Continuing with our theme of reviewing casinos with animal themes, I am back to review the Royal Panda Casino for you. Now, while I admit I am not turned on by casinos with any jungle or animal theme, at least in the case of Royal Panda the colors of the animal are not offensive and fit in well with the look and feel of a nice casino.
Heck, you could even say that the Panda is the classiest of animals (aside from the tuxedo-wearing penguin of course). Anyway, before I go down the wrong path, here’s my review of Royal Panda Casino.
Royal Panda Casino is owned and operated by the Royal Panda Limited, who have a physical address listed on their website in Malta. The Maltese are another group of folks that figured out that becoming a licensing jurisdiction in the online casino world is good for the economy, however as opposed to some of those same jurisdictions in the Caribbean, they do a much better job of holding companies accountable.
Having said that, while Royal Panda does have a license from the Malta Gaming Authority, they also have a more prestigious license from the UK Gambling Commission. This license holds significant weight as it allows the casino to accept players from the UK and the stamp of approval from the Gambling Commission is recognized globally as a sign of trust.
Who Can Play at Royal Panda Casino
It appears that there are only a few countries that are restricted from playing at Royal Panda Casino. They include Israel, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Having said that, when you drill a little deeper, you will find that not all their games are offered to every country. I am sitting in Canada, and several games are unavailable in my lobby. I find this surprising, but perhaps it is just that Royal Panda’s software suppliers have specific restrictions placed on their licensees.
What you will find at Royal Panda regardless of what country you play from is an exceptional playing experience on both PC and mobile as Royal Panda has a robust selection of browser-based Instant Play games. The majority of their titles are available for play on mobile devices and have been optimized for that use. The response time is particularly good for Royal Panda’s mobile offering, and you can even play their live casino from your phone if you would like.
Software Suppliers
Another sign of a quality online casino is the companies that they choose (and choose them) for their games. Royal Panda has apparently spent a lot of time and money developing relationships with great vendors in the space, as their casino features titles from some of the best casino software in the world.
Royal Panda offers games from some of the global leaders in casino software, including Microgaming, NetEnt, and Evolution Gaming for their live casino offering. What does this mean for you players? It means a list of game titles that rivals some of the best live casinos in the world, let alone their competition in the online space. It also adds a layer of trust to the casino – if these suppliers have agreed to take on Royal Panda as a client, they must have passed through enough layers of compliance that the vendors were certain their bills were going to be paid.
The Good Stuff and the Bad
PROS
- Hot and Cold Slots
- Jackpots
Cons
- Welcome Bonus (and other bonus) Restrictions
- Cumbersome Lobby Screen
Hot and Cold Slots
This is one of the best features I have ever seen in a casino that I have reviewed. If you are logged into the Royal Panda Casino, and head over to the “More” tab of the lobby, you will see a link for Hot and Cold Slots. Click on this, and you will be directed to a page where you can search for Hot Games (those that have been paying a lot) or Cold Games (those that are due for a payout). Not only that, you can set the search parameters for what you define as a hot or cold game.
I cannot stress enough how very cool this feature is for players. If you are like me, you have been in a live casino wandering through the slots waiting to find a machine you think may be ready to burst or one that is paying out a lot to someone else. I am always looking for an angle, and sometimes that requires a little bit of superstition. Now, with this feature, I can quickly look to see if one of my favorite slots is ready to burst before I take my money to the reels!
Jackpots
Those of you who read a lot of reviews on this site will know how much I love Jackpot games. Yes, I know that means a piece of my play is going into the contribution pot for these jackpots, which lowers my payout potential on those games. I don’t care. The idea of possibly winning a huge jackpot is way more valuable to me, and Royal Panda has me buzzing with excitement. The casino takes advantage of their partners’ networks to piggyback on their progressive games. At the time of writing this review, there were over $13 million in jackpots available to be won according to their homepage. This includes the very popular Mega Moolah which is ready to pay someone a seven-figure prize. Here’s the list of jackpot games at Royal Panda, which no doubt includes some titles that you recognize:
- Divine Fortune
- Mega Moolah
- Hall of Gods
- Mega Fortune
- Cosmic Fortune
- Arabian Nights
- Caribbean Stud Poker
- Major Millions
- Mega Joker
- Super Lucky Frog
- King Cashalot
- Fruit Fiesta 5 Reel
- Cash Splash 5 Reel
- Mega Moolah Isis
- Treasure Nile
- LotsALoot 5 Reel
- Tunzamunni
- Cash Splash 3 reels
- WowPot
- Fruit Fiesta 3 Reel
- LotsALoot 3 Reel
Welcome Bonus (and other bonus) Restrictions
So a couple of things here. First off, the Welcome Bonus, the marketing piece that is supposed to drive you to make your first deposit, is nothing short of lackluster at Royal Panda Casino. It is a pure 100% match bonus but with only a $100 maximum limit. So basically they are saying that the value they place on you, the depositing player is exactly $100 that needs to be played through 35 times to qualify. That’s garbage in my opinion. I am not looking for those outrageous 500% offers that are utterly absurd and reek of desperation, but come on now…you can do better Royal Panda.
Furthermore, Royal Panda is another casino that limits the amount you can bet to clear bonuses. Look at this item from their Bonus Terms and Conditions:
In the interest of fair gaming and fraud prevention, wagers placed using bonus money are subject to a maximum bet per game round limit. In most games, the maximum bet permitted when playing with bonus money is $7.50, €7.00, £5.00, or its equivalent in another currency. In the case of the following games, these operate with a deviating maximum bet of $1.50, €1.40, £1.00, or its equivalent in another currency, when playing with bonus money: 1429 Uncharted Seas, The Rift, Dead or Alive, Bloodsuckers, Kings of Chicago, Hellboy, 300 Shields. In the case of a breach of this rule, the player agrees that his bonus and any associated winnings may be void.
Now, this is essentially double-dipping or bonus abuse, but from the operator side! Typically, a casino puts up a massive bonus and to protect itself from bonus whores, limits on what can be bet are put in place. In this case, the bonus is so low that there can’t be too much abuse. Shady move, Royal Panda. Something has to give here if you want your promotions to match the quality of your games.
Cumbersome Lobby Screen
This kind of thing drives me nuts about a casino. Royal Panda goes out of their way to deliver hundreds of games and has a lobby full of tabs separating the games, but then you will find duplicates in each lobby. Take blackjack for example. If blackjack has its own tab in the lobby, then the blackjack games should not also be listed under Table Games.
This may sound petty and a bit detail-driven to most, but I spend the majority of my day researching, playing and reviewing online casino sites. What I can tell you from my years of experience is that the casinos with the cleanest look and feel can overcome having a less than excellent offering of games. As a player, I want it to be clear exactly where I need to go to find the game I want to play.
Game Selection
Live Casino
Personally, I am confident that live dealer casino games are where the online casino world is heading, and I am happy for that. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the speed and convenience of a digital table game, but the idea that a live game is being simulated for me in my house is very appealing.
Royal Panda Casino has one of the most extensive offerings for players in their live dealer casino. Here’s what you can find:
- RP Roulette
- RP Blackjack
- RP Blackjack VIP
- Dream Catcher
- Double Ball Roulette
- Roulette
- Speed Roulette
- Speed Baccarat
- London Roulette
- Blackjack
- Immersive Roulette
- Baccarat
- Baccarat Squeeze
- Caribbean Stud Poker
- Ultimate Texas Hold’em
- Blackjack Party
- Slingshot Auto Roulette
- Casino Hold’em
Digital Table Games
Royal Panda also offers a full range of standard online table games to complement their live dealer options. The graphics on these games are fantastic, and you will find loads of different variants of the games you love. Personally, I got stuck playing Royal Panda’s Caribbean Stud games for longer than I might normally do when reviewing a casino, which is a testament to the flow of the game. Whatever type of table game you like to play, you will find it at Royal Panda Casino.
- American Roulette
- Baccarat Professional
- BlackJack
- Blackjack Classic
- Blackjack Professional
- Caribbean Stud Poker
- Casino Hold’em
- Craps
- Double Ball Roulette
- Double Exposure Blackjack
- European Roulette
- French Roulette
- Multi Wheel Roulette
- Oasis Poker Professional
- Pontoon Professional
- Punto Banco Professional
- Red Dog
- Roulette Professional
- Single Deck Blackjack
- TXS Hold’em Professional
Slot Machines
We have already discussed all the huge jackpot slots that Royal Panda has to offer, but they do offer over 300 different video slots as well! One great thing about using multiple software vendors, especially Microgaming and Net Ent, is that you get a wide array of themes, licensed content, and gameplay. I think this is of tremendous value to a player, and I really wish some other casinos would spend the time to acquire more than one software supplier.
I won’t list all the games you will find in the Video Slots tab of Royal Panda’s lobby, but here are some games that you may recognize and some that I tried out that I thought you should as well:
- Life of Riches
- Candy Dreams
- Fruit vs. Candy
- Lost Vegas
- Jungle Jim – El Dorado
- Emperor of the Sea
- Machine Gun Unicorn
- Dragon Dance
- Lucky Leprechaun
- Thunderstruck II
- The Yellow Emperor
- Tarzan
- Immortal Romance
- Frozen Diamonds
- Ninja Magic
- Game of Thrones
- Orion
- Pistoleras
- Ragnarök: Fall of Odin
- Bridesmaids
- Lucky Zodiac
- Forsaken Kingdom
- Legend of Olympus
- Jurassic Park
- Terminator 2
- Avalon II
- Tomb Raider 2
- Gothic
- King Cashalot
- Reel Gems
- Supernova
- Jekyll and Hyde
- Hellboy
- Battlestar Galactica
- Hitman
- Tomb Raider
- Megadeth
- Throne of Egypt
- Cashville
Video Poker
I love checking out all the video poker options that a casino offers their players online. With no restrictions on physical machines, it makes it much easier for operators to offer some of the variants that may not be as popular as the standards. Unfortunately, Royal Panda Casino doesn’t seem to take full advantage of all the software suppliers that they have on board. At the time of writing this review, I could only see 8 different versions of video poker available in their lobby. Don’t fret, however, as you know that they do offer some favorites, and I was still able to get my fix.
- Jacks or Better Double Up
- Deuces Wild Double Up
- Joker Wild Double Up
- All American Double Up
- Joker Poker
- Tens or Better
- Bonus Poker Deluxe
- Aces and Faces
Sports Betting at Royal Panda
Unlike most sportsbooks that separate their list of markets into categories such as Main Sports and Other Sports, Royal Panda just lists them all together in one giant list. We like the fact that they put a list of the most popular sporting events for each day at the top of this main list to save people time when searching for the game or games that they want to bet on.
The following list contains the different betting markets that are available in the sportsbook on Royal Panda:
- Football
- Tennis
- Basketball
- Ice Hockey
- Rugby Union
- Cricket
- Esports
- American Football
- Boxing
- Darts
- Snooker
- Alpine Skiing
- Athletics
- Aussie Rules
- Auto Racing
- Badminton
- Bandy
- Baseball
- Bowls
- Chess
- Curling
- Cycling
- Field Hockey
- Floorball
- Formula 1
- Futsal
- Gaelic Football
- Golf
- Handball
- Hurling
- MMA
- Motorbikes
- NASCAR
- Netball
- Olympics
- Rally
- Rugby League
- Rugby Sevens
- Special Bets
- Speedway
- Squash
- Surfing
- Trotting
- Volleyball
- TV Shows and Movies
- Politics
- Pesapallo
This is an extremely long list of betting markets, some of which we have never seen before. It is quite rare to see a site that offers bets on chess, trotting, or rally.
We especially like that they included emerging markets such as the esports market, which has been exploding in popularity as of late. At the time of this writing, they offer six different esports to bet on, which is more than the average sportsbook offers. These six games include popular names such as Counter-Strike: GO, Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends, Overwatch, StarCraft 2, and Dota 2.
If you are trying to bet on a game that has already started, you are in luck! Royal Panda offers a live betting option for any games that are already running, and the odds update constantly as the game progresses. There is also an “Event View” option which will give you a real-time update on every single play that happens throughout the game. This is not as good as watching the game on cable, but not everyone has a television or enjoys the cliché commentary and annoying commercials that come with viewing the event on TV.
The types of bets that you are allowed to make on Royal Panda’s sportsbook include single bets, multiple bets, system bets, and chain bets. They also offer an odds conversion feature which can display the odds for each bet by using various formats such as decimal format, fractional format, American format, Hong Kong format, Malaysian format, or Indonesian format.
As far as betting limits are concerned, Royal Panda has no information on their site about what these limits might be. The only thing that they mention is that the maximum amount of money that you are allowed to win in a single day is €100,000, which is quite a large sum. This will only affect the high rollers on the site, since they need to be careful not to make any parlays that pay out more than this hefty amount.
Our Overall Sportsbook Opinion
For a sportsbook that was just launched in 2017, Royal Panda has an absurd number of betting options available. At the time of this writing, we see that there are 1,859 possible “Pre-Match” bets and 20 possible “Live” bets. These numbers obviously fluctuate greatly throughout the day, but the sheer number of bets and markets that they offer is quite impressive.
Their website seems a tad bit cluttered at first, but once you find the “Pre-Match” and “Live” buttons it becomes much easier to navigate. They should probably make these buttons a different color and size from the rest of the buttons, due to their increased importance.
Overall, we recommend this sportsbook to anyone who enjoys betting on sports. This is especially true for those who like to bet on esports or an obscure sport that most other sites do not offer, since Royal Panda has this suit in spades.
Promotions
The Promotions team at Royal Panda has left me scratching my head. We talked earlier about how the Welcome Bonus that the casino is offering is particularly weak. With that in mind, however, there are some nice pieces to their ongoing promotions. While there aren’t too many options in the promotions department, there is some creativity. Let’s look at two of the promotions that are currently available on Royal Panda Casino:
Royal Panda Sportsbook Promotions
Due to the fact that Royal Panda just added a sportsbook to their site a few months ago, it is understandable that they do not have any specific promotions for sports bettors. However, the playthrough requirement for this Welcome Bonus is possible to clear by betting on sports.
The main difference is that when you try to clear the bonus by sports betting you will need to wager 7x the amount that you deposited. For example, if you deposited a total of €1,000 then you will need to wager €7,000 worth of sports bets before you can withdraw your money. These bets must have a minimum of 1.80 odds attached to them, which is actually better than most casinos, which only allow bets with 2.00 odds or higher.
Become a Roulette Champion and win $10,000!
This is a fun promotion as it allows players to qualify for a $10,000 tournament in many different ways:
- Hit the most double straight ups on Double Ball Roulette in June
- Wager the most across our live roulette games throughout June
- Play the most rounds during June across our live roulette games
- Get the biggest total win throughout June over all live roulette game
- Score the biggest win on a single day in June on any live roulette game
Those 5 players will have one weekend to take their roulette bonus to as high a peak as possible, and the winner walks away with $10,000!
Lucky 21 Blackjack Promo
Here’s one that couldn’t be any easier. Play blackjack on the 21st of the month, and get at least one blackjack while playing. Your name is then entered into a draw, and the winner is announced the next day, walking away with an extra $210!
Look, I hope that the marketing department steps up and adds more promotions on a regular basis, but for the time being we like what we see at Royal Panda Casino.
Banking
Considering Royal Panda’s European focus and license from the UK Gambling Commission, it should come as no surprise to our readers that there are a significant number of banking options found at their casino. Of course, many of these methods are restricted to certain countries and some cater to you in your native currency which is a nice touch, so when you log in to your account, you will find all the available methods that apply in your case.
Here is a full list of the banking methods available at Royal Panda Casino:
Deposit Methods
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Maestro
- Visa Electron
- Skrill
- ClickandBuy
- Neteller
- Paysafe Card
- Ukash
- Przelewy24
- Boleto
- Wire Transfer
- DineroMail
- Todito Cash
- AstroPay Card
- TrustPay
- Safe2pay
- Billingpartner
Withdrawal Methods
- Wire Transfer
- Visa
- Visa Electron
- Neteller
- Skrill
- Maestro
Comp Program
Like most competitive online casinos, Royal Panda has a loyalty program that awards players comp points for playing their games for real money. Their loyalty program has the not-so-interesting name of Loyal Panda. The difference between Royal Panda and other casinos is that they allow players to redeem these points for physical goods instead of only giving a cash option. There is a full loyalty store where players can redeem for items from laptops and tablets to Royal Panda branded gear (seriously??). Don’t worry, you can still redeem your points for cash as well.
I like that the way to earn points is right at the top of their page as opposed to burying it in the Terms and Conditions pages. All casino have different rules when it comes to accumulating points in a particular game, and there is no guessing with Royal Panda – here’s what they tell you on their loyalty page:
Games Category | Wager | Earn |
---|---|---|
Slots | $10 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
Roulette / Live Roulette | $25 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
Table Games | $50 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
Video Poker | $50 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
Live Casino | $50 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
Scratchcards | $10 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
Softgames | $10 | 1 Loyal Panda Point |
VIP Program
As part of the Loyal Panda Program, 4 levels allow players a chance to improve not only their level of service from the casino but also accelerate the accumulation of the Loyal Panda Points. Here is a breakdown of each of the levels.
Loyalty Level | Entry Criteria | Description |
---|---|---|
Bronze | Default | All players are crowned at Royal Panda |
Silver | 15,000 LP Points | Next-level rewards for next-level players |
Gold | 45,000 LP Points | Gold-standard benefits for loyal players |
Diamondr | 120,000 LP Points | Diamonds are a Loyal Panda’s best friend |
Nothing too detailed in what each level receives, but it is at least very clear how many points you need to accumulate to move up a level.
Customer Service
I almost put this category under the Ugly Stuff banner. Why, you may be asking? Well, Royal Panda Casino offers their customer support three ways: Email, Phone, and Live Chat. That’s pretty standard for a solid casino, but in the case of Royal Panda, their phone and customer service is only open from 9:30 am to midnight CET.
This is a supreme pain in the rear for someone like me who is playing in the North American time zones, as that means the customer service is reduced to email-only. I understand that the focus for Royal Panda is likely on the European market, especially since they don’t take players from the U.S. The reason I didn’t downgrade the Customer Service was the speed and quality of the live chat when it was open. I was having some trouble with my account when I was trying to open it, and when I clicked on the Live Chat button not only did I get a quick response, the agent took care of my problem and walked me through every step.
I am very hopeful that there is some growth in their player base on this side of the Atlantic, so Royal Panda feels it is worth making their customer service a 24/7 operation.
Would I Play at Royal Panda Casino?
Absolutely. I value great games and high jackpots over promotions, so in this case, I have to recommend you give Royal Panda a shot. While I won’t be cashing in my Loyal Panda points for a branded t-shirt, I will be continuing to deposit at this casino, and if the promotions are updated, I will be sure to let all our readers know on this page.