Casino of the Decade - for me it's 32Red.
They may no longer be the great award gathering force that they once were.
And yes, they have made some "business decisions" that many of us would deem to be "not cool".
BUT....
I cannot pretend to forget all the good that they have done over the years. Things like...
The Slotmeister promotion (which ran for what....10 years?).
I was late to that particular party as I only joined CM/signed up at 32Red in late 2013.
But I can say this much.....I had a TONNE of fun taking part in that.
There was also the various freeroll tournaments they ran (Daily Avalon, Fortnightly Freerolls, World Cup 2014 among others). Again, great enjoyment was had from those.
Then there was the Dish of The Day/Christmas promos (when I was able to take them, I must confess that the day I got bonus banned at 32Red was a sad day for me).
Again, they helped me have many an enjoyable session.
I was with 32Red as a regular for only 2 years, but what a 2 years it was.
Without doubt, some of the absolute best time that I've ever had playing online slots.
Then you have the rep, Mark, who has now clocked up 11 and a half years (?) here at CM.
I'd say that's pretty noteworthy, given that we here at CM can be a pretty tough and (dare I say it) a sometimes unforgiving crowd that can be...cough.... "a tad hard to please".
Not only that, he's had to put up with a lot of criticism of the brand (some of it warranted, some of it most definitely NOT warranted) and a lack of gratitude (again, some of it totally unwarranted) from some of the membership here.
And yet...he has ALWAYS handled that "uglier side of the job" with CLASS, like a true professional.
To do what he has done for so many years deserves some credit and respect.
I know this much...if I tried to do a rep's job, I'd probably jack it in after 3 months, maybe less.
It takes a special type of individual to do that job well. And I'm not it.
In fact, I'd even go as far as to perhaps suggesting that there should be a separate category
for the Forum Member Achievement Award....a "reps only" category.
And make Mark the first rep to receive that honour.
And then finally the casino itself. It ticks a few important boxes...
CM Accredited for the entire decade - CHECK
Multiple winner of Best Casino Award (4 years running from 2010-2013) - CHECK
A still healthy AKA "not too shabby" CM rating (currently 8.8) - CHECK
HIGHEST AVAILABLE RTP SETTINGS ON ALL OF THEIR GAMES - CHECK!!
No utterly ridiculous OTT SOW requests - CHECK
A hassle-free, stress-free experience when cashing out - CHECK
Yes, the pending period is a bit of a drag, I won't deny it. But for me personally, as someone who refuses to reverse on principle alone, I can tolerate that.
It didn't put me off playing at 32 Red back then, and it doesn't put me off playing at Casino Rewards now.
And it won't put me off from making a return to 32Red in the future.
So yeah.....32Red for me all the way. Despite me hardly ever playing there for the past 4 years.