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Meister Awards 2023

Best and Worst in Online Gambling

Best and Worst of Online Gambling 2023

“Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away.”

That’s one of my favourite time metaphors — thanks Ben Hecht — and looking back at 2023, it definitely applies. Unfortunately, the circus that was 2023 left behind a few clown-cars packed full of buffoons. And there is always that bleary-eyed barker spewing commodified headline news (aural click-bait that is) which is hard to escape. So the circus might have moved on, but the clowns and barkers hung around to remind us that they will probably never go away.

But this is all about 2023, and we have our Casinomeister Awards to dish out. Yes, it is that time of year again — time to delve into the front lines of the online casino world. Like the band, The Clash — the only band that matters — here are the only awards that matter: Casinomeister’s Best and the Worst of the online gaming industry. So what are we waiting for? Don your helmets and flak vests, button your chin straps and jump out of the trenches and into the amazing world of online gaming.

And the winners are…

Best Casino Awards 2023

How the Best Casino is determined: At the end of the year, we generate a shortlist of the best casinos (this is created from suggestions made by hundreds of our active members). From there, we have a secret vote by the moderators, our most senior members (Experienced Members, Meister Members, Senior members, Ueber Meister, Paleo Meister members) Casinomeister Advisory Group members, and the Meister Minions – a total of about 500 people. These member groups are comprised of the most experienced players anywhere in the online gaming community. This is why the Best Casino award is truly for the best casino in the online casino industry. Period. Full stop.

Best Casino of 2023

Best Casino 2023: Videoslots

Videoslots came out as the clear winner this year – thanks to our membership for giving me insight into why they chose this casino as their top choice.

“Videoslots. They offer way more then most casinos.”
“Video slots by far . The only casino I truly trust. Been there since 2016.”
“Videoslots. Mainly because its wager free and always has been(except for welcome bonus and vip bonuses) neither of which I use.”
“As a player, the best online casino I have ever played at is: Videoslots”
“Videoslots – verification quick process”
“For me it would have to be Videoslots, mostly because they’re the casino I’ve played most, and I’ve cashed out with no hassles. I’ve had a few technical/account hiccups at VS, but all in all they’ve done right by me.”

Videoslots is no stranger to this top award. They have been honoured by us and our community since they first launched in 2009 — even snagging Best Casino of the Decade for the years 2010-2020. So kudos to them and their team for having made this award possible once more. Congratulations!

Best UK Casino

Best UK Casino 2023: Lottomart

For the second year in a row, Lottomart Casino is the winner from our membership voters — this is no surprise. The forum is chock-full of glowing remarks and positive experiences from our members. And it is no surprise, Mark is probably one of the most level headed and helpful managers one could hope for, and he has led this casino to the top casino position for two years in a row. He has done an amazing job and he definitely deserves a raise! Congratulations team Lottomart! Job well done!

Best Casino Global

Best Global Casino 2023: 3Dice

For those members who are not living in the UK, there is the fabulous 3Dice Casino. They have a track record that their competitors could only dream of. 3Dice has been listed here for years with a plethora of awards: Best Casino of the Year, Best Customer Service, Best Casino Experience, Best Games, and on and on. They are 100% original — their proprietary games are just one of the things that make them a leading casino in the industry. Their management and customer service make most of their competitors look pretty weak.

Here are comments by some of our most experienced members:

incrediblestuff: “3Dice always has been, and still is a very unique place to hang and play, where I’m tied in socially of course – since I’ve been there for so long, that the staff and most members are basically like family! And their slots-library contains mainly Highly Volatile creations, which are about 99% unique, and have served me well on many occassions 🙂

“Their pay-out speed is among the fastest, afaik limited to two batches a day. So not always instant but always within 24 hrs. Their loyalty program is definitely one of the most rewarding ones I have seen in the past 20 years, only ever topped by one guy, called Pat Harrison, back in the ole 32Red days :p

“Then there’s the fact that most of their catalogue is low-roller friendly, and also — for those of us with tinier pockets — they give you the opportunity to play free tournaments for real cash, 24 hrs a day, at an ad minimum rate of once per hour, usually more…”

So at this moment, for me, they stand above the rest by a mile.

2023 shortlist:

Bitstarz
3Dice
Leo Vegas
Lottomart
Winz

Historical Best Casino Awards:

best new casino 2023

Best New Casino 2023: Betreels Sports and Casino

They might have been around for a few years, but Betreels stood up to the plate at the end of 2023, put themselves on the hot seat and really knocked their Baptism by Fire out of the ballpark. In other words, Betreels Sports and Games is the Best New Casino of 2023.

If you’d like to observe a casino operator dealing with player questions and issues in a helpful and professional manner, just check out this thread: Betreels is giving it a go. And if you’d like to continue reading this operator’s contributions, just check out the rest of his posts: Betreels recent content.

What I am getting at is that when the operations and player management are engaged with players, it’s a winning situation for all. Good going Betreels!

Best Online Casino Group 2023

Best Casino Group 2023: L&L Group

“Solid as a Rock”

The L&L Group of casinos does it again: The Best Casino Group 2023. They were awarded this same award for 2018 and 2019 — why? Because they are the Best Casino Group available to players in the EU, Canada, and UK –- hands down.

Led by one of the best iGaming reps that one could ask for, L&L Jan seems to be available 24/7 in the forum either for problem solving, sharing in depth experiences, or having just engaging in some jovial banter. He’s there. On top of that, his casinos are stand-alone excellent. They cover nearly every jurisdiction and have just about any game you could possibly be looking for.

mitak11 – I have been playing for several years in All British Casino, Pub Casino, Yako Casino,Yeti Casino, Fun Casino, Casino Casino and Race Casino. It’s simply the best place to play for me. There are insanely many slots and providers, very easy to navigate the site.Not to mention bonuses from free spins – both with deposit and without deposit. Before entering the Casinomeister site, I was just playing with 80 pounds received from 50 free no deposit on the game 24k Dragon in All British .I play with bonuses all the time, I have rolled them many times. Really a wonderful place to play.

dave1888 – I’ve had some incredible wins on both All British and Fun Casino. Including over 2000x bet on Rick Morty Megaways, Extra Chilli, Vikings Unleashed, Dragonfall. 3000x on Tombstone, other wins less than 1000x and the max win on Book of Dead!

I still regularly play on these two casinos and Jan kindly puts something in my account on my birthday! I am thrilled we have sports betting on here now too!

rtb123 – My first experience with L & L casino’s was with Yeti. Was only a small deposit (20 pound) but after wagering the bonus i somehow managed to withdraw over a grand. Had a bit of a mission with the ID but that was my fault as i had moved (support were very helpful and it got sorted). I have played at PUB/All British/Yako and Hyper and have had no issues with withdrawing.

thebigs – Well I would like to say extremely well done to the group for the big 10 years and my experience with the group has generally been extremely positive. Anytime there has been an issue Jan is on hand to sort it out or guide you in the right direction. The website has improved dramatically and the payout speeds have improved no end.

So there ya have it, just a handful of player comments — the forum is chuck-full of them. So congrats to the Jan and the L&L team. High fives all around!

L&L Casino Group:

Historical Best Group Awards:

I have been giving the Best Online Casino Group award since the very beginning; the Sunny Group was the first awardee in 2001. But then came Micki Oster’s Trident Group casinos, and then the Fortune Lounge group – oh, how times have changed…

Best Group 2021 – Legends
Best Group 2020 – Betsson
Best Group 2019 – L&L Europe
Best Group 2018 – L&L Europe
Best Group 2017 – Gaming Innovation Group
Best Group 2016 – Gaming Innovation Group
Best Group 2015 – 32Red Plc
Best Group 2014 – 32Red Plc
Best Group 2013 – 32Red Plc/Club World Group
Best Group 2012 – Rank Interactive/Club World Group
Best Group 2011 – 32Red Plc/Club World Group
Best Group 2010 – 32Red Plc
Best Group 2009 – Club World Group
Best Group 2008 – Jackpot Factory
Best Group 2007 – Jackpot Factory
Best Group 2006 – Trident Entertainment Group
Best Group 2005 – Trident Entertainment Group
Best Group 2004 – Vegas Partner Group
Best Group 2003 – Fortune Lounge Group
Best Group 2002 – Trident Entertainment Group
Best Group 2001 – Sunny Group

best casino manager 2023

Best Casino Manager 2023

Give these people a raise!

“Casino Manager” is one of the most gruelling jobs in the gaming industry. The majority of players are pretty much normal, level-headed punters, but there are a few who exist for the sole purpose of causing endless stress and grief (you know who you are). They are time vampires, online Dementors that will suck the joy and life out of your day. These casino managers run the gauntlet of these foes on a near daily basis.

Unfortunately for players, the field of visible casino managers is getting smaller by the year as more small casinos are swallowed up by the big conglomerates: the casino managers are simply not the people we deal with much these days since they’re mostly buried in the corporate structure somewhere. The few managers that we do deal with directly are almost all from the remaining small operations that go out of their way to be visible and available for comment. Anna at 3Dice is certainly one.

Anna at 3Dice is an amazing casino manager, and is only one of a handful of casino managers that can bank on her experience, knowledge, and professionalism to get the job done. Looking at our legitimate submitted complaints for the past number of years, 3Dice has racked up zero — not one complaint — and their player volume is in the thousands if not tens of thousands. With very satisfied players and a very active forum rep, this is the formula for excellence. Anna is a highly skilled professional and she’s a credit to the online gaming industry and player community. I only wish that more folks would take notice of her and see what she is doing right.

Max Drayman’s honourable mention pick: Tom at iNetBet

Tom is always responsive, clears things up quickly, listens to what we have to say, and is fair to the players. Top guy as far as we’re concerned: he’s 100% reliable.

Best Casino Manager Historical Awards

Best Manager of 2020 – Ben – iNetBet
Best Manager of 2019 – Rachel Morgan – Trada Casino
Best Manager of 2018 – Rachel Morgan – Trada Casino
Best Manager of 2017 – Daniel – Videoslots
Best Manager of 2016 – Daniel – Videoslots
Best Manager of 2015 – Karolina – Club World Casinos
Best Manager of 2014 – Karolina – Club World Casinos
Best Manager of 2013 – Ben Clems – Guts Casino
Best Manager of 2012 – Redbet Andy – RedBet
Best Manager of 2011 – Pat Harrison – 32Red
Best Manager of 2010 – Pat Harrison – 32Red
Best Manager of 2009 – Enzo – 3Dice
Best Manager of 2008 – Pat Harrison – 32Red
Best Manager of 2007 – Pat Harrison – 32Red
Best Manager of 2006 – Emily Hanson – iNetBet
Best Manager of 2005 – Emily Hanson – iNetBet

Best customer service 2023

Best Customer Service 2023: Legend Casino Group

Customer Service reps have one of the most thankless jobs in the industry. They are on the front lines when it comes to keeping their customers not only satisfied, but dealing with any issue that might come up swiftly, effectively, courteously and most important, professionally. The Legends Group of casinos have been doing this for years, and it is about giving credit where credit is due.

The Legend’s group — officially known as Entertainment Software Group NV, with Legend Affiliates being their affy program — has a history much longer than most people realise. Back in the day, they were the Club World group, much loved and respected by many in the industry including some old timers like us. CW ended up in other hands and the original crew moved on to start CasinoMax and have slowly grown to include Cherry Jackpot, Roaring21, Spinfinity, Slots Room and Slots Ninja. If you’ve never heard of some of those that’s because there are exceedingly few negative things to be said: expertly run, crack staff that deal immediately with anything that comes up on the forums or otherwise, basically top tier Customer Service that should be the envy of the industry. Any legitimate player is safe in their hands, no question, but scammers beware: these guys are absolute pros and if something is fishy they’ll know it. Legends group is the best of the best.

Having been listed and accredited here on Casinomeister since their launch in 2017, they are some of the best run casinos out there..

Legend Casinos

In all my years dealing with players and their customer service experiences, I don’t think I have ever heard a peep of dissatisfaction from a Legend Group player — ever. Congratulations to this stellar Casino Group: job well done!

Best Customer Service Historical Awards

pat on the back award 2023

Pat on the Back Award – 2023

High fives for our PAB team!

Our “PABs” or more accurately: Player Arbitration Service, is one of the most well-established arbitration services that is available to players — and it’s free by the way. We have surpassed 25 years of successful arbitration between players and casinos, which underscores our experience dealing with player issues.

This past year our hard working team, Maxd and Gourdfollower, did a smashing job with over €1,000,000 returned to players and over 500 submitted complaints. Those are amazing figures for our small but effective team. So congrats and a shout out for a job well done!! There is more about that here: The Great PAB Celebration

So high fives all around, and a good pat on the back!

best player experience 2023

Best Player Experience 2023

A conglomeration of good times

This year, writing about the “best” player experience was a bit tough (like last year), but these experiences are out there. Max Drayman came up with a pretty awesome experience from a player last Spring…

“Hipsters, flipsters, and finger-poppin’ daddies, knock me your lobes; I came to lay Caesar out, not to hip you to him. The bad jazz that a cat blows wails long after he’s cut out; The groovy is often stashed with their frames …”

Lord Buckley: a hipper cat has never blown. But Buckley was riffing on that famous obituary while I am simply here to share a story, true it be, of a brother in trouble and some cool cats who did him a solid.

Stage left: a player is owed 50 grand by a casino that isn’t paying. There’s no particular problem, in fact the player has received a small payment already, but the casino has since turned to dishing out excuses and delays instead of paying withdrawal requests that have been queued up for over a month. “Bet checking” and “processor delays” they say but the bottom line is that the player isn’t getting paid. That frustrated player turns to us.

Center stage: We do a quick check and it turns out the casino is a DAMA NV property which is, generally speaking, good news. Softswiss — the software providers to DAMA casinos and in our experience the real heart and muscle behind the DAMA group — have been quite gracious and generous over the years with their assistance in resolving player issues so we had no hesitation in taking this one to them in hope of a good resolution. We weren’t disappointed.

Stage right: Softswiss replies. It turns out the casino in question is in the process of winding down its operations and this player isn’t alone in having difficulty getting paid. Without going into too much detail the Softswiss guys say there are procedures in place to ensure the casino will meet its obligations and they will, if necessary, ensure they do.

We pass the good word on to the player, the player is modestly comforted and we all wait. A week passes and nothing happens. We ask Softswiss and they tell us that the casino people are not stepping up so they may have to intervene. Days later they do and the first of three payments is made to the player. Within a week the balance has been paid and the player confirms it.

Without the attention, diligence and good will of the Softswiss crew we likely would have seen this story end as so many similar stories have: a player with nothing in pocket and a lot of advice to forget it and move on. It’s happened far too many times. The fact that Softswiss saw this one through to a very satisfying conclusion speaks very highly of them indeed. “It is true he hath returned with many freaks in chains and brought them home to Rome.”

(Quotations from Lord Buckley’s “Mark Antony’s Funeral Oration”)

So thank you Soft Swiss for coming through on this. Trust is the foundation of this industry — and it’s awesome that players can trust Soft Swiss will do the right thing. That is an amazing experience, the best of 2023 in my opinion..

Best Player Experience, Historical Awards

Best Player Experience 2021 – €19,430,723 progressive win
Best Player Experience 2020 – Netent’s Dead or Alive II
Best Player Experience 2019 – UK Players
Best Player Experience 2018 – Rizk Casino Experience
Best Player Experience 2017 – Ask Me Anything About Slots
Best Player Experience 2016 – Rizk Casino Experience
Best Player Experience 2014 – Pat Royal Flush with $100 bet
Best Player Experience 2013 – Legalized online gambling in the US
Best Player Experience 2012 – 32Red

The Worst-Casino Awards 2023

How the Awards for the Worst are determined: By the end of the year, we have piles of complaints, forum posts, and online casino industry news to sort through. The “worst” categories have some of the most competitive contenders — it’s astonishing how many casinos strive for these awards. We are never disappointed; really, some of these awards write themselves. Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources to cover them all: way too many deserving entities.

worst casino 2023

MrSloty? – You so snotty!!

Worst Casino 2023: MrSloty

Clip joints still run amok these days, and MrSloty (WTF?) was one of these. As the complaints came in about these folks, speak-to-the-hand action and whatever excuse could be pulled, was pulled.

The bottom line was that MrSloty was not paying its players and ignoring complaints. So Max Drayman, our complaints manager, posted this warning in our forum:

MrSloty isn’t paying its players and is ignoring complaints. This [warning] is a bit overdue: complaints against MrSloty have been piling up over the last few months and it’s always the same story: player plays, player wins, player wants to withdraw… and all of a sudden everything is impossible:

“don’t want to pay my withdraw request … They say all the times that I have to wait between 7 and 21 days”
“waiting again after another 8 weeks this has been a total of 5 months from 1st attempt”
“£5000 withdrawal ‘awaiting’ for 9 weeks”
“it’s on pending and they refuse to explain why”

This is obviously a recurring pattern, has been going of for a while now and readers need to be aware of what they’re getting into at MrSloty.

But it was the comment from Dunover that followed this warning that confirmed it — this casino deserved to win. He had done a bit of sleuthing, and the results exposed the dank underbelly of this industry .

Historical Worst Casino Awards

I have been divvying out these “worst of” awards starting in 2003 after realising that crappy behaviour should be rewarded with a crappy award. Lo and behold, some casinos were actually chuffed to get it — there is no such thing as bad publicity. In fact, the first recipient of this award, Black Widow Casino, wanted to pay me $5,000 a week to keep him in the Rogue pit – he was getting loads of traffic because of it. LOL. We kept him there but changed his link to MenWhoLookLikeKennyRogers.com, which was a real site back then. They eventually blocked our traffic. Man, I really miss the old days.

Worst Casino 2020 – 22Bet
Worst Casino 2019 – BonanzaGame
Worst Casino 2018 – Osiris Casino
Worst Casino 2017 – Burnbet/Winner.com
Worst Casino 2016 – Euromoon/Pamper Casino
Worst Casino 2015 – Casino4live
Worst Casino 2014 – SlotoBank
Worst Casino 2013 – rey8.com/Planet Kings
Worst Casino 2012 – Casino770
Worst Casino 2011 – Grand Duke Casino/Class1Casino
Worst Casino 2010 – BeTheDealer
Worst Casino 2009 – Golden Lounge (pre-32Red)/Strykke Casino
Worst Casino 2008 – Gold Betting/Golden Casino
Worst Casino 2007 – Cirrus Casino
Worst Casino 2006 – African Palace/Indio Casino
Worst Casino 2005 – Joyland Casino
Worst Casino 2004 – 1x2casino
Worst Casino 2003 – Black Widow

worst casino group 2023

Worst Casino Group 2023

We all go a little mad sometimes…

“Global Games Tech Ltd & Mad Entertainment: bogus licensing claims, rogue casinos” is our warning in the forum. The rest reads as follows:

WARNING: Players should be aware that any site operated by GLOBAL GAMES TECH LTD or MAD ENTERTAINMENT is almost certainly a rogue site. They claim to hold Curaçao Master Licenses that don’t exist. Curaçao officials have confirmed that these licensing claims are “false and misleading”. These casinos have been involved in way too many complaints to be trusted, the player almost always suffers. AVOID THESE CASINOS.

The irony is that this sort of thing has been going on for years, we have been exposing these casinos for what they are since they first appeared on our radar.

These are the casinos to be concerned about, either confirmed to be Global Games Tech LTD / Mad Entertainment sites or displaying enough of the same tell-tale signs that it’s almost certain they are part of same rogue operation: 4crownscasino.com, arescasino.com, bigwins1.com, casaboonga.com, casinomga.com, cherryfiesta.com, goldenlion.bet, goldenpharaoh.bet, lovecasino.com, magicwin.bet, oceanbreezecasino.com, spicyjackpots.com, superb.bet.

The rest of the report is here: Global Games Tech and Mad Entertainment Casino Warning. If you are a player — especially one in the UK, you would have to be Mad not to read that warning in its entirety.

These unlicensed casinos have been primarily targeting UK players, knowing that no one can touch them. The UKGC is pretty much a limp rag when it comes to protecting UK players from these casinos that actively target consumers that have gambling problems. We’ve been reporting on this for years.

Unfortunately, there are many players who don’t care that these casinos have fake licenses (a two minute Google search will confirm this). And then there are the players that are a prime target — and fall for it hook, line and sinker. But if you are one of these players, don’t get Mad, be glad that you have a sounding platform at Casinomeister.

Stay alert — stay alive.

Historical Worst Casino Group Awards:

I have been awarding Worst Casino Group for 20 years now, and it is one of the toughest awards to dish out since there are so many contenders clawing at each other, fighting to grab hold of this award. The first award given in 2001 was for a major cock-up that put the Las Vegas Strip Casinos on the map. Again: there is no such thing as bad publicity. I know loads of these casino operators cherish these awards… and secretly thank me in their dreams.

Worst Group 2020 – Alpha interactive Group/GameTech/Tall Mountain
Worst Group 2019 – Alpha interactive Group/GameTech/Tall Mountain
Worst Group 2018 – Alpha interactive Group
Worst Group 2017 – Virtual Casino Group
Worst Group 2016 – Affpower
Worst Group 2015 – Curgam Group
Worst Group 2014 – Revenue Jet
Worst Group 2013 – Affactive Group
Worst Group 2012 – Rushmore Group
Worst Group 2011– Affactive Group
Worst Group 2010– Affactive Group
Worst Group 2009 – Mighty Slots Group
Worst Group 2008– The Virtual Casino Group
Worst Group 2007 – The Virtual Casino Group
Worst Group 2006 – Sunny Group
Worst Group 2005 – Windows Casino Group
Worst Group 2004 – Popular Casino Group
Worst Group 2003 – Wager21 Group
Worst Group 2002 – Virtual Casino Group
Worst Group 2001 – Vegas Strip Group

faceplant of the year 2023

Faceplant of The Year 2023

“Whoops – splat!”

Slotocash = Sloto-splat.

The Faceplant award is traditionally given to those that pull an epic dumb-assed move that ends up being the most notable self-inflicted wound of the year.

This year’s prize is being awarded for the combined efforts of DeckMedia, owners of SlotoCash, and their games provider RTG. Together they managed to turn what should have been a great moment for a SlotoCash player and the casino into a sputtering dumpster fire that went on for weeks and weeks and … yes, more weeks.

Normally, when a player wins a Progressive it’s a time for celebration because the money is sitting in a pile somewhere — usually at the games provider — just waiting to be handed over to the lucky winner. The casino doesn’t need to be involved, the provider usually doesn’t care because the money is already collected, and so forth. The win is announced and publicised, the money is transferred to the player, everyone breaks out the fizz and it’s happy days all around. Right? Surely no one could mess that up. Oh, but wait, what if the casino people told the player “congratulations on the big win” and then, just a few days later, not one but two casino representatives said “nope, sorry, no record of that win here.”

Bad enough so far you’d think, what could happen next? How about the provider decides they need to “investigate” the win, just to ensure everything is kosher? Not a problem you’d say, couple of days at most, ya? Ummm, try forty (40) days — forty days! — or at least that’s how long it took RTG to do it. Meanwhile, through out all this, there was a thread running on our forum where everyone was going ape-shit trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Thousands of readers, hundreds of posts, and nothing from SlotoCash nor RTG about what was going on, what the plan might be, or where the player stood regarding the win. All they could manage was some fluff about “due processes” and “as soon as possible” and other similar nonsense. While the mysterious wheels of investigation at RTG ground their way, week after week, through whatever byzantine processes they felt were necessary everyone just hung around, gobsmacked at the monumental failure to handle the player’s win or the public outcry with anything other than stony, meaningless silence.

Having said all that there was, at least, something of a happy ending: in the end, after all the hurly-burly, payment arrangements were made and the player is being drip-fed the winnings. But WTF, seriously! Could they have done anything else to screw that up? Would it have killed them to contact the player, offer a few calming words, and stay in touch once in a while? Apparently so because they sure as hell didn’t.

Lest one might think we’re being too hard on SlotoCash here when they were simply caught between a rock and a hard place where saying nothing was better than saying the wrong thing I offer supporting evidence from two PAB complaints we’ve had with them this past year.

Case #1: a player’s winnings were denied with the casino claiming they were from a restricted country but it took countless proddings from us and a full five (5) months — that’s 150 days! — of them faffing about for them to actually look and see that the Terms had changed AFTER the player had played and won. The player was, eventually, paid in full.

Case #2: very much the same as Case #1 where we have now been waiting three (3) months for them to figure out what day their Terms were changed to restrict this particular player’s country. The player has shown evidence that the Terms DID NOT restrict their country shortly prior to the date of play yet somehow the casino people just can’t quite manage to come up with the necessary date to prove that their actions against the player were appropriate. We’re still waiting guys.

The point is that there is a distinct pattern here: Olympian-level stalls and delays with no explanation for no discernible reason. What comes of all this is considerable damage to the casino’s reputation in the player community, not to mention being stripped of their Accredited status at Casinomeister. In other words, Faceplant City!

Faceplant Historical Awards

Historical comment: this award has morphed from the Worst Blundering Screw-up to Faceplant (the text takes up less space in the images, lol). The fist award was given to the now defunct English Harbour Group of casinos that uploaded the wrong files when updating their poker software – whoopsie!! And who can forget the doozie: 9/11 Twin Tower promotions of 2007! Wow!

Faceplant of 2022 — Entain
Faceplant of 2020 — Betzest
Faceplant of 2019 — Streamer Roshtein
Faceplant of 2018 — Betat and Slotty Vegas
Faceplant of 2017 — Casumo/BetfashionTV
Faceplant of 2016 — Big Time Gaming
Faceplant of 2015 — Revenue Jet and Winpalace
Faceplant of 2014 – Tropica Casino
Faceplant of 2013 – Topgame/BetonSoft
Worst Blundering Screw up 2012 – Betfred
Worst Blundering Screw up 2011 – Betfair (again)
Worst Blundering Screw up 2010 – Betfair
Worst Blundering Screw up 2009 – Topgame
Worst Blundering Screw up 2008 – Casino Action Group
Worst Blundering Screw up 2007 – Virtual Casino’s 9/11 Promotion
Worst Blundering Screw up 2006 – English Harbour software glitch

fall from grace 2023

Fall from Grace 2023

“Joy Ride on a Dumpster Fire”

These awards are bestowed upon casinos that were once an integral part of Casinomeister, but for one reason or another fell from grace and lost their Casinomeister accredited status.

This year’s fall from grace is of course Slotocash. To quote from our Warning:

SlotoCash is habitually slow-paying players or simply denying their winnings due to retroactive Terms changes. They take forever to deal with player issues because of endless stalling and will frequently offer bogus reasons to justify their arbitrary and often unfounded actions against their players. Players are advised to look elsewhere when choosing their casino.

The rest of the story, besides the Faceplant of the Year award above, is here: SlotoCash is applying new Terms retroactively, confiscating winnings

Fall From Grace Historical Awards

Here are our historical Fall From Grace awards, which we started in 2005. There are some gap years – years where no one was bailing from the coveted Accredited and Vetted, Highly Recommended Casino listing. In the early days, it was mostly folks breaking our code of conduct for our Accredited Casinos, who then found their status here downgraded. As the years wore on, the reason for a “fall” was mostly episodes of lackadaisical attitudes and virtual “asleep behind the wheel” or “I don’t give a flying rat’s wahooie”. This is what happens when casino brands are run by marketing teams who only want one thing: conversions. That’s the opposite of what we want here at Casinomeister – we want casinos to care and to abide by our standards for a Casinomeister Accredited Casino.

Fall From Grace Award 2022 – Mr. Green
Fall From Grace Award 2020 – Grosvenor
Fall From Grace Award 2019 – Redbet/Mr.Green
Fall From Grace Award 2018 – Fortune Lounge
Fall From Grace Award 2017 – Affiliate Edge/Vegas Partner Lounge/City Views/Bellerock/Buffalo Partners/Coral
Fall From Grace Award 2016 – Bet365(reinstated)/Betway/Betting Partners(reinstated)
Fall From Grace Award 2015 – Skybet and AffiliateHub – quitters
Fall From Grace Award 2014 – Wagershare casinos/Ladbrokes
Fall From Grace Award 2011 – GoWild Casino
Fall From Grace Award 2010 – Rushmore, Bwin, Betfair
Fall From Grace Award 2006 – Minivegas, Mansion, City Club Casino
Fall From Grace Award 2005 – Fortune Lounge (first award)
Fall From Grace Award 2005 Runner Up – Captain Cooks Casino

stupidest named casino

Stupidest Named Casino 2023

Boardroom setting somewhere on the Internet:

Big Casino Bossman: “So, Joe – word has it that you have a presentation that’s going to blow my mind. What have you got for me?”

Creative Consultant Joe: “I’ve got the perfect name for the perfect casino, boss. Picture this: a casino that is like a smooth bottle of wine — a wine so smooth that winos go mental over it. It’s called, get ready for this: Winomania! – where you get cyberly wined and dined by online winos — AND they have a casino to boot! It’s a mania for winos!

Big Casino Bossman: “That’s absolutely brilliant, Joe! Wino… Mania — my mind is swirling with disturbing, but mildly pleasing images! You’re a genius, Joe!”

Creative Consultant Joe: “Thanks, bossman. That’s why you pay me the big bucks. And there is more.

Silence. A chicken clucks in the background.

Big Casino Bossman: “There’s more?” (he puts the bong down)

Creative Consultant Joe: “Yes, there is more. This is the story of a bird, but not just any ordinary bird — but a bird who is happy.”

Big Casino Bossman: “A happy… bird? (he gulps visibly)

Creative Consultant Joe: “Yes, a bird that is so happy, he flaps around and gets all flappy. So he is happy and flappy — which brings us to Flappy! Flappy Casino!”

Bossman is standing and applauding.

Big Casino Bossman: “Excellent! Excellent!” (he continues applauding. The chicken in the background flutters off.)

Creative Consultant Joe: “Thank you, thank you, bossman! Thank you. But I have yet another.”

(Bossman collapses in his chair, back of hand on his forehead, and he swoons, gazing upwards toward the ceiling.)

Big Casino Bossman: “You slay me with your amazing namings of casinos, Joe. Tell me more.”

Joe pours another glass of Scotch and holds it before the bossman. Bossman looks up and takes notice.

Creative Consultant Joe: “Have a whisky, sir. You’re gonna like this.”

Bossman takes a slow sip – locking eyes with Consultant Joe.

Creative Consultant Joe: “Tomatoes are in, sir. Trendy. You may not have noticed, but they are the next meme craze, the next TikTok mass hysteria. Chatter is all over Instagram, Messenger and X – they are all beginning to talk of tomatoes. You can’t escape it! It’s tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes…”

Bossman begins chanting along: “Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes…” while pounding his fist in the air.

Both: “TOMATOES! TOMATOES! TOMATOES! TOMATOES!”

Consultant Joe holds his hand up. They both cease. Silence.

Creative Consultant Joe: “Ahem,” clearing his voice, “I have acquired Wintomato for you sir.”

Big Casino Bossman: Spits out his whisky — half coughing the words out “WHA? OH MY GOD! That is stunning news, Joe! I get it! You win with tomatoes! Absolutely brilliant!”

Big Casino Bossman is beaming. He stands and reaches out to Joe.

Big Casino Bossman: “You’ve earned yourself another raise, Joe. I can’t wait to hear what you have in store for us next year.”

They retire to the lounge with their weed and scotch. And that’s how creative decisions are made in the world of online casinos.

Stupidest Name Casino Historical Awards

I have always been a proponent of creativity, and feel that naming one’s business is a crucial decision making process. I also find great humour in the idiotic and downright stupid names that some folks have come up with when launching their business. I know, I know, this is entirely subjective — depending on one’s own taste, but these names are stupid and someone has to write about it. And that person is yours truly – me.

Stupidest Named Casinos of 2020 — anonymous-casino/casinobetcave/royalbloodclub
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2019 — Casino Casino/Syndicate Casino
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2018 — Cozyno
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2017 — Ramses Gold, Burnbet, Smashing Casino
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2016 — Bumbet, Ares Casino, Play7777, MrRingo, Pornhub
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2015 — A bunch of ’em
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2014 — ToBwin/Buck and Butler/Llama casino
Stupidest Named Casinos of 2013 – WinTrillionsCasino/TrendCasino/LuckyPantsBingo
Stupidest Named Casino of 2012 – Loco Panda/Loco Jungle
Stupidest Named Casino of 2011 – iButlerCasino
Stupidest Named Casino of 2010 – Majestic Comet Casino/Yes We Can Casino
Stupidest Named Casino of 2009 – Mayflower Casino
Stupidest Named Casino of 2008 – Ministering Angel Casino
Stupidest Named Casino of 2007 – Simon Says Casino
Stupidest Named Casino of 2006 – XXL Club Casino

biggest disappointment 2023

Biggest Disappointment 2023

The Biggest Disappointment – Real Time Gaming

The biggest disappointment for the year 2023 was watching Real Time Gaming delay the payment of a progressive jackpot which is all documented right here: Just hit a huge Progressive on Sloto Cash and am concerned about the payout.

What could have been an amazing and celebratory win turned into a thread that challenged our patience and trust towards this industry. RTG shot itself in the foot here. Instead of underscoring the actual real excitement of winning a progressive jackpot – and how this affects the pyche of its players – RTG just botched it almost to beyond recognition. Sure the player eventually was paid, but in the meantime he was made to feel like a criminial, and the rest of us could only watch this unfold – gobsmacked and wondering where the adults were at RTG.

Because this was what it was like – where were the grownups? Where were the folks that ensure progressive payments are paid promptly with expedience – where was the professionalism? This player was already verified, so a week – max should have been taken to “reverify” the player. A verification is understandable, but five weeks of silence is harboring on toxic rogue activity. That is not just disappointing, it is inept and causes mental stress to the player, and the worst things is that damages the veracity of the software provider, and negated the trust between the player and casino. What a cock-up – what a disapointment.

Biggest Disappointment Historical Awards

I have been dishing out the “Biggest Disappointment Awards” for quite a long time now. Yes, there are loads of things, businesses, and people that I find not only annoying, but clearly disappointing. These awards were created to wake people the heck up so they can take some sort of action to counter the disappointment, but in most cases apathy wins over pro-activeness. It is easier to be lazy and just let things go.

Biggest Disappointment Award of 2022 – The Internet
Biggest Disappointment Award of 2019 – The UKGC and draconian regs/Big Time gaming lack of ingenuity
Biggest Disappointment Award of 2018 – The Australian Government
Biggest Disappointment Award of 2017 – The Australian Government
Biggest Disappointment Award of 2016 – Curaçao License – White Label Runners
Biggest Disappointment Award of 2015 – Bad Attitudes and White Labels
Biggest Disappointment of 2014 – US Market
Biggest Disappointment of 2013 – US Corporate Arrogance and Naivety
Biggest Disappointment of 2012 – Betfair/888.com
Biggest Disappointment of 2011 – Betfair/GRA
Biggest Disappointment of 2010 – HR 2267, US Market, Rival Gaming, Top Gaming
Biggest Disappointment of 2009 – Microgaming, CAP Spring Break, Rushmore Group
Biggest Disappointment of 2008 – Malta’s LGA, White Label Casino Operators, Microgaming
Biggest Disappointment of 2007 – Watching US players being thrown to the wolves
Biggest Disappointment of 2006 – Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
Biggest Disappointment of 2005 – “Abused” Casino Operators (again)
Biggest Disappointment of 2004 – “Abused” Casino Operators
Biggest Disappointment of 2003 – Truegambler’s Cheating Software report/Oddson Software

pyrrhic victory award

Pyrrhic Victory Award 2023

“For the Pyrrhic Victory of the year”

History 101: King Pyrrhus ruled over Epirus (northwest modern-day Greece) in the 3rd century BCE. His armies fought the Romans to the point that when he became the victor, his losses were so astronomical that it was difficult to consider his outcome as victorious. Thus origin of the term “Pyrrhic Victory”, and thus I present to you the Casinomeister’s Pyrrhic Award.

We bequeath this award unto Curaçao and their attempt to revamp their licensing laws in response to pressure from the Dutch government, in particular, and their diminishing reputation within the industry at large.

For as long as most of us in the online casino industry can remember — and we’re talking 1999 onward — Curaçao licenses have been considered the “quick and easy” way to get a gaming license due to Curaçao’s weak regulations and non-existent licensee-monitoring compared to other prominent jurisdictions. Some Curaçao casinos have been, and are, quite excellent thanks to the honesty and professionalism of the operators behind those casinos. But that’s operator excellence and is very much NOT the result of any requirements specified by their Curaçao license. The truth is that Curaçao has become infamous exactly because of the operators at the other end of the spectrum — the rogues if you will — who have been equally welcome and at home in Curaçao. They’ve been abusing players and hoovering up the cash since the beginning without any call, or compulsion, to respect anyone’s interests but their own.

For many years a few voices within the government of the Netherlands have voiced concern, and outrage, at the lack of control and oversight that has characterized Curaçao gaming licensing. There have been calls for restructuring and reform for well over a decade but it’s only been in very recent years that the promise of real change has presented itself and this only because of threats from the Netherlands that Curaçao needed to clean up its act or they’d apply such pressures as to make them wish they had.

And so it was that in mid-2022 the Curaçao government announced their new legislation, the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (Landsverordening op de Kansspelen), aka the LOK, wherein gaming licensing would be taken over by the state — thus abolishing the long-standing Master License/sub-licensee model — and specific requirements regarding anti-money laundering measures, fraud prevention, and player protection would be introduced, all (supposedly) by mid 2023. Shortly thereafter Curaçao’s Minister of Finance, Javier Silvania, stepped up touting the grand LOK project and how it would bring new prosperity to Curaçao through the need for licensee home-offices to be based in Curaçao, have principle casino personnel living in Curaçao, employ local people as staff, and so forth.

About this time a major scandal hit Curaçao: the Prime Minister was found to have been “gifted” a US$2.5M villa and to be in an intimate relationship with a local gaming company’s CEO — Jessica Davis aka “Paris Smith” — who, as it happened, had been convicted in the US for “illegally enticing gamblers to send money from the United States to the Caribbean island of Antigua for bets, totaling approximately $2.5 billion over an eight-year period, and hiding that money in offshore companies.” (First Lady)

Shortly after this hit the press Finance Minister Silvania found himself back-footed by nervous licensees, and powerful gaming executives, and then issued a series of press releases announcing “adjustments” in the timing and application of the LOK: the Master Licenses would NOT be abolished but allowed to continue as B2B vendors; home offices would NOT have to be located in Curacao; gaming company personnel would NOT have to be Curaçao residents; in fact nothing was going to change for at least a year and gaming licenses would continue to be issued under the OLD licensing laws throughout that time, if not longer.

Furthermore Silvania made pronouncements that licensing fees would not be increasing and that the old Master Licenses would only have to pay US$50,000 per year under the new B2B arrangement, as would the new B2C licenses. That will have come as quite a shock to the current sub-licensees since their fees per annum are typically around US$25,000. If what Silvania was saying was true they’d become B2C licensees at US$50,000 per year. Since the sub-licensees number in the thousands that’s one hell of a revenue increase for a department that was promising “no change” in licensing fees.

In response to all this new licensing jurisdictions — Anjouan, for instance — have popped up in anticipation of an exodus from Curaçao, and old licensing jurisdictions who’ve fallen on tough times in recent years — Antigua — are rapidly revamping and scaling up for that same reason. Perhaps it was inevitable that Curaçao would find itself with new competitors once they started moving forward with the LOK regulations but creating new competition exactly while you’re making announcements to scale back, or entirely roll back, on almost every initiative the LOK supposedly represented is not exactly a master stroke of strategic planning.

One of the last statements Finance Minister Silvania made before becoming conspicuously less conspicuous in the press was that Curaçao’s primary goal had to be to avoid being grey-listed by the Financial Act Task Force (FATF) — a global anti-money laundering body — for being a hub of money laundering activity.

“[T]he likelihood of us being placed on the grey list because our lack of AML legislation within the gambling sphere is real, and it is worrying. … We absolutely and categorically need to take the steps necessary to prevent grey-listing and the LOK provides the safety net that we desperately need.” (LOK provides “safety net” from grey-listing, says Curaçao minister)

From “bright new future for iGaming in Curaçao” to “we gotta do this so we don’t get blacklisted for AML” is a victory that not too many of us would welcome, or applaud.

bag of dicks

Bag of Dicks 2023

“For the Dickish move of the year…”

This award is given to those who go beyond the call of duty at being dickish, and since we’re talking about a group of people, it’s a bag of dicks.

This year our Bag of Dicks is handed over to the ethically challenged folks who fake horrific circumstances in order to gain our pity and so force us to process their complaint more expeditiously — and in their favour.

This year we have had a number of folks who fabricate, or use, a death in the family, a serious illness, mental health issues, etc., as an excuse to claim back losses at a casino. Obviously some of these cases are going to be legitimate — and that’s exactly what unscrupulous players depend on in their use of these scummy tactics.

player claims “my wife just died” as the reason for being distraught and loosing too much money. Three days later the same player says “my mother just died” and they spent too much money, at a different casino. Two days after that everything was perfectly fine and no deaths in the family were mentioned again.
a player claims that mental health issues TWO YEARS AGO resulted in them taking too much medication and they went on tilt and blew their savings. Could they now please have that money back? “What mental health issues?” we ask. “Divorce” they say.
player blows a small fortune while they were apparently under age. They’ve grown up now and want it all back. How was it they were able to play at the time? “I lied, but nobody checked my age”.
player says “My name is Jacob N. and I have terminal cancer so I need you to expedite payment of my winnings”. “What is holding up payment?” we ask the casino. “Player has 29 accounts across three of our casinos” they say. Turns out the account in question is under the name “John N.” at a different address than “Jacob”. “Who is John?” we ask the player. “Oh, that’s my dad, like I’ve told you he died of cancer just recently and I’m trying to get the money from his account.”

So yep – these proud folks can hold their bags of dicks up high!

Bag of Dicks Historical Awards

Bag of Dicks 2022 – Affiliates targeting problem gamblers
Bag of Dicks 2020 – Affiliates targeting problem gamblers
Bag of Dicks 2019 – Morally Challenged Marketing Affiliates
Bag of Dicks 2018 – Affiliate Edge shafts an upstanding webmaster’s widow
Bag of Dicks 2017 – Affiliate Edge

FAn Mail for Casinomeister!

Fan Mail 2023

“your just a pussy ass bitch”

So for this year’s fan mail: I’ve chosen a couple of doozies from our PAB team. These are from folks who have asked us for assistance, but we came to a point of not seeing things eye-to-eye…

This past November we received a formal complaint about Bitstarz – the aggrieved player was claiming that they had closed an account and opened a new one. But the old one was being used by someone else… ? Anyway, here is the player’s opening statement:

From the player: “It is imperative that this matter is thoroughly reviewed and addressed promptly. The evidence at hand illustrates a clear discrepancy in the account closure timeline and the reasons provided for such action. I am committed to providing any additional information needed to facilitate a fair resolution. I implore Bitstarz to rectify this situation transparently, acknowledging the evidence presented and taking corrective action. The integrity of your platform and its reputation are at stake, and I trust that you will address this matter with the seriousness it warrants.”

After some minor investigation, it was apparent that this player was opening multiple accounts. When confronted with this — well, here is his response:

angry customer

This guy’s trying to be abusive but he’s not very good at it. If you’re trying to insult someone, ease up on the cutesy animal emojis!

Yep – keepin’ it classy.

And then we have this guy: he had messed up some bitcoin deposits or something, and we were in the middle of trying to figure out what had happened, and then a storm of messages came in, one of which is the following:

another angry customer

Charming.

Fan Mail Historical Awards

Fan Mail of 2020 – unhappy forum members
Fan Mail of 2017 – jemicans
Fan Mail of 2016 – the trolls
Fan Mail of 2015 — cretins, morons, and twats
Fan Mail of 2014 — frank.j.faber
Fan Mail of 2013 — Shamrock7s
Fan Mail of 2012 — boby’s reply
Meltdown of 2011 – All TopGames Casinos are Down! DDos Attacks!!

forum highlights 2023

Forum Highlights of 2023

“Still the Best Forum on the Planet”

Well, each year I think about how lucky I am to have such an amazing mass of people here hanging out in our forum. It’s a real honour to have these people (well, most of these people) as our forum community. And this is what gives a voice to players — their needs, wants, and expectations of the online casino industry.

So here’s a cyber “cheers” to our community. Regular members and the moderators – the beers are on me.

This is a brief smattering of popular threads that appeared this year. There are many more, but these are the ones that stood out for me.

Casinomeister News

Often provoking interesting debate, the Casinomeister News forum carries links to all the iGaming industry news that features on the main site. Below are some of the news items that piqued interest in the forum during 2023.

Stake, Streamers and Crypto Casinos – Always a great controversy – streamers, crypto casinos, and the UKGC. Some great comments here.

MGM Resorts subject of a cybersecurity incident – Crikey! Now that was a debacle! Just goes to show how easy it is to hold a massive company like MGM hostage with a 100% shut down. Mark from Lottomart was there in town reporting live.

Coral deny £15,000 payout on World Cup bet – Say it ain’t so! Entain reneging on a bet? Noooo!

Online Casinos

Source of Wealth poll: How do the SOW requirements affect you? 2023 – Source of Wealth requirements from UK-licensed operators continue to get discussed on the forum, with many a player having to jump through countless hoops to be able to receive their withdrawals into their bank accounts. So, in September it was time for another poll concerning them. 124 forum members voted, with nearly 65% of respondents opting for moving on to another casino and not complying with any SOW requests that they receive.

Reduced Slot RTP’s – How YOU Are Affected! – This thread is still running strong – even though this thread started in mid-2021, it is still very active and relevant to players, giving them a good understanding how the recent changes in RTP policies at casinos are going to bleed them dry. With over 56,000 views and 9 pages of content – this one is worth sunscribing to.

Ontario Operators is still going strong. Ontario members sharing their expereinces, screenshots, worries and woes with the casinos in Ontario.

Videoslots presents Battle of Slots! – This thread started in October 2015 and is still going strong with 1740 pages and over 43,479 posts.

Slots Announcements and Discussion

What’s happened to online slots? – Game developers shouls be aware of this thread. Some sage advice prom players in this thread..

Bonanza 2 is here! Bonanza Falls by Big Time Gaming – seven years in wating – was it worth the wait?

Casino Industry Discussion

Evolution Gaming Rigged Posted by an ex-employee claiming that they’re all rigged! This is for sure!!

Casino Complaints

Here is a ride on a dumpster fire for you: complements of this year’s Faceplant Award (Slotocash). What should have happend in five happy days took five grueling weeks, and for what?: Just hit a huge Progressive on Sloto Cash and am concerned about the payout.

Oh no! SlotoCash again! This time they tried to retroactively apply country restrictions to confiscate a player’s legitimate winnings: SlotoCash casino blocked my account.

What if your name was WHEREISJUSTICE and you complained about having your money stolen when it turned out you actually had multiple accounts, lied about it, and still the casino gave you a break and returned your account and balance? Well, of course you’d accuse them of all sorts of foolishness, insult everyone and get yourself banned: Bitstarz cashout, deposits and account issues.

And unfortunately, many other complaints, mostly with dodgy crap casinos that should not even be allowed to have a license – but then, some of them don’t.

Casino Warnings

And here are but a few Casino Warnings from this year.

This one came out last year, but is still going strong: Warning: Ares Casino (arescasino.com) is BAD news for players. Arse Casino? That’s what I am always reading – lol.

Ouch – Faceplant! Warning: SlotoCash is applying new Terms retroactively, confiscating winnings

Fake license, winnings confiscated, players endlessly lied to: Beware of Goldenlion.bet, a no-pay fake license casino!

Screenshots-O-Rama:

We have the largest collection ANYWHERE of winner and loser screenshots. Show me the Money Screenshots (Min 1000xBet) going strong for over 13 years, Screen Shots that Suck! going strong for 18 years, Mega Wins – Min 3000x Bet , going strong after 8 years, 5 Scatter/5 Wilds Screenshots going strong for 17 years, and loads of others including the monthly screenshot threads we’ve been doing since 2004. You can check out the threads here: Screenshots-O-Rama.

These Social Groups are pretty much controlled by our members – senior members can create them, new members can join them. Many of these are off-topic interest groups like Oh, Canada oh, I wonder what that’s about? Strictly Movies, The Game Shack nerds!!, Fight Club, and one of the most popular: Social Tournaments by Pragmatic. This is one of the most popular threads drawing in loads of members signing up just to have a chance to win some nice cash prizes.

Webmaster’s Corner

Alas not much activity in 2023 for this part of the forum, perhaps a sign that small-time affiliate webmasters are becoming a rare breed. Certainly, the iGaming affiliate landscape has changed over the past few years, to the extent many mergers and acquisitions have taken place, with large corporate entities now muscling in on this space. So you are losing the creative drive of talented entrepreneurs, and going make to a banner farm, pay-as-you-go Internet. (see biggest disappointment 2023)

The Meister’s Attic

Ah yes, of course The Meister’s Attic which was a magnet for flame wars, trollish behavior, spankings, and a number of admonishments. All thanks to lockdowns, political upheavals, crazy Russians, etc., we have the Ukraine Mess thread. And then there is Brexit – whats the difference….. 185 pages of people getting riled up, and of course those fabulous Tories UK Conservative Party Leadership Election which gives you a good understanding why the Brits are getting their panties in a twist. And of course, the I’m currently listening to… thread that Lady Jelena started some time ago — it’s as relevant then as it is now. Still going strong.

And the Rest

Yes, and the rest…there is no way in hell to be able to give you a full picture of how awesome and massive this forum is with its informative posts, not so informative posts, rants, jovial jocularities, heart aches, heartbreaks, wisdom, and bent postings. It is dynamic, it is strong, and it is the most entertaining and informative place on this planet – if you want it to be. Thanks to our members and volunteers and staff. You guys are the best – couldn’t thank you enough.

And if you are not a member yet, why not? You are missing out on a lot of interaction with some very cool people – and a few lunatics as well. You can register here.

Forum Highlights Historical Awards

Actually, I only started publishing the forum highlights in the awards in 2008. Our forum dates back to 1998 – you can find these older posts in our archives – if you dare: Ye Olde Casinomeister Archives.

Forum Highlights of 2021
Forum Highlights of 2020
Forum Highlights of 2019
Forum Highlights of 2018
Forum Highlights of 2017
Forum Highlights of 2016
Forum Highlights of 2015 – Both a crazyman’s and a gambler’s dream part II
Forum Highlights of 2014 – Both a crazyman’s and a gambler’s dream
Forum Highlights of 2013 – It was a wild year
Forum Highlights of 2012 – A whole bunch of stuff
Forum Highlight of 2011 – De-roguing Grand Privé, Questions on RTP, Casinos and Responsive Gambling
Forum Highlight of 2010 – A Poll that Made a Difference
Forum Highlight of 2009 – Software Provider Intervenes with Rogue Casino
Forum Highlight of 2008 – Cynthial and Swede gettin’ hitched

Casino Representative of 2023: Mark Qualye from Lottomart

“Problem solvers and amicable ladies and gents”

Mark from Lottomart has really been a massive help this year, pointing players in the right directions when they need advice or assistance, and really making our community what it is: a really nice place to hang out and have a good chat.

From Max Drayman, Casinomeister Complaints manager: Mark-Lottomart is no stranger to the forums. In a previous life he was awarded Best Casino Representative of the Decade (2010-2019) (among others awards) for his excellent and tireless work at 32Red. 32Red has since passed into other hands and the principals started Lottomart a few years ago. Mark is Casino Manager for Lottomart and his excellent work continues.

Seemingly ever present on the forums, always helpful and unusually polite, he’s pretty much able to help anyone with anything at any time. That’s superb — but we have a recent example of how he’s willing and able to go beyond even that: in a recent promotion for the site itself we were giving small gifts to forum members including some of our UK players. Unfortunately, some of the players couldn’t use the gift they received from another casino group so Mark stepped up and gave them equivalent gifts at Lottomart. Nobody asked him for that, it was his idea and the players were grateful for it. THAT’S exceptional! Rare as it is in the business these days, these guys have (still) got it.

Casino Representative Historical Awards

Casino Representatives are an integral part of Casinomeister’s forum. These reps are mainly present to either answer questions about their properties, or assist players when needed. For our highly recommended casinos, which are accredited and vetted by our members, we require the casino property to have a representative that can walk and chew gum at the same time. The representatives who are awarded have been the most active and helpful during the entire year. Along with this accolade, these folks get an engraved Beer Mug that is physically handed to them during our annual Meister Meeting. The Meister Meeting for this year is a go!

Casino Representative of 2022 — Ollie/Bitstarz – Rene/Casino Rewards
Casino Representative of 2021 — MarcoEnergy
Casino Representative of 2020 — Jan from L&L Europe
Casino Representative of 2019 — Jan from L&L Europe
Casino Representative of 2018 — Conor from Trada
Casino Representative of 2017 — Daniel from Videoslots
Casino Representative of 2016 — Mark 32Red Plc
Casino Representative of 2015 — Mark 32Red Plc

Casinomeister forum achievement award

Forum Member Achievement Awards 2023

Well, it’s that time of the year where we at Casinomeister recognise the contribution and input of individual members to our wonderful community. To that end, each year standout long-time members become the lucky recipient of a coveted engraved CM drinking vessel. Now the drum roll is over: for 2024 — cue tub-thumping — the awards are presented to…

“ChopleyIOM”

Hailing from the small, scenic and windblown Crown Dependency located in the Irish Sea, ChopleyIOM has kept us entertained over the years with his Brexit-busting posts in the political section, as well as his tragi-comic video content and its unmistakable commentary. Ranging from heartfelt frankness regarding personal events to the humorous pessimism so befitting most slot players, his videos never cease to be entertaining and interesting.

For a large part of the UK membership of a certain age, those detailed descriptions of old AWP cabinets (amusements with prizes) provide much nostalgia and indeed cogent information. How many of us watching them now think “Oh, that’s how the trick was done!”, or “I wish I had known that one, back in the day!”. With his unique style of always using a thousand words where a hundred would do, many of us on CM have enjoyed this content and will hopefully continue to do so.

Chopley has been here at CM for over a decade now and in that time has contributed thousands of reasoned, concise and well-typed posts. Never afraid to drive home his point, the reasoning and factual aspects have engaged many of us, especially in his own substantial My online slots videos (plus UK AWPs) slot play and AWP thread.

From Scatterville Skunks to Starburst, Brexit to Boris and Jackpot Party to Jumping Jack Cash we take this opportunity to recognise and appreciate your considerable contribution to the CM forums! Thanks Chopley!

“jasonuk”

jasonuk earns this award for being one of the most helpful, clearly focused members — he has become a true voice of reason on the forum.

Signing up in May 2014, he posted pretty much like any normal member: screenshots, chiming in here and there; but in the past couple of years, his posts have really become noteworthy.

For instance, here where he discusses Stake streamers and crypto casinos.

Or here, where he gives us some insight on a Shocking Video of William Hill Wanting KYC for CASH win collection!

And here is a prime example of jasonuk taking the time out so explain things, in a very level-headed manner, to one of our aggrieved members who had a PAB not go his way: Slotastic Voids $4800 Win With Spurious Invocation of Rule.

He even has advice on how to download your playlists at YouTube: How to export ALL YouTube playlists?

jasonuk has been an incredible asset to our community for years now. Thanks for spending your time here with us and making our forums a better place for all.

“Jono777”

Jono777 is another member who signed up around the same time as jasonuk – and now it’s 17,055 posts later.

From the desk of Max Drayman:

Jono777: after 20+ years of working on casino forums we’ve learned that one of the MVPs of forum life is the regular guy who is always there to congratulate people on a win, wish them happy birthday, commiserate when someone’s situation needs it, generally chit-chat and be there for the faithful. Good jokes and talking about changes he’s seen in the industry — casinos closing, new games announcements, that sort of thing — also help the flow and vibe of the forums enormously.

Jono777 signed on a decade ago and has earned a shed-load of respect from the other forum members: 23,000 up-thumbs is a heck of an achievement, not to mention all the applause and shields (our version of a Distinguished Service medal) he’s received. He’s a familiar presence on the forums for us all and very much appreciated.

So a big thanks to Jono777 for being an incredible asset to our community and helping to make the forums to a better place for everyone.

Member Achievement Award Historical

I started giving out this award after running this forum for about eighteen years. It was about time I started recognising folks for their contributions. It’s these folks who are an inspiration for others to engage in our amazing community.

Member Achievement 2022 – Goatwack
Member Achievement 2021 – Dunover
Member Achievement 2020 – Dionysus
Member Achievement 2019 – Jasminebed
Member Achievement 2018 – Trancemonkey
Member Achievement 2017 – Kasino King
Member Achievement 2016 – Jetset

Most Awesome Screenshot 2023

5082x win Hit More Gold Slot

Casinomeister forum member me and ed was a stunning, nearly $64,000 CAD richer at the end of December 2023 after hitting it big playing Hit More Gold at Winz.io. This was while taking part in an exclusive competition for Casinomeister members run by this Accredited online casino. Commenting on the 5 figure win, me_and_ed stated: “Well Shite……..5082 x” in reference to the win against the bet staked. Read full article here.

Casinomeister Awards - Most Awesome Screenshot 2023 - KasinoKing

In March of 2023, KasinoKing had this to say about the above screenshot:

So as this semi-jackpot was won from a $1 side bet – I guess this qualifies as 18,552 x my bet! 😎

After the first 3 cards were dealt I was saying “Make a flush, make a flush!”… but then it got a whole lot better! 😀

This is my biggest win EVER in 22 years of playing online.

KK

Casinomeister Awards - Most Awesome Screenshot 2023 - slotmaster

And in October of 2023, slotmaster‘s calm reaction to that was:

OMG OMG OMG I DID IT!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH MY BIGGEST WIN EVER ON MY VERY 1ST SPIN!

Beyond Casinomeister

In Memoriam We lost several people last year who were a part of Casinomeister: either a member, a contributor, or an industry colleague. Our hearts go out to their families and friends, and we wish them condolences and peace.

Lars Rosenberg

Lars Rosenberg was a very popular operator of a number of casinos – some of which are Accredited at Casinomeister. He passed suddenly last February, which was a great shock to all of us. There is more about Lars here.

Richard De Waal

Rich and I went way back. Richard was working for the Microgaming casinos in the very early days of this industry, and his claim to fame was that he purchased the first banner ad at Casinomeister in 1999. It was then only a hobby website, and I realized that if I had a banner on the site, I could pay for the $35 monthly hosting fee. The funny thing was that I screwed up the math and charged him about a tenth of what the rate should have been.

me and rich de waal — Me and Rich de Waal in Amsterdam – June 2016

Over the years we would run into each other in hallways or conference floors, or we’d just sit down for a drink and reminisce over the casino industry days of yore, or just chat about our families, kids, and current meanderings. I really miss our chance meetings — my condolences to his family and friends.

Bebo67

Bebo67 was a long time member — first joining us in June 2013. She was a popular and prolific poster over the years, but the last few years she was in a lot of pain.

She posted this this past July:

I have been away for the last 3 years, so some regulars will know me, but the newbies wont. Hello newbies! The last 3 years have been hell to say the least. My son who was/is the love of my life passed away at the age of 26, I found him, and then less than a year later I get stage 4 breast cancer, it spread every where from the pelvis to my brain. 3 months ago I had 7 lesions on the brain. Started aa new chemo that crosses into the brain. Im feeling a lot better so I know its working. This song was what I listened to when I was grieving . I pictured Grant and I zipping through the cosmos, having a great time.

You can read this here.

Bebo is dearly missed. Our heartfelt condolences to her friends and family.