Golden Star Casino review (CA)

Golden Star Casino's welcome package includes a single deposit match offer with bonus spins as the icing on the cake. Although you can receive a substantial amount of bonus money, the terms and conditions that come with it are more stringent than usual.

• 1. deposit: 100% bonus up to C$1,500 + 100 bonus spins

To begin, you must deposit at least C$45 in order to activate the offer. This was a significant disappointment when compared to the gold standard of C$10. A requirement this high prevents players with lower stakes from using it at all.

The wagering requirement is attached to the amount of bonus funds you receive. To convert your bonus to real withdrawable cash, you must wager it 40 times in total. This is slightly more than ideal, but it is still reasonable. The bet limitation, on the other hand, surprised me. You can only bet C$1.50 per round, whereas normally you can bet at least $5.

Fortunately, the deposit match bonus is forfeitable. This means that you can cash out your real money winnings at any time if you wish to do so. As a result, claiming the offer has no disadvantages when compared to a regular deposit if the high deposit requirement for the offer is ignored.

SIGNIFICANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• New players only, 18+.
• Minimum deposit: C$45.
• Wagering requirement: 40x. (Bonus).
• Wagering time: 14 days.
• Max bet: C$1.5.
• Bonus spin winnings wagering: 40x.
• Game weightings apply

Please gamble responsibly.

Extra and no deposit spins

In addition to the deposit match bonus, you will receive 100 bonus spins as part of the welcome package. These spins are credited within five days of activating the offer, with 20 spins per day.

I got my first batch of spins quickly and navigated to the selected game, "Fortune Five". The game, created by Gamebeat, is a classic fruit machine-themed slot with five reels and paylines. Although there are no special features in the traditional slot, you can win up to 1,000x your bet by landing 5 jackpot symbols, which is fantastic.

The winnings from these spins require 40x wagering to make them withdrawable funds. 

VIP / Special promotions

Golden Star casino's VIP scheme features exclusive bonuses and various level-up rewards. The programme is straightforward, you earn complimentary points (CP) as you play on the site, with each C$100 wagered increasing your CP by one point. 

There are six levels in total, from New Star all the way up to Black Pearl. Each level has its own perks, most notably a better exchange rate of CP to real money.

Golden Star casino offers a variety of game types, ranging from slots to table games and instant games. Slots are naturally the main draw of the casino, and I couldn't hope for more when it comes to their variety at the casino. Everything from classic fruit machines to innovative new releases with thrilling features can be found in the slot catalogue.

The table and instant games sections were a pleasant surprise. Both offer great variety and cover all bases when it comes to these game types. For instance, Plinko, Crash Games, and mine games are represented with multiple variations to choose from. Furthermore, Golden Star casino has a separate section for crypto games, making it easy to find all games that can be played with cryptocurrencies.

The categorization at Golden Star casino needs a lot of work. From the home page, you can expand the top games or the newest games, but other than that, you can only view all slots or slots with the bonus buy option. Given that there are nearly 4,000 slots available, I'm not sure how the operator thinks this is the best solution for their lobby. Even the most basic subcategories would simplify the process of selecting and switching games.

This is not a problem if you know exactly what you want to play today, as you can filter the lobby by the provider or search the game by its name. Unfortunately, multi-selection is not possible, so the search functions could be improved as well.

Overall, Golden Star casino has everything you need, but it lacks categorization and filtering options.

Desktop game information

• Games 4,000
• Slots 3,800
• Table games 50
• Jackpot games 400

The live casino section of Golden Star Casino offers a thorough live experience. Seven different game developers, including Evolution, Pragmatic, and Ezugi, guarantee variety. Whatever you prefer, you'll find it here.

Given the number of providers available, I was a little taken aback to discover that there aren't actually that many games. All game types are still represented with multiple tables, but there is clearly space for a lot more. 

The categorization of the live casino lobby follows the example of its casino counterpart. All of the games are laid out without any filtering, so you will have to manually browse through the page. I found it better to browse the tables by the provider, as this way you get a good overview of the selection.

All in all, the live casino at Golden Star casino is a great one, but it could be even better with proper categories.

Live game information

• Total number of live casino games: 120

I prefer playing via mobile, as do many others, as can be seen from the rising popularity of mobile casinos. Fortunately, the mobile version of Golden Star casino is quick and user-friendly. Thanks to HTML5 technology, you can use all operating systems to play on the site, directly from your preferred browser.

If you want the best possible experience via mobile, you can get it by downloading the Golden Star casino app. This is available directly from the left-side menu of the page. The app functions similarly to the browser version of the site, with a couple of improvements for even smoother transitions.

The main difference between the mobile version and its desktop counterpart is the presentation. The menu is no longer visible at all times but can be accessed from the top left corner instead. Additionally, only three categories are shown at once, and you can use a slider to display more of them. These changes are clearly intended to improve the user experience; no one wants to constantly jump between tabs by accident.

Golden Star casino handles its payments well in terms of the available methods. Canadian players can transfer money using conventional methods as well as all of the major cryptocurrencies. 

The issues come from the transaction limits, which are way above industry standards. The deposit minimums start at C$30 for all traditional payment methods. This is three times the gold standard of C$10, creating a high barrier for new players to test the site.

For withdrawals, the situation is even worse, with C$45 minimums across all of the methods. Overall, Golden Star casino does not favour players using smaller stakes. 

On the positive side, withdrawal times are generally fast at Golden Star casino. Most methods have instant processing times, and there are no fees associated with them except for direct bank transfers.

Depositing methods

Withdrawal methods

Withdrawal times

• Mastercard 1-3 working days
• Visa 1-3 working days
• Cryptocurrencies 0-1 working days
• Neosurf 0-1 working days
• Ecopayz 0-1 working days
• iDebit 0-1 working days
• Interac 0-1 working days

Golden Star casino offers support via all channels. Furthermore, you can take a look at their frequently asked questions page before contacting the team.

I found the answer to my questions already from their extensive frequently asked questions page, however, I wanted to try the chat to see how it functions.

I only wish the casino's categorization was as effective as the chat system. At first, I got to select my topics and narrow them down to match my question. After this, I had the option to end the chat or to talk to a real person. When I requested a live agent, I was met with one within seconds.

The agent was friendly and helpful, and I had a positive overall experience. I also received confirmation of the opening hours; the chat is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

In addition to live chat, you can call the team and get help over the phone, or email them with an estimated 24-hour response time.

• Email support: ✅
• Live support: ✅
  
• Phone support: ✅

Know Your Customer policies require all casinos to verify their players. This is done to check your age and to prevent money laundering. 

Most players have gone through these checks at multiple casinos, but for new players, this may be a new subject. The process starts when you enter your details upon signup,  and ends with document verification. 

Fortunately, at Golden Star Casino, you can conveniently upload your documents before they are requested. This way, your withdrawal will not be halted due to a lack of documents.

The requested documents may include:

• Proof of identity - driver's license
• Proof of address - utility bill
• Proof of deposit  - bank statement

You can find both the instructions and the uploading tool by going to your profile and verification. I verified my account on a mobile device, as it's quick to snap the photos and upload them directly from your gallery.

Golden Star casino operates under Curacao's gaming licence.

Responsible gambling is the most important aspect of casinos. I was happy to see that Golden Star casino has clearly taken the time to provide a responsible environment for players.

Their responsible gambling page features general information, external help organizations, and instructions on how to use the available limits. These include the following:

• Deposit limit
• Loss limit
• Wager limit
• Cooling off limit
• Session limit
• Self-exclusion

These limits allow you to monitor and limit the amount of money you can deposit, lose, or wager in a set time period. For example, a deposit limit can be set for a day, a week, or a month. Additionally, you can take a break from gambling with the cooling-off limit, or limit the time you can spend on the site with the session limit. Self-exclusion will disable your account altogether for a set period of time.