Online Casino Spotlight: GoCasino.com
GoCasino.com is regarded as one of the very best online casinos for US players. It is home to easily a few million players (including gamblers in countries outside of the US), and at any given time can boast thousands of players online at the same time. It ranks #1 on many top 10 lists around the internet, and rarely is a bad word muttered.
I found its acclaim to be, for the most part, well-earned. It falls victim to a few rough patches, as do all casinos, but it doesn’t suffer dearly due to any of them. Its software has been supplied by who else but Vegas Technology, the same software providers behind last week’s Online Casino Spotlight subject, SuperSlots.com. In fact, the two are sister-sites, and do not differ in many drastic ways. Why did I pick it then?
I’ll be honest: There aren’t a lot of online casinos allowing US players these days. The majority of the ones out there run Vegas Technology software. While they offer mostly the same games, that isn’t to say one cannot be better than another. What is it that makes GoCasino.com better than, say, SuperSlots.com then?
A big difference rests in the generous Welcome Bonus at GoCasino.com. For new players’ first 20 deposits, GoCasino.com will award up to $20,000 in bonuses. Of course there are requirements, limits, and so on — but every online casino operates that way, and $20,000 goes a long way at GoCasino.com. If nothing else, it’s another $20,000 to play with that you won’t actually deposit out of pocket.
But how is everything else at GoCasino.com?
Visual Design
Unlike similar sites such as SuperSlots or EnglishHarbour, GoCasino skips the attempt to simulate the exact experience of going to a casino. Their lobby forsakes the typical design that emulates an actual, brick-and-mortar Casino’s lobby. Instead, it provides a simple video game-style menu. Behold:
Simple, yet visually interesting. It works.
The visual variety of the games… well, that’s a mixed bag. From type-to-type there is an appropriate difference. For instance, slots have a visual style completely removed from, say, craps or video poker. Within the types, though, there is little difference. To illustrate my point, I will use screenshots from two different slots games, one is called Northern Lights and the other is called Birds of Paradise. Without looking at the names, going only by the symbols… can you tell the difference?
The point in that exercise being this: Why have so many different slots games (there are easily over 30) when there really isn’t anything to set one apart from another? To offer variety, sure… but shouldn’t there be actual variety, not just perceived variety?
Audio Design
If you’ve read last weeks online casino review, you know what to expect. GoCasino.com suffers from the same poorly designed audio — frankly lazy audio — that plagues 90% of online casinos running Vegas Technology software. I know that Vegas Technology only makes the games, and the design of the sites are up to the brand behind them… but the fact that one usually accompanies the other seems much too coincidental.
All I can say about the audio is: Turn down both audio choices in the options, turn up your iPod, and play to your heart’s content.
Overall
GoCasino.com is certainly one of the best Us friendly online casinos, even after one considers the audible assault that is typical of many of its sister-sites. Its generous bonuses and great customer service are what set it apart from similar sites, reliably planting it on the top of most site’s top 10 lists. But it isn’t the best, and I firmly believe if it used a stronger software package it very well would be.
As it stands, it is a great place for gamblers — new or seasoned. If you must rely on the small sampling of sites we have been left with in light of our policy regarding online gambling regulation, GoCasino.com is certainly a fantastic place to end up.
Just turn the sound off.