Full PlayersOnly.ag Review

Overview

PlayersOnly is open to customers from the United States,
which is becoming a rare thing indeed for “all-in-one” sites
like this. Bettors can choose from a sportsbook, racebook, poker
room, and casino, with a few extra surprises thrown in, like
bingo and keno games in the casino section and live betting in
the sportsbook.

I’ll start with the site’s
positive features – reasons to consider opening an account.

• I enjoy playing at all-in-one sites.

  It’s a gimmick, for sure, but it’s an effective one. I’m the
  type of gambling customer that sites like this are aimed at. I
  dabble in online slots when I’m bored, and I love blackjack if
  the rules are good. I also lay a wager or two on sports events
  every week. In short, I like sites that let me do all my betting
  at once. It’s better for my bonus-chasing attempts to have all
  my action at one site, so if I were looking for a new home for
  poker, casino games, or sports and racing bets, I’d have to
  consider this a big plus.

• PlayersOnly uses Betsoft software for its casino
  games.

  I go into more detail about the game libraries at PlayersOnly
  below – but Betsoft is my favorite online game designer in the
  business, and I love to see their games highlighted like this.
  It tells me that PlayersOnly is actually thinking about what
  their customers want, which is not all that common these days.

Now for a discussion of the negatives – reasons you may want
to avoid PlayersOnly.

• Sites with gaming licenses from the Curacao Gaming
  Commission make me a little nervous.

  As far as gambling jurisdictions go, Curacao is the
  K-Mart of the industry. The nation has only been independent for
  five years at the time of this review – isn’t it strange to
  trust your money to a government that’s been around for less
  time than the Kardashians? CasinoListings warns that the
  government of Curacao operates independently of the Netherlands,
  even though many sites with Curacao licensure try to imply a
  connection for authenticity. That review also indicates that
  there is evidence of the government of Curacao totally ignoring
  player disputes with licensed gaming sites.

• PlayersOnly has earned some pretty bad reviews from
  people I trust.

  When I want to get a sense of how a site is perceived by the
  betting public, I check a few of the same sources. I’ve gotten
  to know the writers at these sites and I’ve seen them post
  legitimate and accurate reviews for years now, so I trust them.
  I checked PlayersOnly’s review at AskGamblers – what I found
  wasn’t good. That site ranks PlayersOnly’s casino #822 out of
  the 917 sites they’ve reviewed. That’s just an abysmal ranking.

  CasinoListings comes right out and says “…this casino is
  blacklisted and should be avoided.” The review cites “limited
  and slow banking options” as the primary reason. CasinoListings
  also mentions that this site is owned by Domain Holdings, Ltd.
  According to the review, Domain Holdings sites are notoriously
  slow to pay or address payment issues.

  SportsbookReview, a site that I usually feel is too generous,
  gives PlayersOnly a D- rating. Their list of news and updates
  regarding the site is basically one payout complaint after
  another, with a smattering of bonus rip-off reports and ratings
  downgrades. This simple list of updates about the site’s rating
  over the past few decades does not paint a nice picture.

• PlayersOnly has a really lame set of bonuses and promos –
  especially for Americans.

  I realize that the limited number of
  promotions available to me is because I’m based in the US. I’m
  not sure where you have to be from to get access to promos, but
  the options open to me at this stage are not worth the effort.
  The sportsbook offers no promos to US players, besides the
  standard refer-a-friend offer made to all customers. About the
  only bonus worth a darn is the welcome bonus available to poker
  players, but even that has a ludicrous rollover requirement that
  puts it out of the reach of most players.

• Most PlayersOnly customers have an extremely-limited range of
  deposit options.

  When I made my account and first deposit, the
  site gave me just one option – a deposit via a VISA card. When I
  contacted customer support, they informed that I could also send
  them up to $999 via Western Union, but that method requires an
  additional fee and more waiting time. I assume that European
  customers or people from other parts of the world have a few
  other deposit options, but Americans will struggle to add funds
  to their PlayersOnly account.

Bonus Details

At PlayersOnly, the bonus T&C pages indicate over and over
that “a standard rollover requirement” is in place for each of
their bonuses, but it’s not clear what that standard rollover is
in some cases. Sportsbook bonuses, for example, don’t seem to
have a standard rollover listed anywhere in the site’s T&Cs.
Casino games require a rollover of 35x deposit-plus-bonus, which
isn’t the worst in the business, but is above average.

Wagers on the following casino games will not count toward
the rollover requirement:

• American Roulette
• European Roulette
• Mini Roulette
• Craps

Online betting sites change their promotions about as often
as I change the filter in my water pitcher. I’ve outlined the
bonus offers available at the time I wrote this review, but if
you want to see the site’s updated list of promotions,
check their Promos page.

• Refer-a-Friend Bonus

  If you refer a friend, you will earn a free bet worth 100%
  of their first deposit of between $20 and $50. This free bet
  expires in thirty calendar days, and requires a standard
  rollover.

• 20% Weekly Reload Bonus (Casino)

  Casino gamblers will get a bonus code each week
  that gives them access to a 20% reload bonus worth up to $100.
  Standard rollover rules apply.

• Bet Match Bonus (Casino)

  New customers can earn a free bet in the amount of
  their first qualifying deposit. Customers who deposit between $1
  and $100 will earn a free wager in the exact size of their
  deposit. Rollover requirements apply.

• Cash-Back Happy Hour (Casino)

  Between 7 and 10 PM EST every Tuesday, casino
  gamblers can earn up to 25% cash back on most instant and mobile
  games. 25% of losses on qualifying games are paid out, provided
  the player is a loser overall at the end of the happy hour
  period. Rollover requirements apply.

• Welcome Bonus (Poker)

  The only bonus resembling a standard online gambling
  site promotion is this one, aimed at poker players only.
  First-time depositors can earn up to $1,000 at a match rate of
  100%.

• 8% Daily Cash Back (Racebook)

  Racebook bettors can earn a rebate of between 3
  and 8% on all wagers on greyhound and horse racing events. Only
  bets of $2.20 or more are eligible, and rebates are paid out
  daily. Other qualifications may apply, so check the promo page
  linked above for specifics.

Banking Options

The banking options on this site are slightly confusing. In the site’s banking info page they claim to accept Visa, Cash Transfer, eWallets, and Bitcoin. We have that information compiled below.

The issue with these banking claims is that when you click to make a deposit the only type offered is Bitcoin with a minimum deposit of $5.00 and a maximum of $10,000. If you are a Bitcoin
enthusiast this is no concern to you, but if you’d prefer a more classic deposit method this is something to consider.

The theoretical list of deposit methods:

• Bitcoin – Minimum deposit of $5.00 and a Maximum of $10,000
• VISA – Any VISA-branded credit, debit, or gift card is eligible for deposits of up to $1,000.
• Western Union – A transfer of as much as $999 via Western Union also requires a fee of up to $85.

If you thought the deposit methods were bad, check out the
full list of available withdrawal methods:

• Cashier’s Check/Gift Card via Mail – Requires a fee and
  waiting period of up to fifty days.

Now, here is an overview of each form of
gambling available at PlayersOnly:

Poker

The poker software at PlayersOnly, produced by the Merge
network, supports both Mac and Windows. According to PokerScout,
the Merge network has a peak traffic amount of around 500 in the
past twenty-four hours, which makes it one of the smaller
networks, but by no means the smallest.

The work on the poker competition at PlayersOnly is “soft.”
That’s a common diagnosis for poker room attached to sportsbook
and casinos, but I’m not always convinced that stragglers from
the sportsbook or casino page really affect the overall player
quality that much.

PlayersOnly hosts a lot of tournaments for a site on the
small side – tournament buy-ins range from $0.25 to around $200.
Don’t expect just Texas holdem tournaments, either – on the day
of my last visit, I saw a few Omaha and hi-lo tourneys on the
daily schedule. As is usually the case, the most popular
tourneys at the site are their weekly and monthly guaranteed
events.

Casino

PlayersOnly hosts 132 Betsoft-designed casino games at the
traditional website – a little below the industry average. The
site’s mobile casino has a much-smaller library of 27 titles,
which is also smaller than the industry average.

The casino game library at PlayersOnly suffers from an
abundance of categories. Many of these categories are made up of
three or four titles (or fewer), and it gives the appearance of
wanting to make a small game library look larger than it is.

Though the library is small, I’m a big fan of Betsoft games.
For starters, they look good. These games look modern, perform
smoothly in my Chrome browser and on my iPhone, and they tend to
have a lot of replay value. These are all matters of opinion,
but if you do a little research, I think you’ll find that a lot
of reviewers and dedicated online gamblers agree with me.

Here’s a breakdown of each of the site’s nine categories of
casino games:

Blackjack Games

• Blackjack – The traditional game with a 6:5 payout for blackjack
• Classic Blackjack – A single-deck version of the traditional game
• High Stakes Blackjack – Allows slightly-higher wagers
• Blackjack 7’s – A game with a side bet and a 3:2 payout for blackjack
• Blackjack Switch – Allows the player to switch cards under certain conditions
• Blackjack 52 – A two-deck game with slightly-different rules from traditional blackjack
• Spanish Blackjack – A variant with different rules for both player and dealer

Table Games

• Three Card Poker – A casino poker game with a single raise/fold betting round
• Caribbean Stud – A five-card stud game with a progressive jackpot
• Casino Hold’em – A casino version of the classic Texas holdem
• Craps – The casino classic in a good-looking interface
• Pai Gow – A poker game based on the rules of an ancient Chinese game of chance
• American Roulette – A version of roulette with two green zero spaces
• Casino War – The children’s classic translated for casino play
• European Roulette – A version of roulette with a single green zero space
• Baccarat – The classic casino banker/player game, popular in Europe
• Red Dog – A poker-like card game based on hand hierarchies and luck

Video Poker

• Aces and Eights
• 7-Stud Poker
• All American Poker
• Bonus Deuces Wild
• Bonus Poker
• Bonus Poker Deluxe
• Deuces Wild
• Double Bonus Poker
• Double Double Bonus Poker
• Double Double Jackpot Poker
• Double Jackpot Poker
• Jacks or Better
• Joker Poker
• Loose Deuces
• Mystery Bonus Poker
• Pick ‘Em Poker
• Sevens Wild

Jackpot Games

This category is where PlayersOnly has gathered all their
casino games with progressive jackpots into one easy-to-find
location. There are no new games here that aren’t covered in
some other category, but it is a convenient feature if you’re
into jackpot titles.

Slots

Rather than list and describe every single slot at the site,
I encourage you to check the list out for yourself. Many of them
have similar rules and layouts – and in fact, the site has
organized their slot library into a few different categories, to
make it easier to tell them apart. The categories are:

• All Jackpot Slots
• 30 Pay Line Slots
• 24 & 25 Pay Line Slots
• 15 & 20 Pay Line Slots
• 8, 9 & 10 Pay Line Slots
• Classic 3 Reel Slots

Scratch Card Games

PlayersOnly currently has one scratch card game available –
hardly the kind of list that justifies an entire category. The
game is called Scratcherz, and it look like what you’d expect an
online scratch card game to look like. The site should really
consider either adding a few more games to flesh this heading
out, or moving this title to another category, for simplicity’s
sake. Having a category for one game is pretty embarrassing.

Hi-Lo Games

• Casino War – The children’s classic translated for casino play
• Draw Hi-Lo – A game in which the player bets on whether the next card will be higher or lower

Keno & Lotto Games

• Keno Jackpot
• 80 Ball Keno
• Krazy Keno
• Klub Keno
• Virtual Lotto

Sports Games

Again, I’m disappointed that the site operates an entire
category for just one title – a Virtual Racebook, in which
bettors can wager on the outcome of a virtual horse race.

Overall, I find this game library to be surprisingly
tone-deaf. Sure, the slots selection is decent, but almost every
other category is anemic at best. Most of the games outside of
the table and slots departments are high-odds affairs best left
alone, anyway. A little reorganizing and expanding might make
this casino worth your time, but at this point, it’s nothing
special.

Sportsbook

PlayersOnly, like many all-in-one sites, is primarily a
sportsbook. It was founded as a branch of Sportsbook.com, to
serve a different population.

These days, PlayersOnly does not do business with US
customers – at least not at this time. Customers who had
accounts before 2012 are able to continue placing bets, but I’d
imagine that number is dwindling, with big changes to the
industry and a high level of competition from other new sites
and Daily Fantasy contests.

The list of available markets is impressive. Here’s the list:

• Auto Racing
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Cycling
• Entertainment
• Football
• Golf
• Hockey
• Live Betting
• MMA
• NCAA Sports
• Politics
• Racebook
• Rugby Union
• Soccer
• Street League Skateboarding
• Tennis
• Women’s Basketball
• eSports

Many of those categories include multiple professional and in
some cases amateur leagues. For example, football includes the
NFL, AFL, and CFL, as well as a tab for Aussie rules football.

I want to highlight a cool feature I just found in the
sportsbook while writing this summary – the availability of
Squares betting. I’ve reviewed tons of sportsbooks, and I
haven’t come across Squares betting before. If you’ve ever taken
part in an office Super Bowl pool, you’re familiar with Squares.

Customer Support

Pointing your browser to the Contact Us link at PlayersOnly
is a lesson in frustration. You won’t actually find an email
address or phone number when you click. The site doesn’t even
operate a live chat service, which is becoming standard at other
all-in-one sites in the industry.

I managed to find the following contact information only
after a couple of minutes of Googling:

• Toll-Free Phone Number (North America): 1-800-372-0333
• Toll-Free Phone Number (International): +506-2282-1004
• Customer Service Email: [email protected]

I was disappointed to see that the only language available
for customer support is English. But it makes sense, considering
the only currency available is the US dollar.

Summary

I’m sad to see a site that’s on the verge of being labeled
rogue running some of my favorite software. Betsoft-powered
casinos are rare, and even though I’d prefer if PlayersOnly
added a few different games by different designers to spice up
their platform, it was nice to see a site honoring Betsoft.
They’re simply the best online casino games on the market.

The sportsbook options available is average at best – live
betting is still pretty much a joke, with no streaming and a
very limited range of available games and markets. The mobile
service, sports betting or casino, is a joke – essentially a
miniaturized version of the standard website, it was all but
functionless on my iPhone 6+ just because I couldn’t manage to
interact with the touchscreen the right way.

Verdict

I can find my favorite Betsoft games at sites that aren’t
frequently labeled “rogue operators.” But really, it’s because
of those long-outstanding payment issues (and the site’s
appearance on at least one major industry blacklist) that I
cannot recommend that anyone open an account or deposit money at
PlayersOnly.

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