complete list of software companies that designed 888's
games is long – Random Logic, GamesOS, Electracade, Bwin.Party,
WagerWorks, NextGen, Blueprint Gaming, Endemol Games,
NetEntertainment and Amaya. I'm always encouraged by a library
built from multiple platforms, since it's an early sign that the
user interface and variety of bets available will earn high
marks.
Now, here's the good news and the bad news.
First, the Good Stuff – The Features of the Site That I Liked.
888.com's Longevity in the Industry is a Good Sign of
Their Legitimacy.
But their reputation as an
above-board operator isn't based just on the fact that they'll
soon celebrate their 20th anniversary. I had a hard time finding
too many complaints about the site. Complaints at PokerScout
focus on the quality of competition more than anything.
The Site Gives Access to (A Very Small Number of) US
Citizens.
888.com is a curious case in terms of access
for US players. Thanks to changes in legislation in the US state
of New Jersey, 888.com was able to make a deal with the
government to allow New Jersey residents to get access to all of
their online and mobile games.
You Can Play a Ton of Different Games All in One
Place.
This is a matter of convenience, and some
gamblers won't care one way or the other. I like blackjack, but
I also bet on sports, and having access to both with a couple of
clicks is convenient. To a certain segment of the population,
convenience is everything. If you're one of those people, you'll
appreciate having a bingo parlor, poker room, casino floor, and
sportsbook all at one site.
The Casino's Software Comes From a Healthy Blend of
Designers.
I love that 888 uses NetEnt and a few
proprietary slot games, since they're the best in the industry.
I've reviewed far too many Microgaming and Playtech and RTG
sites, and I'm always happy to find a site offering these slots.
They're more fun, with more replay value, and better effects.
I'm also pretty happy with the casino selection. I cover this in
more detail in the game category reviews below.
And Now For the Bad News – A Few Features About 888.com That I Don't Like.
The Feature I'm Most Concerned About is How Difficult
it Was For Me to Contact Customer Support.
I've never
had such a difficult time even finding contact information for a
major online casino operation before. The way it's set up is
really odd – check out the full description in the Customer
Support section below. I consider this to be a really important
problem with the site, so I encourage you to read the details
below.
I Also Don't Like That the Site Doesn't Explicitly
State Any Details About Its Payment Methods.
I
complained about this above. I imagine the fees and transfer
times are similar to what I'm used to at other sites, but why
not advertise that fact?
Several Reviews I Read Cited the Fact That 888
Refuses to Work With Third-Party Mediation Services.
I
don't have much to add here, except that if these accusations
are true, it's not a good thing.
The Casino Games Section Includes Some Snazzy Titles,
But Overlooks a Few Casino Classics.
Poker god mode. Again, I go into
more detail on this subject in the game reviews a bit lower on
the page.
Here is an overview of each gambling option available at
888.com at the time of my review.
Bonus Details
- Poker Welcome Bonus – 100% match bonus worth up to $888
- Casino Welcome Bonus – 100% match bonus worth up to $3,000
- Mobile Bonus – Unlimited $2 'Instant Bonus' pay for mobile players
Please Note: On all of these above bonuses, T&C apply.
Banking Options
At the time of this review, 888.com allows deposits and
withdrawals from a total of forty-three payment methods. Some of
them are region-specific; others are available to customers all
over the world.
Rather than list every payment method available, I'll point
you to the source for this information –
888.com's 'Accepted Payment Methods' page. It's valid as of
the time of my review, and includes a list of all forty-three
accepted payment methods.
The list is a decent representation of all the popular
methods, from credit and debit products to eWallets. A few
conventional funds transfer methods are available – bank drafts,
payments by check and courier, and wire service payments.
It would be nice if 888.com shared information about transfer
times, fees, and minimum and maximum deposit amounts, like
basically every other online casino I've reviewed, but that
information is not publicly available. I did manage to get some
of these details from a member of the customer support team, but
that seems like an unusual thing to be secretive about.
Casino
All casino games at the site are broken up into four
categories.
Sure, the site has nine roulette variants, five different
versions of blackjack, and thirty-three different NetEnt slots,
but I'm shocked that customers can't choose to play games like
craps, casino poker, and keno.
Here's a look at each category in the site's casino tab.
Roulette
- Roulette Pro is Euro-rules roulette on a fancy-looking animated table that allows for turbo play.
- Low Stakes Roulette is American-rule roulette that allows wagers as low as $0.50.
- American Roulette is the worst in terms of player odds, with two green 'zero spaces.'
- 3D Roulette uses European roulette rules and a cool 3D design.
- French Roulette has a few bets not found in other versions and a unique Paris-inspired design.
- French Roulette High Limit is a high limit version of the site's French Roulette game.
- American Roulette High Limit is a high limit version of the site's American Roulette game.
- European Roulette is the classic Euro game with just a single green 'zero space.'
Blackjack
- Classic Blackjack is the site's classic game of 21.
- Multi-hand Blackjack allows players to bet on up to five hands at a time.
- American Blackjack uses slightly different rules regarding splitting and doubling.
- Spanish 21 allows for a surrender option in which the player gives up half his wager.
- High Limit Blackjack is classic blackjack with higher betting limits.
Slots
Thirty-three NetEnt and proprietary slot games are available
for play at 888casino.
NetEntertainment (along with BetSoft) is producing the best
slot games in the industry. What do I mean by best? They have
industry-leading graphics and sound (like the awesome effects on
888's BetSoft-designed Nightmare on Elm Street title), high
replay value (thanks to plots, characters, voices, and bonus
games), and they engage me longer than any other slot I've
played on the Internet.
I just wish the overall library of slots was a bit larger,
since thirty-three games puts them at the low end compared to
their big competitors. In an industry where a library of 100+
slots is common, 888.com's collection looks anemic at best.
Poker
If you were to say that poker is the most popular game at
888.com, I couldn't refute it.
At the time of this review, 888poker had the second-highest
traffic of all sites in the online poker industry. They
consistently rank in second place, with average cash game
traffic of around 3,000 paying players.
Why is 888 so popular? Reviewers seem to love the software
and user interface, calling it '…a thorough and realistic 3D
experience,' and '…slick and fantastic.'
888poker gets something else poker-related right – their
tournament schedule. Most poker players know about the Sunday
$100K event, but the site has a huge list of other guarantees,
along with some niche tourneys in truly odd and esoteric game
variants. See the tournament schedule for more details.
Games Available For Regular Cash Game Play At My Last Visit
Were:
- Texas Hold ‘Em
- Omaha
- Omaha Hi/Lo
- 7 Card Stud
The variety increases when you consider tournaments and other
special events.
As for the competition, I have mixed feelings. I've heard the
argument about playing poker at online sportsbooks – people
assume that sports bettors will just mosey on over to the poker
tables and blow a bunch of money. But I concede that enough
people have heard that rumor over the years, that now 888 is
probably about on par with any other big poker room in terms of
player quality.
Sports Betting
888sport, the arm of the site that's licensed in the United
Kingdom, has only been online since 2008. That's not a very long
life, considering that the casino services provided by 888 have
been in business for nearly twenty years.
I'm impressed by the variety of available bets and (from
reviews I've read) the site offers somewhat high limits
respectable payout times. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to
confirm those things, since 888's typically
private-when-it's-not-even-necessary policy has prevented them
from releasing too many specifics in those areas.
Available Markets:
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Darts
- Football
- Golf
- Handball
- Horse Racing
- Ice Hockey
- Motor Sports
- Rugby
- Snooker
- Tennis
- Volleyball
In most cases, both pro and amateur leagues of all markets
are available. For instance, soccer bettors can bet from the
highest English Championship league levels on down to minor
league US footie. On my visit, I saw literally thousands of
markets, including some truly obscure leagues.
Bingo
Currently, 888Bingo Hosts Four Variants of the Classic Game:
- High 5 Bingo
- 75 Ball Bingo
- 90 Ball Bingo
- 75 Ball
Progressive
The current promotion for bingo players offers $40 free for a
$10 deposit. I had a difficult time finding terms and conditions
for this promotion – the best I can do is refer people to one of
the other T&C pages and hope for the best.
Customer Support
I was impressed by the variety of languages the site
advertises as being available for customer support.
But that's not the whole story.
In the introduction, I made a big point of calling 888.com
out for their poor customer service options, the difficulty I
had finding contact forms and numbers, and some outright lies
they tell about their support services.
Here's the Full List of Languages That the Site Advertises on
its Landing Page:
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- French
- German
- Greek
- Italian
- Japanese
- Magyar
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Simplified Chinese
- Spanish
- Swedish
I thought it was cool that 888.com has customer service staff
standing by to answer your questions in languages like Romanian,
Swedish, and Magyar. Magyar in particular – it's the official
language of Hungary, and is spoken by about 9 million people
worldwide. That's tiny compared to languages like English (841
million speakers), Spanish (400 million speakers), and Chinese
(1.4 billion speakers), all of which the site also provides.
Answering questions in Magyar means the site is willing to cater
to small markets, and I like that.
But I think we're being hoodwinked a little.
888.com makes a different claim about language support on
their 'About Us' page, saying: 'We offer assistance in 11
different languages by phone, email and live online chat.' At
the time of my visit, customer support was only available in
seven languages, far fewer than the sixteen they claim on their
landing page, and fewer than the eleven they claim on their
'About Us' page.
It was also difficult to find live chat and toll-free phone
numbers, though I finally accomplished it. I had to click
through an otherwise-useless FAQ that couldn't possibly answer
anyone's real questions.
I only found the live chat and toll-free phone number info
when I pretended to make a real-money deposit. As soon as it
appeared that I was going to send them some cash, links to
contact the site were all over the place.
888 says they operate live chat around the clock, and I don't
have any reason to doubt that.
The phone number listed as 24-hour customer support during my
last visit was +1-268-484-4865.
Summary
I am going to remain neutral on 888.com. I wouldn't sign up
for an account, even if I lived in a country where the site is
accessible, but I'm not going to tell anyone NOT to sign up for
an account. I'm unimpressed with the site's overall casino game
library. You can easily find sites with better promos, a better
customer support system, and more overall transparency,
especially if you live in Europe or Asia.
Verdict
Read the pros and cons above and check the site out for yourself. If you like all-in-one sites, with casino games, poker tournaments, and a sportsbook under one roof, it might be up your alley.
888.com FAQ
Are People From ____ Able to Open Accounts at 888.com?
are the US, Israel, and Turkey.
Is the Mobile Game Library the Same as the Traditional
Desktop Library?
shorter than the traditional site, as is the variety at the
mobile sportsbook, and the game and stake variety for the site's
mobile poker service.
What Currencies Does 888.com Support?
any world currency you deposit into dollars, British pounds, or
euros. The conversion rate is presented to you before you
accept, and is based on a rate set by 888.com's own banking
service. Be sure to check the rate before you convert.
Do I Have to Be a New Jersey Resident to Play at 888.com
while I'm in New Jersey?
as you're in the state of New Jersey, you can access the site,
regardless of where you're from. Geolocation will indicate to
the site's servers that you are, in fact, in New Jersey – that's
why players accessing the site within New Jersey borders have to
keep their Wi-Fi connection on.
Appearing online in 2008, 888 Sport is owned by Cassava Enterprises, which is
a subsidiary of the international gambling monster known as 888.com. They are
one of the only online casinos to have a stock ticker on the London Stock
Exchange, which is impressive and makes us pretty confident in their legitimacy.
Is 888 Casino Legit
Licensed and regulated by the Great Britain Gambling Commission, we can be
assured that this is a safe place to gamble for people all over the world.
Unfortunately, US players are not accepted by this sportsbook as well as a list
of others. Below are all of the countries that not allowed to bet on 888
Sport:
- Afghanistan
- Australia
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cuba
- Denmark
- France
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Kuwait
- Macao
- Philippines
- Puerto Rico
- Romania
- Singapore
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- USA
We will now attempt to break down every aspect of this online sportsbook
without any advice or influence from any other party. Any opinion that we
have in this review is ours alone and has not been paid for in any way.
This way you can be sure that we are giving you an honest assessment of the site
and what the experience there is like before you decide to deposit your money.
Rating Breakdown
Overall
While 888 Sport is definitely one of the best sportsbooks in the world, it
does have some minor flaws here and there. We still highly recommend
joining this site if you live in one of the approved countries, because this is
about as good of a sportsbook as you can find on the planet.
Game Variety
We really have nothing bad to say here. People come to a sportsbook to
bet on all different types of sports, and 888 Sport seems to have them all.
It is a giant sportsbook that covers games from all over the globe, and there
should be something for every sports fan out there. Live betting is also
an intriguing feature that adds some entertainment value to the games by
offering instant odds for bets in nearly every situation.
Banking
It appears to be super easy to deposit and withdraw money on 888 Sport, and
the payout timeframes are pretty fast. We do not have to be worried about
our money disappearing on a site that is as heavily regulated as this one, which
is a huge plus in the trust column.
Bonuses
We count 2 lame bonus promotions, and 3 awesome ones. The lame ones are
good for beginning players though, so we won't totally disrespect them. We
were hoping to see some sort of tiered VIP Club that gives players incentives to
play a bunch, but what they currently have to offer is fine.
Customer Support
They seem to be on par with the rest of the industry when it comes to
customer service. The only real setback for their customer service model
is that they only offer help to customers during business hours. This is very
illogical since people tend to gamble and have support issues during other hours
of the day, and this lack of support presence might be costing them customers
and/or money.
User Interface
The software is extremely aesthetically pleasing and looks very up-to-date.
It does not lag or crash a lot like some sites do, and the mobile app works well
despite the minor irritation of all of the scrolling necessary to operate it.
Most complaints about this site are not in the user interface category.
Game Selection
They made it very tough to find a sport or a sporting event that they are not
offering bets on. Even though they are not serving US customers, they
include US sports in their betting model.
It is definitely a plus for the site that they offer Live Betting, as it is
very popular these days. Live betting has the power to make any game a
thrill, even if you started watching after it already began. We also enjoy the
fact that they have political betting for a lot of European countries, which is
pretty rare. Below is a list of the different sports that are available to bet
on with 888 Sport.
- Soccer
- Golf
- Volleyball
- Darts
- Boxing
- Cycling
- Martial Arts
- Tennis
- Motor Sports
- Snooker
- Basketball
- Rugby
- Politics
- Handball
- Ice Hockey
- Cricket
- Baseball
- American Football
- UFC Fighting
- Olympics
- Handball
- Yachting
- Netball
- Trotting
- ESports
Promotions
888 Sport has a decent number of quality promotions for their sports bettors.
While these promotions may not make the games beatable in the long run, they do
add some extra fun and give players a goal to reach with their play. Once
the goals are reached, the player will have some extra money to gamble with, and
everyone is happy. T&C's apply to all offers.
Welcome Bonus
The Welcome Offer is the first promotion that any player who is new to the
site will receive upon depositing. The minimum deposit is $10, and we are
then required to bet this $10 on any game we choose. In exchange for this
deposit and initial bet, we receive two free $10 sports bets, one free $10 bet
for the mobile app only, and a $10 bonus that is usable in the 888 Casino.
While it is somewhat lame, this bonus gives new
players a chance to get the ball rolling for a very small investment.
Acca Attack
Acca Attack is a promotion that is aimed at strictly parlays or accumulator
bets. These type of bets are won only by getting every single selection
correct, and if just one of them loses then the whole bet loses. If we bet
a minimum of 5$ on a parlay of at least 5 teams, we will be eligible for a
Profit Boost Token. These tokens will give a 10% boost on our profit in
any future bet if we do a 5 team parlay and it wins, then it rises to a 15%
boost if we do a 6-team parlay, and so on. The final level of rewards is
an 11 team parlay or higher which will give us an awesome Profit Boost Token
with a 50% boost in earnings if it wins.
Weekend Booster
The Weekend Booster involves a Profit Boost Token but is offered only for
soccer bets between Friday and Sunday each week. The Profit Boost Tokens
start at 25% and go up in value after every 5 bets we make. After placing
20 bets, we receive a token that is worth 100% which is pretty high and the
promotion ends after 20 bets are made. The lame part about this bonus is
that the maximum bet is only 5$ for each bet, but in the end we are left with
250% worth of Profit Boost Bonuses which is great for future winning bets.
The most that is available to win with this 250% worth of Profit Boost Bonuses
is $5,000, but that is still a pretty nice chunk of change for a bonus.
American Dream
American Dream is another bonus that is geared toward parlays or accumulator
bets, except this one is for American sports only. If we make a parlay of
at least 5 teams comprised of only American sports, and we fall one pick short
of hitting the parlay, we will receive a full refund on our bet. This
refund is only good for up to 25$ though, which makes this promo extremely tame
and uninteresting, especially considering how rare it is to come close to
hitting a large parlay.
Big Bet Bounty
Big Bet Bounty is an interesting leaderboard style promotion that is giving
away $2,000 worth of free bets to the top 10 on the list. In order to
place at the top of the list, our bet must have had extremely bad odds to hit,
and the minimum bet is $5. We can see that last week's winner hit a 1 in
238 shot in a parlay to get an extra $888 in free bets for his first place
finish on the leaderboard! Be sure to spend these free bets within 7 days
of winning them as they will expire after that.
888 Gambling Website
Banking Options
In this section we will divide all of the banking options into two
categories. One group is for methods that cannot receive any withdrawals
after depositing through them, and one group is for those than can do
withdrawals after depositing with them. If you happen to deposit using one
of the methods that cannot also withdraw, we recommend that you have another
withdrawal option ready to go so that you can get your money off of the site
when needed.
There seems to be a large list of banking options, and some of them only
cater to specific countries. The timeframes mostly seem to be a reasonable
7 days or less. Be sure to check your cashier to be sure which options you
personally have available to your area. The only currencies that are
available for us on 888 Sport are the US Dollar, the UK Pound, the Euro, the
Swedish Kronor, and the Danish Kroner. Unfortunately, this is a small list
of currencies compared to the other great industry sportsbooks. Below is a
list of all of the banking options we have in those five currencies.
Deposit Methods That CAN Also Receive Withdrawals
- Visa Credit Card
- Visa Debit Card
- Mastercard
- Local Debit Cards
- ApplePay
- EntroPay
- iDebit
- Neteller
- Paypal
- Postepay
- Skrill
- WebMoney
- Wire Transfer
- Qiwi VISA Virtual
888 Gambling Sites
Deposit Methods That CANNOT Receive Withdrawals
- Trasnferencia Bancaria
- Instant Banking by Citadel
- Instadebit
- Multibanco
- Visa QIWI Wallet (Russia and Kazakhstan only)
- AstroPay Card
- Yandex.Money
- Nordea
- Op-Pohjola
- Verkkopankki
- Paysafecard
- Payr
- Przelewy 24
- Sofortuberweisung
- Bank Transfer
- Boleto
- Diners Credit Card
- EPS
- Giropay
- Trustly
- Todito Cash
Customer Service Options
888 Sport offers customer service in the form of email, telephone, and a
support center. Even though their live betting is 24/7, their customer
service is not.
888 Gambling Site
This is one of the few sportsbooks that does not offer 24/7 support for
whatever reason, and that is definitely a red flag in the customer service
department. Considering the fact that 888 has been making millions of
dollars for over 2 decades, it seems like they should be able to pay enough
support team members to cover all hours of the day. They only seem to be
reachable during their normal business hours between 9 am to 10 pm GMT.
If we do wish to contact them during the above hours, we can either fill out
the form in the Support Center, email them at
[email protected] or call toll free
at +44 203 478 0670.
Wrap-Up
We are highly impressed with the overall product that 888 Sport has to offer.
They have a solid history of trustworthiness, a large selection of sports to bet
on, and a list of decent promotions to choose from. The presence of quick
and reliable banking options also makes us very comfortable when putting our
money on this site.
There are, however, still a few areas where they can improve if they still
care about doing so, although most of the issues are minor. If they simply
fixed their customer service issue of not being available 24/7, added a few more
currencies to the banking options, and added a couple more quality bonuses for
long-term regular players, the site would be nearly perfect.
