Unikrn Casino Review

Review of Unikrn Casino

Unicorns are mystical creatures that apparently sneeze sparkles and poop rainbow ice cream (seriously, check out this video for proof). Unikrn Casino, on the other hand, is one department of a site that specialises in so called "eSports" betting, and is closer in look to a stock trading website than a sparkling rainbow wonderland. What you will get at Unikrn is a lot of no-nonsense fun, coupled with some nice incentives and cryptocurrency support, albeit with some issues that hold this casino back from being a truly magical experience.

Software and game selection

The website for Unikrn Casino features a clean layout that is easy to navigate. Signing up for an account is quick and easy, and you can be underway in a couple of minutes. Mobile support is baked in, so you can gamble on your smartphone or tablet if you want to. The games are arranged in the common grid of logos that we see at almost every new casino these days, and there are a few categories that you can use to slice and dice the games while you look for one to play. There is a quick search box that allows you to find a game if you know its name, but you cannot limit the selection to a particular supplier for example.

Speaking of suppliers, the selection of 350+ games contains titles from the likes of Playtech, Leander Games, Realistic Games, Booming Games, Nektan, and others all within the library. It is a decent selection, though popular games from well known industry heavyweights are conspicuous in their absence. I noted that the casino provides games from rogue supplier Pragmatic Play, which used to be known as TopGame until it rebranded due to its awful reputation. Once again we advise you to avoid their games due to numerous incidents of questionable conduct over the company's years of operation under both names.

There are a large number of progressive jackpot games available to be played at Unikrn, predominantly supplied by Playtech. This means you can shoot for the Age of the Gods jackpot on any of the games from that series, or go for the DC Comics jackpot by playing games themed after Batman, Superman, Justice League, and others. In all there are more than 50 games with progressive jackpots available at Unikrn.

Table game players are not left out in the cold here, with Unikrn offering a selection of both live dealer and computerised RNG table games. The live dealer tables are broadcast from studios run by Playtech, which are located in Riga, Latvia. These titles include high definition video, dealer interaction, and slower game times that replicate what you get from a real casino.

eSports betting

While I like playing video games, I personally can't understand the appeal of watching other people play them, and I'll vehemently argue against anyone calling them a sport. Obviously a lot of people disagree with me on that though, and interest in eSports, as their proponents self-refer, has grown massively around the globe in recent times. With the growth in competition has come gambling, and it would be remiss of me not to mention that Unikrn is betting heavily on eSports, making it a central focus of their product offering.

You can place traditional style bets on matches between pro players just like sports betting, but what I found far more interesting was Unikrn's UMode offering, which lets people bet on themselves in a match. You have to find a market for a game that specifies a set of goals that you must achieve to win the bet, then if you like the odds, take the bet and play the game. If you achieve the specified goal(s), you win your bet and collect your winnings. Obviously it is not as easy as it sounds, not to mention seemingly ripe for exploitation by enterprising players. I also wonder how long they will continue to accept your bets if you demonstrate significant skill and consistent wins. But if you want to back yourself on games like Warzone, Counterstrike:Go, or other games while confident in your abilities, then this could be an option for you.

Banking and customer support

Unikrn allows you to deposit and withdraw at the site using a number of debit or credit cards and local bank transfer options. It also heavily promotes its support for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether, Monero, and Doge, though this support is not without its issues. Firstly, while the site allows you to deposit and withdraw using crypto, it is all converted into fiat USD or Euros while in the site. So you can't avoid exchanging between crypto and fiat while playing there. Secondly and more problematic is the use of Bitpay as a third party intermediary to provide crypto payment processing support. Experienced Bitcoiners will know that there are a multitude of issues with Bitpay that I won't go into here, but chief and most relevant among them is that they use a proprietary payment process that does not work with a majority of Bitcoin wallets. So while you may be very willing to transfer Bitcoin to Unikrn you may find yourself unable to, due to your wallet not understanding Bitpay's invoice format which unnecessarily complicates things rather than using a standard Bitcoin address.

Finding myself unable to use crypto for this reason, my test deposit and withdrawal was made via Skrill which was funded via Bitcoin. Say hello to wasting money on fees as intermediaries take their cut. As per usual the deposit was handled instantaneously, while the withdrawal was paid overnight after I submitted it. All in all despite the issues handling crypto, the speed of payment was very good. The casino terms state that there is a daily withdrawal limit of €50,000 or currency equivalent, which should not pose a problem for all but the biggest winners. I sincerely hope you one day run into the problem of having to wait for multiple withdrawals on that schedule!

There is a loyalty program in place at Unikrn, with the operator dubbing the program "Connekt". This program allows players to earn a proprietary cryptocurrency token called Unikoins via the site, which in turn can be used to play games or even traded for other crypto. Playing heavily on the eSports theme, this operator is hoping that their unnecessary token, the very definition of a shitcoin, maintains some semblance of value over time. I wouldn't count on it though. At the time of review one Unikoin was worth approximately 1 cent or 0.00000099 Bitcoin, or put the other way 1 Bitcoin is worth more than 1 million Unikoins. Update: perhaps not so surprisingly, the SEC in the United States has fined Unikrn $6.1 million and ordered that their worthless token be shut down due to violations of securities laws.

Customer support can be reached using live chat and email. I myself reached out using chat and got a response in under 20 seconds. I asked some generic questions related to banking options and got info that matched up with what I found on the casino's website, so it seems like the support team knows their stuff.

Security, fairness, and responsible gaming

Unikrn encrypts data at all times while you are accessing the site, which is to be expected these days. These days protecting online information is vitally important, and you should make sure the casinos you play at take those steps on your behalf.

The casino has a gaming license to operate through the Isle of Man, which is a reputable jurisdiction. The government of the island holds their casino operators accountable for their conduct, and seeing them holding a license through the jurisdiction is certainly a good sign. Unfortunately, you won't find any audited payout percentages from the casino, so there are no numbers for us to use to report on what the return to players (RTP) has been over a period of time.

There is a set of responsible gaming controls that you can use to limit your activity on the site. The options include wager limits, deposit limits, and time limits on your gameplay. There is also the option to either temporarily or permanently self exclude yourself from the site should the need arise.

Conclusion

Unikrn's Casino is clearly a less important sideshow to the main event which will mostly appeal to fans of eSports that want to bet on matches. The game selection is decent though not as extensive as some of the bigger casinos these days. In theory the support for cryptocurrencies is great, I just wished I could actually use it rather than hitting the roadblock of a Bitpay invoice that my wallet doesn't understand. Smooth out a few of these rough edges, and add a couple of top tier game suppliers, and this could be one very attractive casino.