The Bottom Line: This is a well-designed, high-end casino for players who are comfortable with a limited selection of games that have a classic feel.
The big Global International Gaming Summit was held in Toronto a few weeks ago, and WINNERonline came away with a long list of new casinos to try out.
I reached into our grab bag of lucky contestants and pulled out Brandy Casino, a new offering from PlayTech.
The casino is run by Brandy Casino Ltd and is licensed in Antigua. Software is developed and maintained by PlayTech, which also has experience in the brick-and-mortar casino world. Financial transaction services are handled by Internet Payment Systems. Deposits can be made by way of credit card, bank draft or personal check, or wire transfer.
Players can look forward to some nice bonuses. New customers are eligible for a $50 bonus for any deposit between $50 and $250. Any amount above that nets you a 20 percent bonus.
The casino also has a comp program that rewards players for dollars spent at the casino. More comp points give you a higher VIP status, which means higher bet limits, better comp conversions, and faster currency withdrawal procedures.
The download was quite quick and the casino makes a good first impression. The design is clean, with photo images of a brandy snifter, gold coins strewn across the table, and a roulette wheel. Links to the games were high-quality graphics. Interestingly, the games tables were burgundy in color, which was kind of a nice change from the usual green velvet. All in all, very classy and well done.
Players have a choice of six games in the free-play mode, with the option of single player, multi-player, and private group play in Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. Slots, Craps, and Video Poker are all single play.
I started with Blackjack, and I was impressed from the start. Good card movement, nice table appearance, and well-designed gaming buttons. One thing I didn't like however, was the spread-out feel of the table. The cards had to move a long way across the table, and it felt like I was moving the mouse all the way across the screen whenever I needed to do anything.
Players will find the deal/hit/stand/etc. buttons on the left side of the screen, which is a nice change from most casinos - once you get used to it. This reversed design feature also shows up in Roulette, but more on that in a moment.
One of the best tools at Brandy Casino is the game history. This used to be fairly uncommon, but it starting to show up more often these days. You can view a record of your last 15 hands, and check the amount bet, the amount won (which can be a little depressing if you've lost several hands), the dealer's cards and your cards.
Next stop, the Roulette table. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the perspective was different. The Roulette wheel is on the player's right at Brandy Casino, instead of on the left. Again, nice to see something different from the standard casino fare.
The game looked nice, but a few problems popped up when I hit the 'spin' button. The ball moved in spurts, and looked like it was going to drop several times but didn't actually fall. It makes four rather slow trips around the wheel before that happens. It also drops in the same spot every time. These aren't major issues, but they are fairly noticeable and they detract from the overall appeal of the game.
It was time to check out real-money play by this point. I filled out the forms, registered my credit card, and deposited $50. And waited. And waited some more.
I checked the banking page and found out that my credit card had been declined. Strange, but these things happened. I tried another card, and the same thing happened. That was a little weird and disconcerting, especially since I knew there was money in the account.
I started to contact tech support when all of a sudden, a window popped up saying the casino wouldn't be accepting any real money bets until June 30. Now, why isn't there something saying that on the front page?
Other issues? The background music was far too annoying to listen to. Bad lounge music will never be anything more than that. Let it die. Please. The casino also opens up in a full-sized window that falls behind the Windows toolbar at the bottom of your screen, which means you have to minimize the toolbar to access the casino options. It's annoying.
Aside from those things - and the problem with the Roulette wheel - the casino looks great and plays very nicely. This is a well-designed, high-end casino for players who are comfortable with a limited selection of games that have a classic feel. It will definitely be worth checking out when they go live at the end of June.
We'll check out the real-money games at that time and post an update.
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