Grosvenor Casino Review: A Familiar Face
Take a walk through the streets of any major city in the UK and you’ll more than likely stumble across a Grosvenor Casino. After starting out dabbling in country clubs, Grosvenor Casinos was born in 1970 and the rest is history. Grosvenor’s dominance on land is undisputed, but how does the company fare in the online casino industry? It’s a whole different ballgame in the digital space, so I set out to find out. For this review, I dug deeper into Grosvenor’s online operation, and was pleasantly surprised at what I discovered.
Full T&Cs apply. New customers only. Min deposit £20 (exc paypal). Max bonus £30, bonus amount non-withdrawable, playable on selected games only. 30x wagering for £30 bonus. Expires within 30 days. Max win £2,000.*t&cs apply
This is more than just an add-on or a promotional tool for Grosvenor’s land-based casinos. The online arm of the company is a legitimate competitor to any of the top operators out there in terms of games library, software, live casino options and delivery of the overall service. Its ties to a successful land-based business feel somewhat of a double-edged sword though. A joint loyalty scheme and regular promos will satisfy punters planning on playing across both businesses, but for the digital purists among us, I wonder if there is enough here to satisfy an online-only player.
Grosvenor’s Homogeny: A Unique Quality
As mentioned in our online casino guide UK, this operator is one of the best there is. The big advantage Grosvenor has over its online competitors is its land-based muscle. No other online casino site in the UK can come close to matching Grosvenor’s loyalty scheme. Dubbed as ‘Play Points’, it doesn’t matter if you play at your local high-street casino, on your desktop computer on the Grosvenor Casino app, you’ll collect Play Points everywhere. These points can be converted into gifts ranging from luxury hotel breaks, to TVs and flying lessons.
The scheme also scales. Players earning more than 8000 Play Points over 12 months are entitled to a Gold Card, bringing even more access to deals and personalised rewards. On top of all that, there’s the Black Card membership for serious players. Black Card members are assigned a personal account manager, have access to invite only events and hospitality and exclusive in-casino promotions. No other online casino comes anywhere close to matching this level of loyalty scheme, even without the cross-pollination with its 54 land-based casinos.
Grosvenor Casino Games
The online game library at Grosvenor online is adequate, if not spectacular. There’s enough here to satisfy casual to semi-serious players, and in general all bases are covered. Players looking for slots, roulette, blackjack and casino poker games will not be disappointed though. Four variants of both roulette and blackjack is a on the low side for today’s market, but the classic versions available are solid. Software is provided by the industry giant Microgaming, plus additions from IGT and Realistic. For live dealer options, Evolution Gaming provides its first-class array of roulette, blackjack and poker tables games. There’s also exclusive live Grosvenor games you won’t find anywhere else. For progressive jackpot slots, you’re looking at Mega Moolah and Cleopatra as your big-hitters. There’s also a nice range officially licensed movie slots such as Ted and Bridesmaids, as well as the super-popular NetEnt Rocks games featuring Guns N’ Roses, Motörhead and Jimi Hendrix.
A decent line-up then, for sure. Rarely, though, will you find the niche games that provide innovation and unique game experiences. It’s nice to have a couple of arcade classic available such as the (still!) popular Deal Or No Deal game. The game plays exactly the same way it does on TV, with up to £10,000 up for grabs for those that can hold their nerve. Grosvenor is not breaking new ground with its game library, but it’s also not falling short.
Grosvenor Casino App: Points on the Go
More than 120 of this casino’s games are available via the Grosvenor Casino app for smartphones and tablets running iOS or Android. You can also pay directly in your device’s mobile browser. The real highlight about Grosvenor on the go though is the ability to pick up Play Points anywhere. It’s really nice to have that kind of symmetry between the desktop and mobile version and is something a lot of other names in the market should be looking closely at.
Live Casino: Exclusivity and Style
Evolution Gaming live dealer games have become somewhat of an industry standard in the online casino game. The eastern European master of live streaming raised the bar again recently with the introduction its Live Dream Catcher game – a feature which is yet to come to the Grosvenor Live Casino. For all your classic Evolution live roulette, blackjack and poker games though, you’re covered here. The interesting addition to this live casino suite is the presence of an exclusive UK-based dealer section. The HD stream comes directly from Grosvenor’s land-based casino in the UK and run on the ever-reliable Evolution software to ensure quality and functionality is maintained. A selection of live dealer games is also available on iPad via the Grosvenor iOS app.
- First class live casino run by Evolution Gaming
- Exclusive live casino studio
- Native live casino dealers
- Dedicated live casino app
Grosvenor currently offers six different live dealer promotions that really spice up the play. Mystery Card Bonus awards players a bonus prize for matching a card randomly chosen by the host for a maximum of five rounds. Bad Beat Bonus rewards unlucky players with a little extra should they lose three consecutive hands in a specified 15-minute period. Suited 7s offers an instant £50 bonus to players landing three suite 7s in any of Grosvenor’s dedicated tables, and Quiz Nights run hourly competitions to win up to £50 in instant cash for correct answers. There’s absolutely nothing to complain about as far as live is concerned with this operator.
Grosvenor Casino Bonus: Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
It’s not uncommon to see the best casino offers UK to surpass £1000 these days. Don’t get me wrong, I love the challenge of trying to get through the wagering requirements and cashing a big juicy bonus, but Grosvenor has opted for a much more down to earth approach. Sign up, deposit a minimum of £20, and you’ll be able to play with £50. That’s it. Dig deeper into the terms and conditions, and you’ll notice that the bonus has wagering requirements that vary from 5x for a £20 bonus and 10x for an additional £10 bonus. Grosvenor also offers 30 days to reach the £20 bonus target and 7 days for the £10 bonus. It may be fifty quid, but the reality is that you cannot withdraw it. You can only use it on selected games.
Promotions: Keep on Giving
The lack of a big whopping Grosvenor Casino bonus straight off the bat might put off some players, but play the long-game and you might be pleasantly surprised. At the time of writing this review, there are 10 live promotions for online players. As well as the £20 first deposit bonus, there’s an extra £20 no deposit bonus available to members of one of Grosvenor’s land-based casinos looking to make the jump. Repay weekends, which offer players 20% of losses back or featured games, run regularly. There’s also Game of the Week promos for both slots titles and live dealer games. Combined with Grosvenor’s Play Points loyalty system, there’s so many good reason to stick around with this casino.
Company Information & Customer Service
Following the rebrand to Grosvenor Casinos in 1970, the Maidenhead-based company has grown significantly. It now operates a chain of 54 casinos across the UK, plus two unbranded sister venues in Belgium. Grosvenor Casinos is now owned by The Rank Group, which deals exclusively in casino, bingo and online gambling industries in the UK and several countries in Europe. The group boasts an operating profit of more than £50m and serves around 1.7 million customers per year. In 2009, Grosvenor bought the Ricoh Arena complex, the former football stadium of Coventry City, which now houses one of its most impressive land-based casinos. It also took over 19 Gala casinos in May 2013 as part of a takeover deal.
| Company Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Name: | Rank Group Casinos | Phone Number: | 0800-082-1990 |
| Address: | Statesman House Stafferton Way Maidenhead, UK | Live Chat: | Yes |
| Email: | support@grosvenorcasinos.com | Mobile Compatible: | iOS, Android, Windows |
| Licence Number: | 38750 | Technical Audits: | VeriSign |
Customer service is provided in the usual forms, via telephone, email and online live chat. Alternatively, and quite unique for the online casino business, customers can receive help with the online casino accounts in-person at any of Grosvenor’s local sites. Face-to-face customer support, in this industry, that’s impressive.
Reviewer’s Best Experience at Grosvenor Casino
The most fun I has whilst reviewing Grosvenor Casino was while playing live blackjack during the Mystery Card Bonus. OK, so I didn’t actually win, but from the moment the live host announced the five of diamonds, every hand was electric. The game of blackjack is played quickly, so the intensity was right up there. It made me realise what a big different even the smallest alteration to the game format can make. It’s also really nice to have these kinds of special bonus rounds running on live dealer games. More online casinos will pick up on this I am sure of it, but right now, Grosvenor is doing it better than anyone else out there.
Reviewed by Ernest QuinnGrosvenor Review: Do the Basics Right, and the Rest Will Follow
Grosvenor Casino is a bit of an outsider in terms of the best players of the online casino market. The close ties to a land-based casino empire is both a blessing and a curse. There are clearly lots of advantages such as exclusive live dealers, transferable loyalty points and face-to-face customer service. In other areas, such as regular deposit bonuses, Grosvenor is lacking slightly in a way that to me feels intentional – its own way of saying “we are part of this competition”. For a first-class all-round online casino though, with great live games and loads of promotions to take advantage of, Grosvenor is an excellent choice.