Ace Pokies Casino Review

Welcome to my review of Ace Pokies Casino! I am excited to sit down and
finally spend some serious time with this casino, as any casino that is
Australian-facing I find fascinating. Clearly any site with a name that focuses
on Pokies (the Australian term for slots) has those residents in their sights.

Online gambling regulations in Australia have been changing, and there has
definitely been a clamp put on the restrictions of offering games to players
from Down Under. However, there are still a series of smaller offshore casinos
that continue to accept players from Australia.

I am excited to get to the meat of this review so that I can provide you with
the information you need to determine whether or not you want to play here – the
game selection, promotions, and customer service that this new casino provides.
Enough chit-chat, let’s get to it!

Ratings Breakdown

Overall

A new casino is facing an uphill battle in a very competitive industry, so it
needs to come out of the gate with a very compelling reason for a player to make
a deposit. Even though there are lots of good reasons to join Ace Pokies, there
are some missteps that the casino has taken that have caused me to give it this
overall rating. I think some of the items can be easily addressed, which will
increase the score, but some are more philosophical, and I am not sure the
ownership group is willing to do what it takes to be more competitive.

Game Variety

Having RealTime Gaming as a supplier means that players will get access to
good quality games, just not that many of them. The casino could add providers
if they wanted to increase the amount of content available to their database.
The easiest fix here is to at the very least add in the live dealer games RTG
offers its licensees.

Banking

There is an adequate number of payment options at Ace Pokies, and with no
fees listed anywhere, so I appreciate that the casino takes on that expense.
However, the pending internal audit time seems to be variable, and the wait
times for a couple of the payment methods seem high compared to what I have seen
elsewhere.

Bonuses

I want to give the site a higher mark here, as they do have several offers
available. However, with a wagering requirement that is higher than most casinos
I have reviewed in the past, it just doesn’t seem feasible that the average
player is going to be able to truly benefit from the bonus structures. Also, I
need more information from the casino about its VIP program before I can give it
a proper score.

Customer Service

Adding an FAQ section would help Ace Pokies, but for the most part, I am
pleased with the support department. They have several ways to contact the
casino, including live chat and telephone, and I haven’t read any complaints
about the site being non-responsive.

User Interface

This casino is available in both download and browser formats, and they both
are very easy to navigate. It helps that there aren’t hundreds of games to
filter through, but I still like the way RTG has set up its lobby screens for
players.

Mobile Compatibility

Again, given that the site has a full browser-based solution, playing from a
mobile device is possible. The games I tried on my phone were very responsive,
and I didn’t see any difference in speed between the mobile and PC versions.
There is no native app, so the site gets a bit of a deduction in score for that.

The Basics About Ace Pokies Casino

You would think that a casino focused on the Australian market might also be
exclusively available to those residents, but not Ace Pokies – aside from the
UK, there aren’t too many other countries who are restricted from playing at
this site. In fact, this is a rare moment when I get to tell my American readers
that they can get their credit cards ready because Ace Pokies is open for US
business.

This casino is licensed by the Curacao Gaming Authority, which explains the
lack of restrictions on accepting US players. Trying to find info on the owners
of the casino is very difficult, especially since there is nothing listed on
their site. What I have been able to determine is that the casino launched in
2017, and to date seems to have no issues with regards to shady behavior, so I
will continue to dig for information on the owners in the future.

Having gathered as much information as I could find about the background on
the casino, it was time to sit down and spend some quality time with my favorite
casino games in a testing session at Ace Pokies Casino.

The Casino

The most important piece of any of my reviews is the overview of the games
being offered to players. After all, it is the games that matter the most to
anyone who enters a casino, and with so many options to choose from in the
online casino world, this is the way an operator can set itself apart.

Game Variety/Navigation

With only one software supplier, the game variety at Ace Pokies isn’t going
to be as vast as many other casinos that I have reviewed. This goes for many of
the US-facing casinos as well, as many of them have chosen to add multiple
providers to their offering. This is a little disappointing after having
reviewed casinos with over 500 titles, but on the positive side, I am able to
review the games that are in the lobby at Ace Pokies in far greater detail.

I have played the RealTime Gaming catalog many times over the years, and I
know that they have recently made several upgrades to their system. I am
interested to see what effect that has had on their games.

One thing I did notice right away when looking at my game options at Ace
Pokies is the lack of a live dealer tab. I know that RTG secured a live casino
partnership in 2016, so I am surprised that this hasn’t been integrated into
this newer brand under their umbrella. Perhaps it is coming shortly.

Software

When I found out that Ace Pokies was open to American players, I was able to
narrow down the possibilities of what software was being used without even
opening the lobby. There are very few options for casinos willing to take the
risk of being open in the US. As I logged into my new account, it was very clear
which software was being used. RealTime Gaming is the sole supplier of games for
Ace Pokies. This developer has been making casino games since the late 1990s and
has built a very nice product while still accepting operators in the grey
markets. As you will read, RTG has their strengths and weaknesses, but overall,
they are an excellent choice for Ace Pokies.

The RTG software is available in both download and instant-play formats at
this casino.

Slots

The jewel of the RealTime Gaming crown is definitely the slots category. The
company’s development team has worked hard on these games over the years and has
received accolades for the quality of the graphics and storylines, especially
for the Reel Series games.

While there are not nearly as many slots titles as you will find at other
casinos, and there are only a handful of licensed brands to be found in the
lobby, that shouldn’t stop you from jumping in and playing. I got to the site
and found a total of $13,000,000 available in progressive jackpot games, which
is a crazy amount of money! The RTG networked progressive games link all of
their participating licensees into one pool, which generates massive jackpots
that reach well into the seven-figure mark for an individual game!

I spent a good chunk of my playing session for this review trying to win one
of these progressives, and I am happy to report that I have left them all
available for my readers. Here are some of the slots titles you will find in the
lobby at Ace Pokies:

• Achilles
• Aladdin’s Wishes
• Aztec’s Treasure
• Aztec’s Treasure Feature Guarantee
• Cleopatra’s Gold
• Count Spectacular
• Coyote Cash
• Crazy Vegas
• Enchanted Garden
• Fucanglong
• Ghost Ship
• God of Wealth
• Goldbeard
• Golden Lotus
• Green Light
• Hairway to Heaven
• Jumping Beans
• Kung Fu Rooster
• Lion’s Lair
• Megasaur
• Mermaid Queen
• Mister Money
• Naughty or Nice: Spring Break
• Naughty or Nice?
• Ninja Star
• Polar Explorer
• Purrfect Pets
• Snowmania
• Spirit of the Inca
• Super 6
• Sweet 16
• Swindle All the Way
• Texan Tycoon
• The Big Bopper
• The Elf Wars
• The Naughty List
• The Nice List
• The Three Stooges: Brideless Groom
• The Three Stooges II
• Tiger Treasures
• T-Rex
• Triple Twister
• Voodoo Magic
• Vulcan
• Wild Wizards
• Witch’s Brew
• Zhanshi

Video Poker

As a big fan of video poker, I tend to know each of the providers in great
detail. Every software company builds their video poker catalog slightly
differently, and for RealTime Gaming, the focus is more on the multi-hand
options than having the most variants available in a casino lobby. I don’t
disagree with why they do this – they only have a certain amount of development
time to dedicate to their product. I would, however, like to see them maybe add
a couple more variants in the future, so their players don’t get too bored, or
look for these titles at other casinos.

You can play the following video poker titles in 1-, 2-, 5-, 10- or 52-hand
options:

• Aces and Eights
• Jacks or Better
• Joker Poker
• Double Bonus Poker
• All American
• Deuces Wild
• Sevens Wild

Table Games

After getting in my fix at the machines, it was time to settle into to what I
hoped would be a long session of table games at Ace Pokies. I downloaded the
casino to my PC, so there was no lag time in switching between the different
tabs in the lobby.

Similarly to the slots and video poker sections, the RealTime Gaming software
has the basics when it comes to table games, but not much else. There are a few
variants of blackjack available, but the remainder of the games offered follow
the standard casino rules. That is totally fine with me, as the classics are
what I grew up on, and they tend to have the best player odds anyway.

I love the RTG gameplay – the games deal very quickly, and the graphics and
sound are excellent. I was able to spend some quality time in this session, and
after a few hours, I can say that I didn’t feel fatigued by the look and feel of
the games at all, even if my account balance was a bit fatigued itself.

Here are the available table games for you to choose from:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack with Perfect Pairs
• Caribbean 21
• Caribbean Hold’em Poker
• Caribbean Stud Poker
• Casino War
• Craps
• European Blackjack
• Face Up 21
• Keno
• Let ‘Em Ride
• Match Play 21
• Pai Gow Poker
• Pontoon
• Red Dog
• Roulette
• Sic Bo
• Super 21
• Texas Hold ‘Em Bonus Poker
• Tri Card Poker
• Vegas Three Card Rummy

Banking Options

I was surprised to see so many different banking options available at Ace
Pokies given the fact that they accept US deposits. This typically limits the
companies that will do business with a casino, but it seems this casino has
found a way to bring some e-wallet solutions in for non-US players. The site is
also in the cryptocurrency business, accepting Bitcoin as a method for
withdrawals only – I guess the site doesn’t want to take on the risk of the
volatility of Bitcoin at this stage. It doesn’t appear that the site passes fees
to the players for their transactions, but this may just be something they don’t
mention on the website.

From a turnaround standpoint for withdrawals, I think the wait times at Ace
Pokies are similar to others in the industry. You should always factor in
another day or so for the internal pending period for all payout requests.

Deposits

Withdrawals

Bonus Promotions

I like to look for value when I come to an online casino promotions page. I
mean, we all have the option of choosing from hundreds of casinos to make our
deposits, so what separates one from another? Well, the bonuses, offers, and VIP
programs are all items that factor into a player’s bottom line. Finding the
right offers for the stakes level you like to play as well as the games you tend
to play the most is the best way to increase your odds of being a profitable
player. And…that is the goal, right?! We aren’t doing this just for the
entertainment value, or else we would be playing Facebook games.

Welcome Bonus

Let’s start our promotional journey with the welcome offer. On the surface,
it looks like a nice, aggressive offer. It is split over your first three
deposits, and here is what you will receive:

• 1st Deposit – 100% up to $500 + 50 free spins on Samba Sunset
• 2nd Deposit – 50% up to $250
• 3rd Deposit – 100% up to $250

All in all, this is pretty competitive as an offer. However, a couple of
things caught my eye. In describing this promotion on the website, Ace Pokies
says they are welcoming all new Australian players with this welcome bonus. I
had to assume this was for marketing purposes, so I read through the terms and
conditions for more details. What I found was that residents of the following
countries are not allowed to receive this bonus (or any other at this casino):

Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Thailand, Greece, China, Denmark, Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Furthermore, I found out that the wagering requirement for bonuses handed out
at Ace Pokies is a whopping 40x the deposit + bonus. This is extremely high
compared to the rest of the industry. I doubt many of my readers will be able to
clear much of the welcome bonus, so rather than tell you to deposit the maximum
amount, I will just suggest you deposit whatever you are comfortable with.

Cashback Daily

As opposed to having a larger series of ongoing bonuses, the site has landed
on having a daily cashback promotion. I actually like this, given how hard it is
to earn the bonuses due to the high wagering requirements.

The cashback program works as you would expect it would, working on the
calculation of daily losses. Here is how the casino describes it:

Receive daily cashback on unlucky deposits! Simply make cash deposits without
using any of our bonus coupons, and you will receive 10% cashback automatically
the very next morning. Daily cashback earnings have a 10X wagering before a
withdrawal can be made.

While I am not totally keen on the 10x wagering requirement, it is still
better than taking a full beating at the tables.

VIP Program

Well, the site does offer a VIP program, and it promises “access to higher
daily cashbacks, priority payouts, exclusive events and giveaways and loads of
bonuses and offers reserved for our VIP members.” However, that is all the
information that Ace Pokies is willing to give us on the site. It is a
subjective program, with players having to request access via email. This drives
me nuts – I want to see the tiers, the rewards, and why it is worth my time to
put in the effort to reach the VIP levels. The site will need to improve this
transparency in my eyes.

Mobile Compatibility

Seeing that this casino is available in both download and instant-play
formats, there isn’t much concern for players who want to access the games from
a mobile device. The instant play games are browser-based, which means that they
can be played on PCs or mobile devices. There is no native app for Ace Pokies,
and considering they are taking US players, I highly doubt we are going to see
one anytime soon, so the browser games are the only option for those of you
wanting to play here away from your PC.

Customer Service

Should you need to contact the casino for a support issue, you can do so 24
hours a day. I personally think the best way to contact the support department
is via live chat, as this gives you a real-time response and the ability to save
the conversation for future reference. If you really want to hear the sound of
someone’s voice, then you can give the casino a call. There is an 800 number
listed on the website, but I suspect that outside of the US, there will be
additional long distance charges applied. You also have the option of sending
the casino an email if you aren’t in a rush for a response.

Summary

Well, considering when I started this review I thought it was going to be
aimed solely at my Australian readers, we have come a long way, haven’t we? The
fact that this site is open to basically everyone around the world is lovely,
but my American readers will be thrilled to have it added to their relatively
short list of available online casinos.

Overall, this is a casino I expect from a RealTime Gaming licensee. What I
mean is that the software is an adequate, middle-of-the-road product, and this
casino fits the same description. The games are of a decent quality and very
playable, but they are limited in number compared to some other options. The
bonuses look attractive but are handcuffed by a very high wagering requirement.
There isn’t enough information on the VIP program for me to be able to determine
its full value, but at least they offer one to their players!

Verdict

If you are an American player who doesn’t really worry about bonus hunting,
then I think this casino could be a good fit for you. However, you would be well
served to read through some more of my reviews to see if there is something more
appealing to you out there. Those of you reading from outside the United States
would definitely be better served by one of the hundreds of better casinos
available in your country.

FAQ