River Belle - Online Casino Review

River Belle Casino

July 10, 2005

Overview

River Belle has been online since 1997 and licensed by the Government of Gibraltar, accredited by EGOGRA, and members of the IGC. They use Microgaming software for their download casino, which is for PC users only. Customers can reach their support through email, toll-free phone (in North America and United Kingdom), and Live Chat. They are partnered with Pro-Cyber for fraud protection and encryption technologies and their games are audited monthly and posted by PriceWaterHouse Coopers since 1999. They boast a 96.9% payout ratio and over 160 games to choose from. River Belle has taken every step to make sure your transactions are secure with Risk Sentinel, advanced fraud-management software

I love it when websites have different information everywhere. Ruby Fortune had a problem agreeing on how many games they have on offer, and apparently River Belle is suffering from this disease as well. Their promotions page states over 190 games, while their About Us page has over 160. I suppose the over bit means they don't have to go back and correct it later, as it is technically correct. However, their home page also has a graphic mentioning over 160. You'd think they would want the largest number possible listed on this large ad in the middle of their homepage.

Deposits

Minimum deposit is $20. They accept US Dollars (USD), UK Pounds (GBP), and Euros (EUR). Various deposit methods offer more currency options.

• Credit card (Diners, Visa, and MasterCard)
• FirePay
• Neteller
• Click2Pay
• PaySpark (Internet and ATM)
• EcoCard
• Citadel
• UseMyBank – For deposits in Canadian Dollars.
• Moneybookers – Supports over 20 currencies.
• ECO
• Delta – Use at both a $ and £ Casino.

Withdrawals

River Belle can not credit back your credit card, but you can receive your winnings back via any method available of your choice. The same is true for the other deposit methods which do not have withdrawal options attached. However, if your deposit method has a withdrawal option they will pay you back via your method of deposit.

• FirePay
• Neteller
• Click2Pay
• PaySpark (Internet and ATM)
• EcoCard
• Citadel
• ACH - It takes 3-5 business days for your withdrawal to reflect in your bank account. The minimum withdrawal amount for this option is $50.
• Check – A regular mail check takes 14-21 days and is free. A Speedmail Check costs $7, £7 or €7 and takes 5-8 business days. Courier Check costs $35, £35 or €35 and takes 3-5 business days. Courier Checks are free if your withdrawal is more than $1,000, £1,000 or €1,000.

 

Terms and Conditions

Oh I hate terms and conditions like these. You have to be a lawyer to be able to read them and even still staying awake while getting through them is a challenge. Reading terms like this is a punishment. Which means there's got to be something interesting hidden in them, such as: " … our designated agents in rem suam". What or where is rem suam? Is that a legal term that the sight expects laymen to understand? Aren't they obligated to at least state things that make sense?

There's a 1.1.1. In fact, 1 goes up to 1.7. Every number has several sub-points and some of those have their own sub-points. You should understand my dread when I checked and found the final number to be 8.11.

They reserve the right to "deregister or exclude or suspend players". The scary thing is "We may refuse to register you as a Player or elect to deregister and exclude you or suspend you as a Player from the Casino at any time and for any reason whatsoever." I don't like the idea of being deregistered for any reason whatsoever. They don't even have to notify you when they do it. It's fascist if you ask me.

I don't know how they would be able to do the following to US players: "furnish any relevant information about you to an intra-group database recording such mischief and, if necessary, hand over your account details to a collections agency for the recovery of any sums that you owe us. You hereby irrevocably authorize us to do so in our absolute discretion…" I knew of people who were real people and they did charge-backs. I would have loved to furnish a collection agency with the names of these people and registered it as money owed. I just don't see how legally that can happen when the credit card has forgiven the debt. Otherwise people are playing with money that has been confirmed through their deposit method.

Another bit I take issue with: "No substantial and/or exceptional withdrawals individually and cumulatively shall be made unless notarised facsimile copies of at least 2 (two) of the following are received:  most recent bank statement for the bank account from which your wagers have been paid; driver’s license; social security card or a similar document containing a photographic identification of you; current and valid passport; or utility bill (e.g. gas, water, telephone etc) bearing your name and your address registered with us." Don't send them your social security number. This is personal information that can be used for identity theft. I don't think they will be using it for that, but I object to the request just the same. It's too intrusive. Fortunately you can send another photo ID instead.

Bonuses

Their bonuses change monthly, so what is listed below may not be on offer when you go to their site. However, I'm certain they will have something else to replace it.

The bonuses look good at first. The welcome bonus is a generous 100% bonus with a minimum deposit of $20 and a maximum of $250. To make it even nicer players can receive an additional 20% bonus if they deposit in US Dollars via FirePay, Neteller, or Click2Pay.

Then you get to the all players area for bonuses, and there aren't actually any bonuses per say. It's all drawings. There's a drawing for the entire month for $20,000 and then there are multiple little drawings throughout the month. Apparently depositing $150 (not counting your first deposit) and wagering 1500 gets you in for the drawing. The drawing is part of the Belle Rock Gaming Group and is open to players from other casinos as well.

The Loyalty points are set up in such a way that it's a total waste of money to deposit in anything other than US Dollars. Why do I say that? Well here they are, you tell me:
Every $10, €10 or £10 wagered, earns 1 point. Every 100 points earned, they will give $1, £1, or €1 in casino credits. Points are redeemed in units of 1,000 (i.e. paid out in $10, €10 or £10 increments) and there is no limit to the amount of free casino credits received. Points totaling less than 1,000 are carried over to the following month. You get more points if you deposit in US Dollars because US Dollars are the weakest currency of the three. Right now the dollar is trading at about 50 cents to the pound and 90 cents to the Euro. By depositing in US dollars in England you will get twice as many points for your money.

Promotional Terms and Conditions

The 100% sign up bonus must be requested within 72 hours of the first deposit to receive and may take up to 48 hours to be credited to a players account. The wagering requirement on the initial deposit plus bonus is 20 times before a player can withdraw, this is fair enough. However, the only games that are allowed for the wagering requirements are slots and video slots. Nothing else. This is great if you love slots, but sucks big time if you like anything else.

Players from Sweden, Poland, Israel, Denmark and China must really love slots and be willing to wager 30 times the deposit plus bonus. Players from Netherlands and The Russian Federation might as well go away. They are not eligible for the sign up bonus or deposit method bonus.

Then there are the terms for "The Time of Your Life Bonus". The terms for this bonus are as complicated as the sign-in bonus was simple. What is the name again? I thought it was River Belle (underline by me). " The Casino will give you a Sign- Up Bonus of 100% of your first single deposit at the Casino on Slots and Video Slots during this Promotion; subject always to the maximum Sign- Up Bonus in terms hereof being $250 (for example, if your first single deposit at the Casino on Slots and Video Slots during this Promotion is $75, the Casino will give you a Sign- Up Bonus of $75; if your first single deposit at the Casino on Slots and Video Slots during this Promotion is $500, the Casino will give you a Sign- Up Bonus of $250 etcetera)." Either they stole these terms and conditions from another internet casino, or they have changed the name of the casino recently, or I'm simply confused. The thing is, River Belle is only referred to in the first term and condition. The rest all mention Casino on Slots and Video Slots.

The "Time of Your Life Bonus" is only good for regular players and doesn't apply for the first purchase in the casino. The winner will be notified by email within 2 days of the draw and has 7 days to respond and collect.

I love paragraphs like the following in terms and conditions: "The standard terms and conditions of the Casino apply to this Promotion. Insofar as there may be any conflict between the terms of this Promotion and the Casino’s standard terms and conditions, these terms and conditions shall prevail but only to the extent that the terms and conditions conflict with one another. In all other instances these terms and conditions are complimentary and additional to the Casino’s standard terms and conditions." Uh huh. Ok, sure.

On the other hand, this paragraph I strongly disliked: "In entering this Promotion you hereby consent to personal information about you being shared amongst the members of the group of casinos of which the Casino is a member." Don't share my information. Not even with your partnering casinos. I don't want their email, and if I did I would join their site and ask for it.

Oh, and they'll use your first name, but someone else's picture. "The Designated Winner hereby agrees that his first name may be used in any publicity material by the Casino. The Designated Winner also agrees that a model be used to represent him/her in any publicity material by the Casino." Hey Mark G., I never knew you looked so good!

From the looks of it the drawings are open to players everywhere.

Casino

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. The thing about River Belle is that they have the new multi-player options available by Microgaming and over 160 games to choose from. This is a nice selection for those who like to game.

 

Overall

River Belle only offers one bonus. After your sign up bonus it's all drawings and eligibility. Granted that this makes the wagering requirements much simpler, it doesn't really help your ability to cash out huge winnings unless you won the drawing. The Loyalty program is ok, but just ok. On the other hand their payout percentage kicks butt. I'm guessing they can't afford more bonuses on offer with a payout like that. They'd lose too much money. This is a good thing for players, we like that. So, you win some, you lose some. What do you want, it's gaming after all?

The site itself has a problem. My ad-watch monitoring program keeps taking the site down. Something in the coding of this site isn't kosher. As the ad-watch monitoring program hates the site I had to turn it off to write the article. I don't like that. I haven't had this problem checking out other internet casinos, and it leaves me with a bad feeling about the site. So bad I won't download their casino for fear of it hurting my computer in some way.

It's powered by Microgaming which is a great software company. All of the internet gaming casinos out there offer basically the same games as every other with the same software provider. You'll see Tombraider slots at every Microgaming powered casino, for example. As such once you've played at one Microgaming you've played at them all. The main difference between the various casinos is the terms and bonuses.

At the end of the day while the payout percentage makes me curious, the ad-ware reaction fills me with fear and dread. Only play here if you are good at getting out spy-ware, or you don't care.