Virgin Casino

Overview

Sounding somewhat like the adult version of Tom Clancy’s Patriot Games, Virgin Games is actually the online gambling platform of Richard Branson’s world dominating brand. Whilst this used to be run “in-house” the operation has been taken over (January 2013) by Gamesys– the team behind other top casinos such as Jackpot Joy and Caesar’s Casino.

Licencing & Security

Main Licence:- Gibraltar

Independent Certifications:- Thawte

The casino’s operations are licenced in Gibraltar – a whitelist jurisdiction that hosts other leading casinos such as 32Red and bet365 – so they’re in good company there. There’s an independent certification from Thawte, but this is referring to the encryption used on the site rather than being an audit of the amounts claimed as paid out or on the randomness of their software.

Software & Services

Main Software:- IGT (formerly Wagerworks)

Other Services:- Instant Play Casino - Poker - Bingo - Mobile

Virgin Games’ casino is all instant play – which is a bit more 21st Century than the old download casinos, and this is paired with a mobile casino – accessible from your phone’s browser rather than providing a dedicated app. Also on offer are specific poker and bingo sites.

Banking

Deposit Options:- Credit Card - Debit Card - NETeller - PayPal - Skrill

Withdrawal Options:- Credit Card - Debit Card - NETeller - PayPal - Skrill

It’s a bit tricky to find the information as there’s no specific section as found in other casinos, but if you do a quick search in the FAQ’s you can find the various processing times. The customer support team say that they aim to process your request within 24 hours – excluding weekends and public holidays. After that, it all depends on the payment method selected – casino regulars will already know that NETeller offers one of the fastest ways to get paid out and that’s no exception here – NETeller, PayPal and Skrill are all listed as instant, whilst credit and debit cards can take up to 5 days to come through. High rollers should also bear in mind also that the withdrawal limits (i.e. maximum amount that can be withdrawn in one transaction) vary between payment methods. For example, with a Visa card, this is £10,000, but PayPal it’s £5,000.

Customer Support

Customer Support Options:- e-mail - freephone - live chat

Customer Support Team Availability:- 9am-11pm 7 days a week

Customer support is available 7 days a week, between 9am and 11pm UK time. There are a number of options available to you to get help – there’s a searchable FAQ section that makes for a good starting point, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for there, you can add your own question. You can also send an email, live chat or give the team a call on a free phone number.

VIP scheme

There’s no obvious VIP scheme on offer here. If you’re a high roller, you’re probably better off going to a site that actually bothers to have a VIP section in the first place.

Summary

The old saying “if you want something done properly you’ve got to do it yourself” rings true here. Gamesys’s flagship casino Jackpot Joy seems to have a bit more effort put into it than Virgin’s site, which seems to have lost it’s quality feel since outsourcing the running of it. Fine for a quick game here and there, but if you’re a serious player then there are better casinos to play at.