Perhaps a surprising recent addition to the UK online casino scene is SEGA Casino - yup, THAT Sega! Well it surprised me anyway, so I downloaded it to have a play and add yet another review to the online casino reviews section here at Online Casino UK. Like the excellent Totesport casino and the crowd-pleasing Bet365 casino, SEGA uses Playtech software which is very good, and unusually for a Playtech operator is licenced in the very strict gaming jurisdiction of Alderney. This is an excellent sign as Alderney licencees are strictly policed and always top notch - because they have to be! Additionally, you're never quite sure with Playtech operators if they are a bit fly-by-night in the way they treat players, so thumbs-up here.

SEGA Casino Games

Installation was a breeze, but then it is with Playtech and I was installed, registered and had even deposited (using Neteller) inside 10 minutes. As you'd expect, there is a very good selection of table games at SEGA including Blackjack, BJ Switch, Baccarat, Craps, Red Dog, Casino Hold 'Em, Roulette, Sic Bo, Pai Gow and more . Additionally there is also an Asian Games section with Mahjong & Mahjong Pro too! All of the casino games are accesible via a very easy to use and intuitively laid out menu by the way.

There are only around a dozen video poker games - and that includes multihand variants - which include Deuces Wild, Jacks Or Better, Aces & Eights and Joker Poker, and a decent amount of slots - I'd guess around 50 or so. Although they appeared to lack a few of the recent Marvel slots as I wrote this, they do have some exclusive SEGA slot games like "Virtua Fighter" and "Phantasy Star". It also has the excellent Gladiator slot game which, if you like slots, is a MUST try!

Support & Service

In general this was probably the most impressive aspect. Live Chat was always responsive inside a few seconds and always friendly and helpful. Email responses are acknowledged immediately and took between 30 mins and 2 hrs for a full detailed response. Whether this will slide as SEGA casino gets bigger who knows, but right now that's very good. I did have a problem with a handful of automated emails contradicting themselves over my VIP level (I was "Red", then "Black", then "Gold", then "Red" again LOL). But assume this was a minor glitch which will get ironed out. I accrued a fair few VIP points too and couldn't see any way to redeem them. As it turns out, you do it through Live Chat but the points conversion rate is incredibly poor compared to most other online casinos I have played and reviewed.

The cashout process was good and efficient at first, but they made one change which annoyed me. They decided to leave the money in your balance after requesting a cashout. I had a moan, and they have now said they will do a manual flush on request. Tried it out and sure enough, was flushed inside 10 minutes. In one instance I even had the cashout in my Neteller account inside 3 hours! But cashouts are normally processed around 10am GMT The following day which is still very quick for any online casino, especially a Playtech-powered one! This is even rivalling my favoruite 32Red casino!

On my first cashout, I cashed out a 4-figure amount on Saturday night before retiring to bed, and by the time I awoke Sunday, I had the document ID request. Duly sent a passport and utility bill as requested, which were acknowledged, and received the funds Monday. 36 hrs for the first ever withdrawal is very good - no messing.

One other note on banking. While depositing and cashout out is very easy, Visa and Mastercard transactions are carried out through Moneybookers so you will be prompted for a username/password as a Moneybookers login. Moneybookers is a very safe and popular online payment processor, however this means you have to cash out to Moneybookers before you can then withdraw to a bank. Also, Moneybookers will lock your account and ask for ID and stuff at some stage. I use Neteller which I prefer, but either way, you will need an eWallet to play SEGA casino.

Conclusion

I was more impressed than I expected to be. It's rare to find a Playtech casino that doesn't have a Reverse Withdrawal time to try and con players into losing their winnings and, coupled with the very good customer service, I think SEGA could become my favourite Playtech, although the poor loyalty points conversion is a bit offputting. SEGA casino doesn't have the same game range as perhaps Bet365 casino, or even the Playtech-driven Mansion casino but the service is great and 24 hour cashouts with no Reverse Withdrawal trickery put some other Playtechs like William Hill casino and the aforementiond Mansion casino to shame.

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