PlayStar online casino review

It’s great to see such a confident bonus offering from a relative newcomer to the market. The two-part welcome offer is certainly enough to catch the eye when compared to any other casino bonus around right now, such as Borgata. 

I especially like that the generous dollop of 500 free spins extends across the first three deposits of any new player. It ensures that the welcome bonus isn’t just a one-shot deal and keeps the good times rolling – or should I say spinning!

Minus points can be argued here for the steep 30x wagering requirements of the first deposit match bonus. It’s certainly on the higher end of things and makes the free spins more desirable than the cash.

Looking beyond the initial bonus, here’s little in the way of daily or weekly bonuses for players who want a single offer. PlayStar seems more intent on roping you into their loyalty programs.

Both the StarRewards and PlayStar Club schemes have their merits but I would like to see some simple bonuses on the promotions page that anyone could take on.

PlayStar has a pretty diverse portfolio of games from top developers. But you’ll have to scroll back and forth to find your favorite title. For some odd reason, there isn’t a decent tool to filter games, or developers, which is a major user experience flaw. 
 
At least the library is sorted into different categories, which makes it easier to see what games the casino offers. PlayStar might not have as many slots as BetMGM or Golden Nugget, only over 250. But if you’re looking for top quality, you’ll be right at home here.

Think of games like Blood Suckers, Dead or Alive, or Medusa Megaways. These games boast some of the highest RTP stats in the market. Okay, maybe Blood Suckers looks a little rusty now, but no other developer dared to surpass an RTP rate as high as 98%.  

The selection of table and card games in the lobby is limited. But then again, it has everything you need to take a break from playing slots, including Evolution’s Blackjack, Dragon Tiger, and Roulette First-Person variations. 

Talking about Evolution, the casino offers several live dealer titles. But other than Craps and the award-winning Lighting Roulette, there isn’t much to get excited about. 

Football Studio could be an option for sports-themed table games enthusiasts. But no other famous show-style games like Dream Catcher are offered, which is a real shame.

Many top US casinos like Sugarhouse and Golden Nugget don’t have Playtech onboard with their wonderful software. That is, unfortunately, a fact that extends to PlayStar also.

Despite this, most other gaming industry giants have been pulled in to put some zest into the offering on the site. We are talking NetEnt and, of course, Evolution – to power the all-important live casino games.

I’d say that with a mere eighteen software providers onboard, PlayStar is firmly in the middle of the pack games-wise. It’s not the worst lobby we’ve seen by a long way but nor is it the best with a total of just over 600 casino games.

Let’s start with a positive – the ability to deposit and withdraw cash at the cage. It’s an honorable thing, but let’s not forget you also have to be at the Ocean Casino Resort in New Jersey to make it happen. Still, there are worse places to hang out.

Another big plus is the zero fees charged by PlayStar. That said, fees may still apply from your payment provider so always check to avoid any nasty shocks.

Despite these plus points, I can’t get past the fact that there are just seven payment methods on offer. Any casino hoping to get a slice of the market won’t get too far with such a limited choice.

I’d like to see Paysafecard and some e-wallets like Skrill or Neteller dropped into the mix.

If PlayStar has to be licensed to operate in just one state, then NJ is the one I’d want. We know that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement does not mess around when it comes to keeping things in check which gives me reassurance from the get-go.

A quick browse of the responsible gambling pages showed me all I needed to know – these guys take player safety seriously. There are all the regular tools and possible limits in place but it’s the level of detail in the text that awards PlayStar the brownie points.

Let’s not overlook the dedicated ‘Player Protection’ page either. It’s great to see an online casino being this transparent and offering advice on keeping your personal details safe when using their site.

With no hidden info advice and tools on tap, PlayStar scores highly for player safety and should be commended.

When I contacted the support team via live chat with a couple of questions about payments, I got a satisfactory answer within just a few minutes. I came away feeling like the folks on the other end of the chat were knowledgeable and actually cared about me as a PlayStar customer.

On the downside, I had to chat with an automated bot first. I get why casinos do this – to filter out the common issues that can be dealt with by the FAQ pages. However, this can easily grate with some players who, quite rightly, assume that live chat means instant human contact!

The lack of phone support might also be a dealbreaker for some players. PlayStar does state that phone support ‘could be added to the homepage in the future’, but this is far from a firm commitment at this stage.

It’s strange that the contact page still states that phone support is available, adding to the confusion here. Minus points for this.

It would be easy to assume that PlayStart online casino is one of the big brands if you take a quick glance at the site. The design and UX certainly have a serious and professional feel to them despite the relative youth of the casino.

I found the casino easy to navigate about on the desktop version with a clear main menu at the top for key categories and sub-menus where appropriate, like on the games lobby.

My only major gripe is the burger menu that flips in from the left of the screen contains the same links as the top menu. There is no real need for both but is probably a shrewd move to make the site fully responsive.

No major complaints when it comes to mobile here either as both the browser and dedicated app versions behave in the same smooth manner. It’s only the sub-menu that doesn’t behave itself in the browser and defaults to a messy sideways scroll, making miss-taps an easy occurrence.

Nav-wise, I found all the games I was looking for and the categories are neat with no cross-pollination of random titles as far as I could see. Overall, PlayStar scores highly for usability.