Aztec Riches - Online Casino Review

Aztec Riches Casino Review

July 14, 2005

Overview

Aztec Riches is a part of Casino Action group, which includes Golden Reef casino. It's not mentioned on their site directly; instead they state "All credit card transactions are processed through Purchase On Net Ltd, Nicosia, Cyprus, a subsidiary of Golden Reef Casino and Aztec Riches Casino. You will billed as "Purchase On Net" on your credit card statement." So I went to Golden Reef's site and sure enough, the information on it is the same as Aztec Riches. I've had a list of Casino Action casinos to review this week, including Phoenician and Nostalgia casinos. The fact that they are a group of casinos simply means that the drawings they give away can be better than a single casino that doesn't have as much money coming in. The welcome bonus is different in all of their casinos and the group itself has a good reputation. I wanted to double check my findings so I checked with their Live Chat support.

"Nikki: Hello, how may I help you today?
you: when did Aztec Riches open?
Nikki: Opened about 4 years ago
you: was it Microgaming that whole time?
Nikki: Yes, it was
you: and is it a part of Golden Reef casino?
Nikki: They are both part of the Casino Action group of casinos
you: Thank you
Nikki: Your welcome"

I've found Casino Action Group's customer service to be brilliant. They have been fast, friendly and informative at every casino I have reviewed this week.

Aztec Riches has been with Microgaming since 2001. They are licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada. Customers can reach their support through email and Live Chat. I realize this is rather weak, but to their defense the site states that emails will receive a response with 30 minutes. To their benefit you don't have to log in to their Live Chat, which I think is brilliant as logging in is really annoying. Their games have been audited monthly and posted by PriceWaterHouse Coopers. The site only lists their audits to June 2004, but they also have the highest paying month listed which was February 2004, which leads me to suspect that they have been reviewed the whole time but take the old ones down after awhile.

Deposits

Minimum deposit is $20. Players can deposit in $ US dollars, $ Canadian dollars, £ British pounds, and € Euros. They offer the typical range of deposit methods:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Diners Club Card
• Neteller
• Click2Pay
• Firepay
• Instadebit
• Citadel
• PaySpark
• UseMyBank
• Delta
• Eco Card

Credit cards have some limitations. Players can register a maximum of two cards per player and purchase limits on each registered card are refreshed back to $1000 weekly.

Withdrawals

Minimum withdrawal allowed is $30. Please note that the minimum deposit is $20. That means if you deposit $20 and change your mind you will not be able to immediately cash it out.

The following are listed under their withdrawal options:

• Check
• Instadebit
• Click2Play
• Neteller – Any Un-certified accounts have a transaction limit of $250.00, however, certified Neteller accounts have a monthly transaction limit of $3000.00
• Visa – Where allowed card will be credited up to deposit amount
• MasterCard – Where allowed card will be credited up to deposit amount

All winnings from credit card will go back to via any method you prefer. There's a possible fee for the check, but it doesn't state what and it only mentions it briefly in the terms and conditions. There's no mention of fee on the withdrawal page. Also, as per all casinos these days, expect some serious documentation requirements before you receive your withdrawal request.

If you made your deposit through Citadel, FirePay or InstaDebit be patient with your withdrawal request: "Winnings may be held up to seven (7) days if purchases made to the same account have been processed through Citadel, InstaDebit or Firepay."

Terms and Conditions

The wording is really interesting in these terms and conditions because everything sounds so nice, but if you look through the spin machine you'll see that some things actually aren't.

For example some of the information is wrong, number 2 on the list to be specific.
"2. No Tax on Winnings: Players collecting wins from The Casino is exempt from paying tax on prize monies."

In the United States citizens must pay taxes on winnings above a certain amount to the IRS. I checked the IRS website just to get the specific information regarding gambling winnings (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=108277,00.html):
"Gambling income includes, but is not limited to, winnings from lotteries, raffles, horse and dog races and casinos, as well as the fair market value of prizes such as cars, houses, trips or other noncash prizes.

Generally, if you receive $600 ($1,200 from bingo and slot machines and $1,500 from keno) or more in gambling winnings and your winnings are at least 300 times the amount of the wager, the payer is required to issue you a Form W-2G. If you have won more than $5,000, the payer may be required to withhold 25 percent of the proceeds for Federal income tax. However, if you did not provide your Social Security number to the payer, the amount withheld will be 28 percent."

If I lived in the US I would not take the word of an internet casino over the IRS.

You must be over 21 to play. People from Australia or Singapore can not play in this casino.

Having your documentation ready or sending it when you first deposit will make your life easier when you win. If they already have your documentation confirmed you will get your money within an hour of winning. Otherwise you have a week for them to get it before having your account suspended.

You may want to go, but you'll have to work for the right: "Upon receipt of a written request signed by a Player, The Casino shall cancel a Username and Password."

The following is the best statement I've read in a terms and conditions, as it states they mean nothing "While considerable care has been taken in compiling and updating content on the Site, The Casino does not guarantee the accuracy of such content. To the magnitude permitted by law The Casino excludes all warranties in relation to the content and is not liable for any damage, loss, cost or expense incurred by any person using the Site." They do not guarantee the accuracy of the site content. What about the content of the terms and conditions? Can they guarantee the accuracy of that?

Bonuses

Aztec Riches Casino has a nice balance between the bonuses and the competitions and drawings. They are offering a tiered bonus for new players on their first three deposits:

• The initial welcome bonus is a 100% matching bonus with a minimum deposit of $20 and a maximum of $100.
• The second deposit bonus is a 50% matching bonus with a minimum deposit of $20 and a maximum of $500.
• The third deposit bonus is a 25% matching bonus with a minimum deposit of $20 and a maximum of $2000.

Their drawings and competitions are as follows:

• Super Saturday – Cash prize drawing every 30 minutes
• Power Power Poker – Sundays play Jacks or Better Power Poker
• Turbo Charged Tuesdays – Play Five Reel Drive and win.
• Wild Wednesdays – Cash prize drawing every 30 minutes
• Thursday Thunder – Play Thunderstruck Slots and win.
• Blackjack Bonanza – Monthly tournament

The Casino Action group likes to keep some information close to their chest. On the Aztec Rewards page they mention loyalty points and state the following: "The more you play, the more we pay! Bonus points are paid out in units of 1,000. Redeem 1,000 points for $10 or redeem 5,000 points for $50! Our Silver, Gold and Platinum VIP members can redeem their Rewards at a higher rate - meaning more cash every week." This sounds wonderful but means nothing. How do players earn points? Are there games that are better for points than others? I have no idea, and their customer service reps aren't telling. This does not make the rewards program much of an incentive for me to join.

Promotional Terms and Conditions

Aztec Riches Casino gives you a "bonus account" which they SAY is just like your regular account and you just play from that account until you make your wagering requirements. Sounds easy enough right? Then they slip in the following: "The player is required to meet the minimum level of play requirement for the promotion by playing in the bonus account. Once the minimum level of play requirement is met, the player may transfer their accrued winnings (less the bonus amount) to their real account." In other words the bonus is sticky. You NEVER get to cash it out, only the winnings. Oh there's more – the minimum transfer to your regular account is 50 credits (50 credits equal $50).  

Not surprisingly (as the bonus is sticky) wagering requirements are rather low. The wagering requirement on "most games" is 15 times the bonus plus deposit. The following games have a 45 times bonus plus deposit requirement: Blackjack (except Vegas Strip Blackjack), Roulette, and all Poker games. On the other hand these games aren't counted at all: Craps, Baccarat and Vegas Strip Blackjack.

Once you get a bonus you must meet the terms and conditions before being able to cash out.

Download version

What can I say? It's a Microgaming casino in all of its glory. I tried to log in as a Guest User and kept getting an error so I logged out and tried again, success this time, no reason to contact customer service. The casino is typical of all Microgaming casinos. You have Playcheck in the upper left corner that gives you your game history for the past 72 hours. Playcheck is updated every 45 minutes. Next to it is an option to view your banking history, see payout percentage reports, link to news, and loyalty program. They have the best game options of any casino software design company.

Browser version

Microgaming does a great Flash casino for the internet. Some of the slots games offer the same expert mode options as their download counterparts (autoplay, 5 times and, 10 times automatic spins).  This is probably the best browser version I have seen in terms of closeness to the download version. Typically they are worlds apart.

Overall

Aztec Riches casino has a great reputation, good bonus, tournament, and drawing compensation for regular players. The rewards program has gotten nice comments from the message boards although the casino refuses to inform players how points are accumulated. Microgaming is my favorite software, so that's in its favor. I don't like the sticky bonus, but at least the wagering requirements are relatively low. It's a nice group of casinos with a strong history. I give them a strong recommendation.