Shadow Bet Casino

Site Summary

First of all, there’s absolutely nothing not to like about the way the Shadow Bet Casino platform has been put together in general. From the moment you arrive on the site to sign up in the first place, you get the impression that they have really gone to town in terms of both looks and the overall user experience. It looks great, runs like a dream and features an extensive collection of games from some of the biggest names in the business. Microgaming, NetEnt, Betsoft, Play’n’Go, Scientific Games and NextGen Gaming are all present and correct, along with their most popular titles and absolutely everything that’s fresh, new and relevant right now.

So things get off to a good start, intensified by the simplicity of the signup process and the presence of excellent live-dealer games, for those who prefer the action a little more personal. So the platform’s great, the selection of games is awesome and it couldn’t be easier to get started with. Which begs the question – where is the slightly negative press coming from?

Well, when it comes to welcome bonuses and promotions in general, it’s a bit of a mixed bag with Shadow Bet Casino. On the positive side of things, they are currently offering a welcome bonus package worth up to £1,200 for every new customer. This is offered in the form of three matched-deposit bonuses upon signing up, which certainly seems generous. That is, until you take into account the rather excessive 35X wagering requirements, which make this the kind of offer that is pretty much useless in terms of actual monetary value.

That said, they do also offer an extraordinary number of free spins from time to time – no fewer than 520 at the time of our review. These are handed-out in chunks of 10 each weekend and while there are restrictions in terms of which games you comply with them, there are remarkably no wagering requirements attached. Which is, when considering the usual 35X wagering requirements, both surprising and great.

On top of this, there’s also a loyalty system, which as usual is for the more dedicated customers and not particularly useful for casual gamers. Nevertheless, really go to town with Shadow Bet Casino overtime and you could earn anything from the latest smartphones right through to luxury holidays.

Another sticking point with Shadow Bet Casino comes in the form of withdrawals. If you want to take out any money by way of bank transfer, Skrill or various other payment types, there’s a fixed withdrawal fee of £2.50.  If you withdraw to a credit or debit card (which must be Visa), you pay 2.5% of the amount. To be honest, this is pretty unacceptable these days, given the way in which the vast majority of casinos offer 100% free withdrawals – at least to credit and debit cards.

On top of this, the customer support team is only available during standard office hours, outside which time you can only leave messages. Messages which may or may not be replied to at all, in our experience. We didn’t have any specific problems with the support team ourselves, but there are a lot of reports out there from extremely dissatisfied customers, having been on the receiving end of somewhat poor service.

Still, we can only judge on the back of our own experience, and while it certainly wasn’t show-stopping, the customer service (during the brief hours available) was decent enough.

Best Features

There’s no denying that regardless of what type of gaming you’re into, you’ll find it covered to the extreme at Shadow Bet Casino. The gaming collection is excellent, the platform as a whole is highly impressive and if you manage to sign up at a time when they are handing out tons of free spins with no wagering requirements, go for it!

Conclusion

To be honest, it’s a bit of a shame with Shadow Bet Casino as the things that are desperately in need of improvement could so easily be improved. After which, it would be right up there with the best of them. Unfortunately, the simple fact of the matter is that when you offer extremely limited customer service and insist on charging customers to withdraw money, you are only ever going to find yourself in the firing line of widespread criticism. Which is, once again, such a shame.