Golden Riviera Casino Review

The Golden Riviera online casino is just a small part of the six part chain owned by the Golden Group. This well known company was originally based out of Cyprus, but has now moved their center of operations to the lovely Antigua. We have to put that in here simply because we are jealous. This “home of the sophisticated gambler,” has been up and running since 2000 and have carved themselves quite a niche in the market. Of course their great reputation and eCOGRA accreditation probably have something to do with that. Well the day we did our review we decided that we were feeling pretty sophisticated sitting in the office in jeans and t-shirts so we packed our virtual bags and headed out.

Our main reason for coming to the Golden Riviera again was to check out a new weapon in their arsenal, their UK dedicated site. This casino is completely separate from the main site and is designed in its entirety to tempt the UK customer. We really enjoyed that the whole look and feel of the casino made it feel like a whole new world rather than just a recycled version of Golden Riviera’s main international casino. This is a classy joint that oozes a smooth sophistication on all levels. Players will find high quality version of all the classic casino table games, as well as a nice variety of the more modern arcade style machines. We would like to remind you that the main casino is English based so if for some reason you just don’t find your fit here then make sure to check things out over there.

We had no trouble finding our way around thanks to the clear concise navigation menu. All the important links were very clearly laid out without the overwhelming clutter we have found at other casinos. Also in an added bonus, they all worked. The only link that was missing in action was one for the help menu. In fact there was no help menu on the UK site nor were there any kind of FAQs to be found. If things get hairy there is always the main site which offers a great variety of help options to answer all your questions, or you can go to customer support, but both of these areas should be accessible from anywhere throughout the Golden Riviera network. This is an oversight on their part, but one that could be fixed pretty easily.

You can thank Microgaming Viper software for the very rich highly detailed game you find at Golden Riviera. This package is becoming more and more common among the big names because they truly have one of the top products out there for this type of set up. The software is downloading only, so you will have to take the time to install it on your own computer. However, we checked this out and found that the file size is very conservative so even the dial-up users out there should have no trouble getting things rolling. If you find that it is just too much to deal with then try the “lite” option that will get you through the door to four games almost instantly while other games load in the background during playing. Golden Riviera set themselves apart from the crowd by choosing the games for their floor and then sticking with them. Other casinos often get caught up trying to out do their peers with sheer numbers and end up delivering a wide variety of average games. It is very nice to see a casino bent on getting it right rather than just getting it done. You will not find 101 different slots or video poker games to choose from, but there ones that are there are first class.

There is a non-downloading Flash casino if you are just after some quick fun, but it does not offer the same overall experience. We hate to say it, but even this very widely used software does not have a non-Windows version supported by Golden Riviera. So unfortunately if you don’t run Windows you can’t play here. This very unpleasant issue crops up much more frequently than we like to thing about.

When you decide to take the virtual plunge and plunk down some of your own cash you will find yourself well taken care of at Golden Riviera. Players are given several deposit options as well as the chance to participate in a varity of intriguing promotions. As with all the big casinos, Golden Riviera requires a minimum wager for bets to be eligible for the promotions structure. As we heard in the chat rooms, some players may not like this set-up but it is the industry standard (both brick and mortar as well as virtual) at this time. Plus we looked into Golden Riviera’s requirements and found them to be right on track with everything else out there today.

We love the fact that Golden Riviera has taken the time to create something special just for their UK customers. This attention to the details that matter carries over throughout all aspects of their site. We would like to see the help issue and the Mac problem taken care of, but other than that find ourselves with no complaints. We think that if your fun runs to the classic table games, then you won’t find a more realistic option out there today. Golden Riviera really is the high style option for players with taste.