Dash Casino: a good all round playing experience
On 9th August this year I signed up and played at Dash Casino, following the recommendation of the Gamblog editor.
Dash is a sister casino to 32Red, one of the highest regarded Microgaming operations. As such, it's an extremely safe bet and you can be sure of no payout problems assuming you follow the simple house rules. 32Red is listed on the United Kingdom Alternative Investment Market, and it carries one of the industry's more credible gambling licenses issued by the government of Gibraltar. The management team, led by Ed Ware and Pat Harrison of 32Red, is by all accounts highly efficient. I've had no cause to ever contact them myself and so cannot speak from personal experience on this matter.
Dash Casino offers a �50 signup bonus in exchange for a £50 player deposit. This bonus comes in the format of the new Microgaming "EZ bonus" system, a system which really is extremely efficient and straightforward. For guidance, there is a Quick Cash Bonus System tutorial which explains the operation clearly and in excellent detail, along with a basic Quick Cash Bonus System explanation page.
In a nutshell: both deposit and bonus are held in separate accounts, both of which are available for wagering at all times. However, the bonus is only withdrawable after the applicable wagering conditions have been met, and it is released into your cash account in stages.
The mimimum wagering for the bonus is set at thirty times your deposit amount, with different games requiring additional wagering to release the full bonus. Slots, for example, count for 100% of the basic thirty times wagering, and therefore, playing slots you need wager only 50 X 30 = £1500 to release the full bonus. At the other end of the scale, the "classic blackjack" game - described in my Microgaming Single Deck Blackjack article - only counts for 2% of the wagering, and as such this game requires £75,000 in wagering to release the full bonus! Other games, such as craps and baccarat, require wagering totals somewhere between these two extremes.
There are no cashout restrictions relating to your own deposit and winnings - you can cashout any time you want. However, if you request a cashout before any part of the bonus has been credited, you sacrifice that remainder of the bonus. For example, if you deposit £50 for a £50 bonus, then wager £1000 on classic blackjack and increase your balance to £200, a cashout at this point will result in payment of £150, with the entire £50 bonus cancelled - you would not have wagered enough for any of it to be released.
As to my own playing experience: I signed up at the flash (non download) casino on August 9th, deposited £50 and received the £50 bonus. My intention was to play classic blackjack agressively and try to win a bit of money, so I put my entire �100 balance on one hand.
I was dealt 11 v. 6 - a double down situation, with no money for the extra bet!
Never mind. Two minutes and a quick visit to the cashier later and I had the additional £100 to play with, so I hit "double". I pulled a 10 card for a perfect 21 score - but the dealer also drew out to 21, pushing my hand. I then played three more £100 hands - and won every one! At this point, I had a £500 balance, so I decided to cashout, sacrifice the entire £50 bonus and collect �300 winnings.
I was paid just two days later, on August 11th, to my bank account. This is an excellent turnaround speed for a new account.
Dash also offers a comp system which rewards you with 0.02% of your overall wagering on all games apart from slots, sic bo and keno, which are comped more generously at 0.1%. In reality this isn't a particularly generous programme, since most casinos offer default comps at rates ranging between 0.05% and 0.1% for all games. However, it's a step up from 32Red, which has in fact never offered default comps to their players, preferring to focus a personalised programme, "Club Rouge", on their best customers. This has long been my only criticism of 32Red, so I'm pleased to see that with this new operation they've decided to change the comp policy and reward all players equally, albeit somewhat stingily.
All in all this was a very satisfactory playing experience, and I'd recommend Dash Casino to anyone looking for a reliable and fast-paying Microgaming casino.
