Red Dog Casino Review

Review of Red Dog Casino

Over the past week, I've spent some serious time at Red Dog Casino, a betting site launched in 2019 by Arbath Solutions OU. The casino caters to those in the American betting market, providing the same Realtime Gaming (RTG) software that powers most U.S. friendly casinos. The site looks attractive at first glance, but I soon found a number of issues that should make you reconsider playing there.

Software and game selection

The Red Dog Casino site is well-designed and attractive, which is something that a lot of casinos can't claim. Unlike a lot of other RTG casinos you're not going to have to download and install anything to your computer, as the casino runs entirely in your web browser. Mobile play is fully supported as well, and I had no issues navigating the casino on my iPhone.

The casino boasts a couple hundred slot machines, with both 5 reel video slots as well as classic 3 reel games on the roster. As per usual with a RTG casino a lot of the games are older, so they're not really going to wow you in terms of visuals. With that said, these machines play well and don't have any major issues. There are more modern games that have been released over the last few years too, and I recommend you stick to these if you want a more up to date experience. Progressive jackpots are tied to a lot of these games, so you can win anywhere from a few hundred bucks to over six-figures on some games.

Table games are also available, with electronic Baccarat, Blackjack, Roulette, and various types of table poker on offer. But if there's an area I really liked more in the games section, it was the live dealer software that Red Dog offers. These games are broadcast from studios run by live gaming provider Visionary iGaming. The table minimums and upper limits are higher than the electronic RNG games, so you'll have to put out more money to play, but the pace of the play is slower. So there are options that cater to table game players no matter your preference.

Banking and customer support

So far so good, but where this casino really falls down is in the critical payments department. The casino accepts deposits using only credit and debit cards, NeoSurf, and Bitcoin. Notably absent are common e-wallet options that are immensely popular with online gamblers. If you choose to use Bitcoin, you need to know that you can't gamble in the cryptocurrency at Red Dog, so your deposit is converted into U.S. Dollars while you play and then converted back to Bitcoin once you withdraw.

Speaking of withdrawals, the news is even worse. For starters the minimum amount that you can deposit at the casino is only $10 but the minimum you can withdraw is a much higher $150. The home page of the casino features a section entitled "fast payouts" but from what I have seen nothing could be further from the truth. The casino institutes the common RTG policy of a maximum of $2500 per withdrawal, and you can only make one withdrawal per payment method per week. There is no exception made for progressive jackpot wins in the terms so I can only assume that if you won over a million at this casino they would still elect to pay you at $2500 per week at best. But if you think there is a chance that you will be paid that much or that quickly, let me adjust your expectations.

After reviewing Red Dog's sister site El Royale Casino and warning of potential slow payments we have been inundated with players complaining about being slow paid by this operator. And if making you wait weeks, if not months, to receive your money is bad enough, it seems that when they finally do decide to pay they will rarely pay out more than around $300 at a time. This means you will have to go through the whole agonising process again if your withdrawal is bigger than that. I really can't stress enough how unacceptable and exploitative the payment policies and procedures are at this casino.

Customer support can be reached using email, live chat, and telephone. They are friendly enough when dealing with regular mundane support questions, though we have been told that they may resort to threats when questioned by a dissatisfied player.

Security, fairness, and responsible gaming

Red Dog takes steps to encrypt data in transit to and from their site using SSL encryption, which helps protect your private information as it moves from the casino's server to your computer. This is the standard form of encryption used by secure sites across the web today.

The casino's operator Arbath Solutions OU has a license to operate from Curacao eGaming. As we have warned many times before, a Curacao license means nothing for prospective players. The jurisdiction is a regulator in name only and, as evidenced by the deliberate slow pay and instalment policy of casinos like Red Dog, they could not care less about the conduct of their licensees.

Interestingly enough, Red Dog publishes a page that claims to show the actual return to player (RTP) percentages for their games each month. This is highly unusual for a RTG casino, and something that would normally be very welcome. However without any third party endorsement or evidence to back these numbers up, and given the highly questionable other policies pursued by this casino, I regard the numbers as dubious at best.

One interesting clause I found buried in the terms is that the casino reserves the right to "disqualify any payout" should the player be judged to have used any type of betting system, including the popular Martingale. No betting system has ever been proven to give a player an advantage over the casino, and the usefulness of the Martingale was mathematically disproved in 18th century France. So I find the casino's fear of them a little curious, but it is well worth warning players that this term exists.


There is a responsible gaming page on the Red Dog website, with the group offering up information on fighting gambling addiction. However there are no settings that you can apply to your account like we see at properly regulated casinos, and you will need to talk to support should you wish to self exclude.

Conclusion

I feel that by now I shouldn't need to say it but here it is anyway: don't play at Red Dog Casino. The payment delays and tiny instalment policies are an insult to their customers, and in my opinion they are encroaching on rogue casino territory.