Gala Casino Review

If you tend to spend your time in Bingo halls then you are very familiar with the name Gala. But, are you also familiar with the fact that in the last five years that very same Gala has come to be one of the biggest players in the casino world as well? The reason for this stunning fact is that five years ago Gala became the proud new owner of the Ladbrokes casino chain. This means that they now own and operate 30 land based casinos as well as their Bingo halls. We know that Gala has found success with its online Bingo halls, but a casino is a different animal entirely. Will they be able to take their real world learning’s and translate them into virtual fame, or infamy?

If you know anything at all about Gala then you know that their reputation precedes them. The company prides itself on maintaining the security and integrity their players demand. The casino is pushing a more high volume low stakes approach to play that would seem to show an interest in every player rather than just the high rollers. In their own words Gala claims to be designed for all types rather than the hotshots.

Our first impression of Gala’s online casino was positive in that the minimalistic design naturally lent its self to simple navigation. We found our destination among the three possible choices and off we went. Once we made it into the actual casino things did not go so well. This whole area felt like more of a first draft rather than a final copy. What made it all so confusing was the lack of consistency in the links. Many of the options that we thought were links proved to go no where. Others worked, and still others just sent us to some very pleasant error messages. This is really frustrating when you are new to a site and trying to learn your way around. We managed to find our way through the clutter in the end, but what would a truly new player do? Gala needs to do some serious work here to bring this area up to par, or at least make sure that the links work.

We still held hope that when we got to the games that Gala would just knock our socks off. They are known after all for their ability to run a great game. Our actual reaction proved to be much more underwhelmed than blown away. The casino is non-downloading but that is not reflected in the loading times of the games. Considering the lack of graphics and extras offered to players it is especially disheartening to see how long they consistently took to load. When we say lack of graphics we really mean it. The games at Gala are very bare bones and border on minimalistic. It would be nice to have some custom sound options or detailed animations or anything would really be better than nothing. Also while their selection was fair that’s about all we can say about it. Oh, and if Craps is your passion then we are afraid that you will just have to keep looking, Gala casino does not currently have a table.

In their own site literature Gala makes a very bold claim in that they believe their site offers, “the unique Gala Casino experience can be played on most computer systems under five years old.” This is great if they can back it up. We tried to get things rolling using a brand new Mac. This thing wasn’t five months old much less five years. No matter what we tried, the only way we finally found success was to give up and call customer support. Yes, the games did eventually work, but who really wants to go through all that hassle. If they are going to advertise for non-Windows based users then they need to do the follow through to make sure things actually work.

You have to remember that this is a very new site, and they are still in a development and growth stage. With this in mind we think that the promotions pool is off to a good start. Gala is currently offering a new player bonus. Granted it is not as exciting as those offered by many of their rivals but it is a step in the right direction. We think that over time this area will find better funding and come up with some more creative options. Customer support is always open and ready to help through either e-mail or phone, but it is important that you note the phone option is not free.

There is no way around the fact that this site needs a great deal of work to make it good, much less great. With that said we do realize that there are most likely players out there who could appreciate Gala’s no frills but very secure version of an online casino. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, then Gala casino should be the next stop on your list. Overall this is still a very new site that is still in the growing phase. What they are today is probably no reflection on what tomorrow will offer. Don’t count Gala out just yet because they are sure to surprise you.