AstralBet Casino

As the name implies, AstralBet Casino’s theme is chock-a-block with astronauts, aliens, rockets, planets and stars. The color scale is equally spacey, with blues and blacks plunging the player into ethereal darkness. The casino is licensed by the gaming authority in Malta, accepting both CAD and Canadian players into its otherworldly folds.

Launched in 2016, AstralBet puts a lot of effort into player experience, leaning heavily on highly animated slots and table games alongside an above-average live casino offering. Let’s blast off this review and find out if this casino hosts any life worth exploring.

AstralBet Casino: The Highlights

• Space-themed casino with extensive game library
• Bonuses and promotions abound
• Multiple-tiered VIP and loyalty program
• Accepts Canadian players and CAD

AstralBet makes a big impression on new players with a very generous first timer deposit bonus of a 100% cash match up to C$2,000. All players will qualify so long as they deposit C$20 or more.

Players will also get to benefit from a further two rewards on their second and third deposits:

Second deposit – make the minimum deposit and you’ll get 99 free spins on the four most popular slots going at that time.

Third deposit – grab a 150% bonus up to C$1,000 plus 30 free spins on top across the four most popular games.

It all sounds pretty great right? I thought so too. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t scout about the net for player feedback and I what I did find pulled me up short a little. The complaints were very specific to the bonuses offered, and multiple sources confirmed the same issues.

Excessively onerous, unfair and confusing bonus terms was what it came down to. And unfortunately, the parameters for the restrictions are laid out in their terms and conditions. I had a look-see and found that AstralBet reserves the right to make sole decisions about what constitutes promotional abuse, even after the player has won with all wagering requirements fulfilled. This feels very arbitrary.

The casino also restricts how the player uses their bonus funds, thus allowing the casino to control player bet sizes and preventing them from making logical or intuitive decisions about the best way to clear a bonus.

At CasinoTrust, we would be remiss if we didn’t lay out the negatives on the table, as well as the positives. So before you get too excited about those generous welcome bonuses, find out if you’re realistically able to clear them first.

What with the intense competition out there in online casino land, VIP and loyalty programs are becoming as common as mosquitos on a summer’s night. But these programs were not all created equal, and several of these are definitely not worth your time investment. AstralBet Casino gives their program four levels:

You collect points by playing at the casino, and each tier you climb allows you to collect these points even faster. Once you’ve collected enough points you can withdraw them in exchange for bonus funds. Sounds simple enough right? Yes, but there are restrictions when it comes to actually redeeming your points.

The casino won’t let you collect points when playing live table or jackpot games. So don’t bother with loyalty here if that’s all you play. Also, points can only be redeemed in units of 500, so you’ll be collecting for a while before you cash out any decent bonus funds.

In terms of being Canada-friendly, AstralBet Casino really hits the mark in the games department. They’ve partnered up with some of the most important developers out there right now, including Pragmatic Play, Microgaming and Evolution Gaming.

Evolution Gaming is responsible for all live casino, providing players with access to live dealer interactions across Authentic Roulette, Auto Roulette, Roulette, Baccarat, Casino Hold’em, and Blackjack. You can count on a quality and reliable experience here as these guys are leaders in the live casino field, transmitting their immersive experience across several online casinos globally.

But if you’re not really a people person and prefer the solitude of more anonymous gaming, them you’ll find that AstralBet Casino will more than meet your needs. They offer a wide selection of slot games, covering the classic video slots as well as arcade games and fruit machines. These all come from quality developers like iSoftBet, Betsoft, Playson, Yggdrasil, Play’n GO and many more. I particularly enjoyed their selection of Pragmatic Play slots as they pretty much guarantee a seamless experience when playing on mobile.

Fan of jackpots? Then you might prefer to visit a casino that specializes in these particularly, because AstralBet’s jackpot portfolio isn’t exactly massive. They offer a couple from the current big names, but not much beyond that. You’ll have more luck if you’re partial to table games, where the selection includes French Roulette, English and European Roulette, Blackjack and multiple Poker games.

Canadian players are bound to find a payment option that suits them, and I would advice retaining the same method for both deposits and withdrawals to reduce the waiting time as much as possible. AstralBet Casino allows players to make a monetary selections across Visa, MasterCard, paysafecard, Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, Trustly, and Zimpler. Transaction times are subject to a 48-hour processing window, so speed isn’t a strong point.

Player reviews also indicated there were a few more hold ups than they were accustomed to when it came to cashing out. Bear in mind my comments in the bonus section above, where a few players struggled to cash out bonus money, finding that their bonus rewards were cancelled despite meeting the advertised wagering requirements.

Security isn’t an issue as AstralBet Casino secures its site with 128-bit SSL Digital Encryption. So while the casino may put up a fight when it comes to releasing your money, they’re the only potential miscreants you need to be concerned with.

And if you’re been paying attention since the start of this review then you may be thinking AstralBet Casino could do with a solid customer support network. They do in fact meet this requirement by offering players a choice between FAQs (probably insufficient), email (too slow) and 24 hour Live Chat (bingo).

They don’t have a phone number listed, so if the casino has upset you in some way or another you’ll need to settle for angry typing. Definitely not as cathartic, but almost equally instant.

I had high hopes for AstralBet Casino. Their site’s style and navigation appealed to me, and despite my usual impatience for overdone themes, I enjoyed all the little aliens and floating astronauts.

But unfortunately I became very concerned about the site’s ethical practices, which are very important when you’re entrusting a site with your hard-earned cash. Of course the problems I cite are limited to the redemption of bonus cash, so if you prize a well-managed site over bonus winnings then I encourage you to play on.

But if you’re looking to be rewarded for loyalty and hoping for a new player bump on your winnings, then I advise you to look elsewhere. The offer might not be as generous, but you’ll be far more likely to reap the rewards.