Gala Casino in a nutshell
For many years, the good people of the UK were content to gamble on football pools, bingo and horse racing. Well, times have certainly changed, and these days Brits find themselves with plenty more gambling options thanks to the rise of online casinos.
At the forefront of British bingo have been Gala. They began life in 1991 thanks to an upsurge in interest in bingo, spurred on by the promotion of the game in UK newspapers. Gala Bingo now owns more than 130 bingo clubs throughout the UK, and is partnered with Coral, one of the UK’s top bookmakers.
Since 2008 Gala have been offering gambling opportunities online at their internet-based casino. If you play at Gala will you be shouting ‘bingo!’ or deciding that you’d rather spend time with two fat ladies? Read on to find out …
What’s the look and feel of Gala Casino?
We’re not too enamoured with the current state of Gala Casino’s site, to be honest. It follows a very vanilla template that was all the rage about five or so years ago, and looks too busy, cluttered and messy. We think a bit of (full) house-keeping would be a good idea.
What games are available at Gala Casino?
Gala is obviously an acronym for ‘Games – A Lot, Always’. This casino has sourced a full house of software providers, which means it’s ‘eyes down’ to easily find virtually any casino game you can think of.
Slots fans can spin away at all the best games from the likes of Playtech, IGT, WMS and NextGen Gaming. There are plenty of lesser-known providers here as well, although we were a little disappointed to find that neither Microgaming nor NetEnt have made the final line up.
If table games are more to your liking, then you are not going to be disappointed. There are more than enough table games available, including craps and sic bo. You’ll also find lots of video poker varieties and what Gala calls ‘casual games’.
If you ‘love it live’ you’ll find baccarat, blackjack and roulette available to play with lovely live dealers.
Gala also has its own dedicated poker room, courtesy of Playtech’s iPoker network.
The only gaming option that’s really conspicuous by its absence is bingo, which is a bit of a shocker. However, Gala does have its own dedicated online bingo website.
You can’t knock Gala for amassing a substantial team of software providers. The superstars of this mighty team include Playtech, IGT, NextGen, Cryptologic, WMS and Amaya. Providing dependable support are smaller gambling firms such as Electracade, Endemol and Ash Gaming. It all adds up to a huge number of games.
All of the software at Gala’s site is played ‘in browser’.
Mobile casino fans can easily play at Gala on their mobile devices. All you need to do is visit the Gala Casino on your device and you’ll be redirected to the mobile-optimised version of the site. This is guaranteed to work for iOS and Android users, plus Windows Phone and BlackBerry users may find they are able to easily access the site as well.
What promotions are available at Gala Casino?
The Gala Coral Group is one of the largest gambling firms in the UK, so with the backing of a major brand, you’d expect a reasonable match deposit bonus.
You’re not going to be disappointed, as Gala will offer you the ‘full house’ of £400 to sign up. This is a 100% match deposit bonus from a minimum of £10 up to that £400 maximum. Sadly, if you’re in Russia, Croatia or Romania, then this bonus is not open to you.
The wagering requirements are pretty stellar, at a very pleasing 20x the deposit and bonus. You must complete wagering requirements within fourteen days of accepting the bonus though, but that’s hardly a deal-breaker.
You also must not bet any more than twenty percent of the bonus amount or £10 in total on any single bet, or use a low-risk betting strategy, such as playing roulette and covering most of the numbers.
Unsurprisingly, there are game weightings to consider as well, but again, they are fairly standard:
- Slots, arcade, scratch cards and fixed odds games – 100%
- Roulette (all variations), blackjack (most varieties), video poker and craps – 20%
- Baccarat (all variations) – 10%
- Most other games – 5%
Please make sure you fully read and understand the bonus T&Cs before you accept this match deposit offer.
The good news is that there are currently no limits to the amount of cash you can win with this bonus, nor are there any withdrawal limits.
Even more good news is that the bonuses don’t stop once you’ve signed up. Just head to Gala’s promotion page and you’ll see what we mean. You get reload bonuses on your second and third deposit, and special deals if you play certain games at specific times.
Finally, if you’re fond of a little extra-special treatment, then that is available at Gala too. You get to be a VIP by asking Gala (and very nicely, we assume) and if accepted, you’ll receive the kind of benefits you’d expect if you’re a committed casino player.
The cashier options are not too bad at Gala. Visa (including Maestro and Electron) and MasterCard are covered, as are eWallet solutions provided by PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, ClickAndBuy, ClickPay and EcoPayz.
All deposits are instant, as are eWallet withdrawals (once you’ve established your identity, which you only need to do once). Withdrawals to debit and credit cards take a standard three to five days.
Importantly, there are no maximum withdrawal limits, which is always something good to see.
The final verdict
We do find it hard to fault Gala Casino, aside perhaps from the slightly cluttered nature of the site and the lack of ‘3D’ slots as NetEnt and Betsoft are not among the providers here.
We really applaud those bonus terms and conditions, as a 20x play-through is very generous. The lack of limitations on your winnings and withdrawals is another reason to give Gala Casino a hearty thumbs up.
To sum it all up, we recommend Gala for the volume of games, pleasing T&Cs and the speed of its transactions. You’re likely to experience something of a ‘gala day’ if you choose to do your online gambling here!