Hippodrome Casino Review: A Detailed Insight

The Hippodrome Casino Games

With over 450 games to its name, The Hippodrome’s online operations are certainly not designed as a side-project to its land-based ventures. You can quickly get involved in a wide variety of casino games. All the classics are there, and the selection caters to everyone. Most of the titles are provided by industry stalwarts Microgaming and Evolution Gaming. Read on for an in-depth look into all aspects of the game library, including which games made the transition to the mobile app.

High Quality Games Galore

Roulette fans will be pleased to hear the French and European versions are in The Hippodrome casino games collection, offering you better odds than the American version, which also takes its place in the library. A plethora of roulette variations such as Multi-Wheel and Immersive Roulette are also in the bag.

Three and five-reel slots are in abundance, including some games with enormous progressive jackpots. Mega Moolah, Major Millions, and King Cashalot are popular progressive classics. With twenty varieties of blackjack on the table, fans of the beloved card game will be more than content. The same can be said of video poker. Eighteen options, including Jacks or Better, Pai Gow Poker and High-Speed Poker, are all part of a formidable collection. The healthy assortment of other games doesn’t hurt, either. You can indulge in keno, bingo, sic bo, craps and baccarat to name but a few.

Live Gaming at the Online Hippodrome

No Hippodrome casino review would be complete without discussing the live game selection. In total there are ten live-dealer games. Blackjack, baccarat, poker and roulette are covered, plus the popular Dream Catcher game, which resembles the Wheel of Fortune gameshow in many ways. Like many of its peers, The Hippodrome utilises the software and expertise of live gaming’s alpha male, Evolution Gaming. If you’ve played live games in online casinos before, there is a decent chance you’ve encountered Evolution’s games and its dealers and croupiers before. The standards are very high, and you can therefore expect real quality from the live Hippodrome casino games. If you are new to the scene, you’ll be pleasantly surprised about the level of immersion and the atmosphere they manage to achieve.

The Hippodrome’s Mobile Offering

It’s vital to pander to your mobile players if you want to run a successful online casino these days. Hordes of players access the games while on-the-go these days. Therefore, it’s convenient that The Hippodrome doesn’t hold back on this front. Apple, Android and Windows device owners have access to the fully-optimised mobile HTML5 website. Android and Apple users can also download the casino app to add to the convenience of the experience.

The live game selection is available on mobile and tablet devices, as is the vast majority of other games that are on the browser version. Excluded are some of the more niche games like sic bo and bingo, as well as some of the less popular slots.

Minimun & Maximum Bets

The Hippodrome game library is positively bursting at the seams, and a consequence of this is a substantial variation in the minimum and maximum betting limits. There is something for everyone, whether you have a hole in your pocket or you have money coming out of your ears. You can also play some of the games in free play mode, which is great if you are intent on testing the water before diving in.

Slots players can wager as low as ₱10 per spin, and up to ₱6000, which is something you should, quite frankly, avoid. Unless you regularly take baths in liquid gold, the maximum betting limit does the job. Max blackjack and roulette bets go as high as ₱600,000, which is par for the course in an online casino, although quite a few won’t permit bets above ₱12,000. Minimum wagers stand at ₱10 for both games, meaning you can also take your time winning or losing in small increments. After all, the tortoise did beat the hare.

Hippodrome Casino Payout Rates

The return to player (RTP) rate of any online casino game is worth noting. It is represented as a percentage which denotes the total wins over stakes played. So, if the RTP rate is 90%, it means you could expect to get ₱90 back from your ₱100 stake. However, because of the nature of the beast, that won’t necessarily happen in one individual game or spin. The RTP rate is theoretical, based on long-term calculations. In other words, if you play the same game for sixty years non-stop, you are more likely to be near the RTP% stated.

Some games in The Hippodrome online casino website display their RTP rates. For slots, it’s a legal requirement so you expect to find the rate noted down in the help section. The RTP rates are checked, certified and published each month by respected auditors eCOGRA (e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance), and you can see the seal of approval on its website.

The overall Hippodrome casino payout rate stands at 95.24%, which compares favourably to more than one highest-scoring and best online casino in the Philippines, although it is not the highest. You’d be hard-pressed to find an online casino with an overall RTP above 97%, but I can help you along the way – a relatively new player in the market, Dream Vegas, is one such casino.

RTP rates for slots games vary considerably, but that’s because there are so many to choose from. Nevertheless, the theoretical percentages on offer are competitive because the games are supplied by Microgaming. The rates of a game don’t change from casino to casino. The software supplied by the developer, in this case Microgaming, cannot be tampered with by the casino after the random number generators in the software has been verified.

You’ll also find competitive RTP rates in other casino table games at The Hippodrome online casino. For all intents and purposes, there is nothing to shout about, and nothing to complain about. Discrepancies between top verified Philippines online casinos are, generally speaking, very minor.

Hippodrome Casino Software and Usability

When you arrive on The Hippodrome website, you’ll notice the black and gold theme, which is designed to give an air of wealth and luxury. In my humble opinion, they nailed the colour scheme, but the usability can seem a little awkward. I suspect this is a very subjective issue, and some might think differently, but I think other sites like 888casino and Karamba are far more user-friendly.

Games are provided by Microgaming – one of the biggest names in the industry. It’s the original online casino software developer, having begun life back in 1994, when the internet was still in its infancy, and when students still had to resort to actually reading books to study. Naturally, with a company with a reputation like Microgaming has, you wouldn’t expect anything but quality in their products. Some of my personal favourites are among the slots collection, such as Break Da Bank (absolute classic), Mega Moolah (for if you are dreaming of the big win), and Hitman (well, I was drawn to it because I loved the video games). These are all 5-reel beauties, but 3-reel slots fans might indulge in a spot of Couch Potato, with its abnormally high RTP of 97.43%.

Live gaming software is provided by another industry bigwig, Evolution Gaming. If you are at all au fait with live online casino games, you’ll surely have heard of them. They are by far and away the best in the business (although NetEnt and Extreme Live Gaming are closing the gap). The Hippodrome casino software is up to scratch, and they have made wise choices in their quest for the best online casino game library. The Hippodrome online casino can be played on any functioning PC or Mac built in the past ten years. Yes, this excludes the dust-ridden machine you spilt coffee over that is sitting in your loft, waiting for a new lease of life. Fortunately, if you own an Android or Apple device, you’ll be able to join in the fun anyway. It seems every man and his dog has one of these devices nowadays anyway, so need I go on? Well, I shall, just to round things off. Windows phone users can also play at The Hippodrome on-the-go.

Behind the Scenes at The Hippodrome

Since 1900, the London Hippodrome has stood on Charing Cross Road in the heart of the city. Considered one of the top entertainment venues in the capital, it even featured a 100,000 gallon tank for elephants, polar bears and sea lions! It was only in 2012 that the company made the leap into the online casino world, and exists as a brand managed by Betway Limited.

Fascinating Facts About this Operator

The word ‘Hippodrome’ has long been synonymous with high class entertainment and gambling, to the extent that the original meaning – a horse or chariot race track, is more obscured in popular culture these days. Over seven million visitors have passed through its doors since 2012, and it considers itself a ‘cornerstone of West End life.’ Before it was a casino, the venue was used as a theatre and a music hall. The first ever show was a music hall revue called “Giddy Ostend” which featured Charlie Chaplin in one of his first roles. Let’s have a closer look at this operator’s online history.

Hippodrome Casino Customer Support

Customer support staff can be reached by phone, email or live chat, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Live chat is the best way to get your answers because the response is very fast, and in case you don’t hear from them immediately, you can immerse yourself in the remainder of the internet in the time-being. The extra brownie points tip the scales as far as I’m concerned. However, the phones are willfully manned, and you might prefer hearing your answers over the phone as opposed to written down. The downside is that if you are given directions including a hyperlink to click, you might come unstuck.

All top casinos with an ounce of self-respect will have a live chat service. It’s the way things are done these days. The Hippodrome doesn’t lag behind, and in terms of speed of service, it’s among the leading pack. I ran a quick test to check the response times, and I got a response within 30 seconds for the live chat.

Hippodrome Casino Online Security

The Hippodrome online casino is the proud owner of a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) licence. The UKGC is doing a decent job in protecting consumers and ensuring standards in fairness and security are increasing. The Hippodrome’s self-exclusion system and links to gambling charities such as GambleAware are a result of strict requirements outlined by the UKGC.

The casino also has a licence from the Malta Gaming Authority, which is where the parent company headquarters is based. This enables it to provide gambling services to certain other countries in Europe. The Hippodrome incorporates the latest encryption technology (128-bit SSL), which ensures that your banking details will remain secure when you sign-up or commit to a transaction. Meanwhile, technical security is certified by eCOGRA. This organisation grants a seal of approval to any casino that operates honestly and responsibly, and where the games are fair. The Hippodrome has such a seal of approval.

In terms of responsible gambling, and the protection of their players, The Hippodrome is affiliated with GambleAware – a gambling charity designed to tackle the epidemic of problem gambling. If you are having trouble reining in your gambling habits, you can easily access the GambleAware website from The Hippodrome’s. There is also extensive help on The Hippodrome site itself, and customer support staff are trained to handle requests from those who are concerned about the amount they are gambling. There is also a self-exclusion service, which is available in most online casinos in the Philippines these days.

Handing out the Bonus Points

To ensure my rating system is all-encompassing, I dedicate bonus points where a casino puts in that bit of effort into extras for the players. This includes special promotions and games, loyalty schemes and extras. I also give points out for online casinos that have won awards and those that are well-respected in the industry.

• Awards . 1/3

• Promotions . 1/3

• Special Games . 1/2

• Loyalty Scheme . 1/1

• Extras . 1/1

• Bonus­­ Points . 5

The Hippodrome online casino hasn’t won many awards, and in some ways, it has been playing catch-up compared to illustrious rivals such as 888casino, and Betfair. However, as a brand of big-hitter Betway Limited, it is well and truly in the mix for prizes in future.

The casino runs a loyalty scheme entitled The Hippodrome Rewards Club, which, if you are a member, gets you loyalty points each time you play. These points can be redeemed for casino credits, and the programme has six levels of loyalty. Moving up reward levels will give you bigger rewards, although you may have to quit your day job to reach the top level. Five thousand loyalty points is worth ₱500, and you need 2.5m of the blighters to reach ‘Privé’.

Hippodrome Online Casino Summary

All things considered, The Hippodrome is a very good place to gamble online. It’s safe and secure, and it has a healthy wedge of top-quality games of all genres. This casino has enough about it to appeal to casual players and haughty high-rollers alike. They’ve done a decent job of conveying the luxurious atmosphere found in the sumptuous land-based casino in London. The welcome bonus is competitive, and if you are an avid player, you can really get a lot out of it.

Slots and blackjack fans can’t go too far wrong if they opt for The Hippodrome. There are plenty of options for both. If you are a poker nut, the options available will not disappoint you, although you can find more possibilities and variations on bcasino or Diamond7. Mobile users can have a barrel of laughs with Hippodrome – so many of the games have been converted for mobile optimisation, although if mobile is your bag, I rate 888casino as one of the best mobile casinos for Filipino punters.

Questions and Answers

I often hear from readers who have questions about the operators I review on this site. There is always something you can overlook. So, if you have anything on your mind that you haven’t read about in my Hippodrome casino review, feel free to throw me an email. To read reviews of more casinos, head here.

How long do Hippodrome withdrawals take?

In general, Hippodrome withdrawals are processed instantly. Depending on the payment method you choose, you should receive the funds within a day or two. Only the best real money casino sites can boast such rapid cash out times.

What is the Hippodrome in London?

The Hippodrome London is one of the most elegant gambling establishments in the UK. It is located on Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square, London.

What is the biggest casino in London?

By square footage, the biggest casino in London is the Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City, which has a casino floor that is 65,000 square feet. However, as you may know, land-based establishments cannot compete with the variety and size of online casinos.