Challenge Casino Review

Over its life Challenge Casino has had a few owners, but now this Microgaming-powered online casino is part of the sizeable Casino Rewards group. In the past this casino had only a reasonable reputation, but having heard that things were much better now, I decided to see if Challenge Casino was going to be good to me.

Long-time readers of Online-Casinos.com will know that usually I end a review by saying whether I won or not, but in this instance I cannot wait that long. I've got to let everyone know that I won £2000! In fact, I played and played for days here! Usually I have a very systematic way of playing, but with such a big bank roll I just hopped around the casino as lady luck smiled down. As such, in this review I'll simply talk about the great experiences I had as I roamed around this casino.

To begin playing at Challenge Casino, a player must visit the casino website. It is here that a player can either download the 6.03mb file required for installation of the download-casino or load up the no-install Flash version. While the download casino offers a full bells-and-whistles gaming experience, the Flash version is great for those looking for a quick gamble. Of course, the no-download version will also appeal to those on slow connections, but thankfully the download file is small enough so as to not cause any player major problems.

After a hassle-free installation, I was presented with the casino welcome page. I clicked on the 'connect' button, but as I didn't have a Challenge account I was taken to the sign-up page. Although I could have created a free-play account, I wanted to experience the thrill of real gaming and as such created a real account.

As I am based in the UK at the moment, I decided to create an account denominated in UK £. However, accounts can also be created in the popular US $ currency as well as in Euros and Canadian dollars.

With my new account created, I logged in and was presented with the expansive Challenge casino. I didn't stop to look around though, as I headed straight over to the cashier to make a deposit. As I had set up my account in UK £ I was presented with some UK-only options as well as the standard - I always think it's good when a casino tailors things to suit the player. Of course, the usual e-wallets and real-world deposit options were all present as well. I went for a £100 deposit via my credit card.

As a new player at Challenge Casino, I could have claimed a new player sign-up bonus, but because of the attached wagering requirements - I chose not to.

Those interested in casino bonuses though will be pleased to hear that up to 1000 free credits are available to new players! These casino bonuses are available on a new player's first, second and third deposits - the casino matches 25%, 50% and 100% of deposits respectively! This is huge! However, it did appear that apart from an on-going loyalty bonus that Challenge's bonuses are very much targeted at new players only.

The Microgaming "Viper" software that Challenge uses has over 200 casino games which are all accessible via the lobby area. However, thankfully Challenge Casino has thought about the difficulties a player may have in trying to find a specific game, and have overcome the potential problem by using 'grouped menus'. All the table games fall under one menu, the three-reel slots fall under another... and so on.

As stated earlier, towards the end of my play I moved around the casino at random, but to begin with there was a method to my madness and I checked out some of the table games!

At Challenge there are a great number of table games, and these range from casino mainstays such as Blackjack to more special favorites such as Three-Card Poker or Bonus Pai Gow Poker. The Blackjack games in particular caught my eye, simply because of the huge number of them. From Vegas City to Downtown to European, there's a blackjack game to suit pretty much every player at Challenge Casino.

I was also impressed with the betting ranges at the table games. A very impressive minimum of $0.50 is used on the table games, and the maximum single-spot bet allowed is a nice $500. With multi-table Blackjack allowing up to 5 spots to be used at once - it means a high roller can place up to $2500 on the table in any one round!

A table game I particularly enjoyed playing towards the end of my session was 3-Card Poker, simply because I was dealt three 8s! With the bankroll I had I could have bet huge at this point, but even my relatively small £14 ante and £4 side bet returned a lovely £236! Of course, not everyone wins all the time, but thanks to the Random Number Generator employed by Challenge Casino, every player can play safe knowing that the games are fair!

The thing I did find though is that, even without wins (which actually at the start of me session were few and far between), the actual games themselves are really entertaining. The graphics used are of very high quality, and coupled with the sound effects employed in each game it makes a player's gambling experience very enjoyable. Extra touches such as a perfect play 'expert function' simply enhance further a visitor's gaming experience.

Another part of the casino that will attract many players is the Video Poker section. Video Poker machines are great fun, as they combine the skill of games such as Blackjack with the high-jackpot possibilities usually associated with Slot Machines. In fact, some games have paytables close to 100%.

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