Introduction
Bethard casino was opened back in 2014 by Bethard Group Limited, and it has a healthy dozen of other sister casinos operating online. Considering the unexpected balance of Pros and Cons for this platform, we can state that overall, Bethard online casino creates an impression of a site worthy of your time. However, this impression may be totally undermined and smashed by several considerable drawbacks we reveal below in the Bethard review.
According to our research, there are no serious safety or reputation issues, however, some aspects of this casino operation have not made us happy. Therefore, we strongly recommend you to check out the review and also the website carefully before you make an account with them and dive into betting. While the Bethard group of sister sites shows positive rating by many other third party reviewers, this does not automatically mean that each and every parlour of the bunch is advantageous for every potential customer.
One of the specific drawbacks is a huge list of restricted countries; all potential customers from any of the locations listed will be restricted from making an account, and in case you manage to somehow do that and start playing, your money will be forfeit and the account closed. So learn more about opening an account beforehand, and then decide whether you even would want to do that.
Account Registration
Just in case you hope that Bethard casino online accepts players from many countries, well, you’re wrong. The list of restricted jurisdictions includes, among others: Australia, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, US, and this is not counting a bunch of other countries.
Now, if you are happy enough to be located in a jurisdiction allowed, you can register a real money account with the site. All you have to do is provide email, password for casino account, Bethard login details like first and last name and username, confirm the info, and then add details to your profile. Please keep in mind that if you want to claim the Welcome bonus for new customers, you should do that after the account was registered. Do not deposit and bet before you find out about the Bonuses available to you, and conditions applied.
Bonuses
Promotions are the most attractive part of almost any online casino, and good promotions are almost irresistible for the majority of gamblers, even experienced ones. A well-designed promotion will make gamblers fly to the site like moths to the light.
Casino online Bethard tried really hard to become that kind of attraction for the gamblers, so they created as many as three Welcome offers - for Casino, Live Dealer Casino, and Sports, separately. If you feel intrigued, check them out.
Casino Welcome Bonus
If you were intrigued, well, stop being intrigued right now, because the Casino welcome offer is super humble - only 100% match bonus up to 100 EUR. Minimum deposit that makes you eligible is 20 EUR. The good news is that the wagering requirements are only x20. We don’t know if they chose all numbers to be looking good, or for whatever reason, but let us tell you straight away that wagering requirements way lower than across the market look suspicious. Make sure you check Terms and Conditions applied to bonuses, to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Live Casino Welcome Offer
Bethard welcome offer for Live casino is a bit more attractive, granting a 100% match up to 200 EUR. The minimum deposit is still 20 EUR, and the wagering requirements are still x20. Pay attention that, according to the rules applied, only 20% of every bet is counted towards wagering. In a healthy person’s words, it means that you will have to wager way more, in real money, to meet the wagering requirements, because only ⅕ of your every bet will amortize the wagering requirements. That’s a catch, huh?
Sport Welcome Offer
If you are more into sports betting, Bethard casino online welcomes you on board with its incredibly generous (no) Sport Welcome bonus that offers 100% match bonus to the sum of up to 100 EUR. The minimum deposit is 20 EUR. Well, at least the wagering requirements are only x4 times. However, there is a bunch of other smaller rules in smaller font, and these rules can change quickly, so you’d better double check.
Races, Tournaments and Prize Pools
As many other self-respecting casinos, Bethard has a bunch of different tournaments and races taking part in certain periods of time. If you would like to take part, research terms and conditions, and join to take advantage of higher chances to win bigger prize!
Quickspin Achievements Tokens
This is an unusual bonus that works for all games by Quickspin software provider. While betting at Quickspin games, the players automatically collect tokens that trigger additional bonuses. The system is alike to collecting loyalty points. The Achievements have four levels, and the rewards depend on the level. The tokens are later exchanged for cash prizes and exclusive promotions.
Cash Out Feature
This feature works for sport betting, and allows the player who has already made their bet, to forfeit the bet and cash out in case they feel that the game is not advantageous for them. Cash Out Feature allows the bettor to grab some small winnings and run in safety, avoiding big loss. Please read the rules carefully before you trigger this feature.
Games and Software
The range of software at this site is not impressive, but quite positive. They have some really well-known companies represented, for all three sectors - casino, Live Dealer, and sport. Most often than not, you can expect nice user experience and high quality of software products. This is especially important for Live Dealer games, because if you have shitty streaming, the whole gambling experience simply goes South.
The same applies to Sport betting and especially Live sport betting - for example, if you have poor quality streaming, or the software glitches, you may not be able to take advantage of this wonderful Cash Out Feature, so what’s the point? Bet-hard online parlour obviously took care of its customers and prevented such happenings.
If we talk specifically casino games, however, the situation is less positive. The number of those classic Table games is really disappointing, several very popular games are simply not there, and many items in the category of Table games are actually taken from Live Dealer category.
Next, there is no Video poker as such, at least for now. The only poker titles you can find is Live Dealer Texas Hold’em Poker, which is definitely not enough for true poker fans. Instead, they offer a wider than usual array of Scratch cards, which in reality are in less demand.
Sport and Fantasy Sports are represented by separate software products, and overall, having all these different kinds of entertainment at one single platform is cool. To be honest, finding a high quality reliable sport book or fantasy sports platform is harder than a reliable online casino. Bet-hard, though, seems to combine both, so kudos to it for trying.
Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions is the must-read part at every online casino, because they state each and every condition under which the gambler pays and plays, and gets their money of course. Many gamblers, especially beginner level ones, avoid reading those long and seemingly boring documents, especially when these are provided in foldable pieces. And yet, reading through T&C, at least in the form of search by keywords, is crucial for your gambling well-being.
Bet-hard has its T&C in the form we at Zen like most of all - a huge scrollable and searchable wall of text, allowing the reader to easily find what they need. We needed to find out a lot about Bet-hard, to see if it can be added into the list as best casino online. However, some things really made us unhappy, and the majority of issues can be found in the Deposit and Withdrawal part.
License
Luckily, at least all the licenses are stated clearly at the beginning of the T&C document, plus the same shortened info is provided in the footer of all platform pages, which is a good sign. When a parlour hides its license, this move cannot but cause suspicion.
Next, Bethard additionally indicates licenses held by the software providers represented at the site. The casino, in fact, holds a gambling license by Malta Gaming Authority (as well as most of the software developing companies represented), which means higher reliability and safety. The point is, Malta Gaming Authority is one of the most reliable and one of the strictest among agencies granting gaming licenses, in regards to operators. While some licenses can simply be purchased under the condition of meeting a list of standard requirements, MGA can deny a license to be granted, so they are tough.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Now let’s talk about Deposit and Withdrawal function, and banking options offered for these purposes. First of all, please mind that reaching the parlour from different locations automatically means seeing different lists of banking options available. We have checked the info for several countries, but make sure you double check what options will be available specifically for you. It also makes a sensible point to do that before you register a real money account with them.
Secondly, we are unhappy to underline that the banking options for withdrawal are much fewer, overall, than those for depositing. This is always the case, at 99% of all online casinos, but not to such extent. For some countries, all that is offered for withdrawal is Bank Transfer, meaning up to 14 banking days to receive the winnings. Not cool at all.
Thirdly, and this is the most interesting part, let’s talk about some literally ridiculous deposit and withdrawal requirements you will also find in T&C document, if you are patient enough to find out what the site really offers.
The first weird rule we totally did not like is about deposit fees. The site states that they can apply processing fees to withdrawals (which is more or less okay) and also to deposits (which is not okay), and these processing fees seemingly will be added upon processing fees taken by the payment processing company. In case you are not aware, the casino sites do not process payments on their own. They install payment gates, and pass the payments to payment companies like Skrill, Paypal, Visa, etc., who has licenses for making transactions. These companies, obviously, take a small fee for every transaction, but Bet-hard states the parlour can add fees on top of that. Not cool.
The second weird rule is as follows: “Before a withdrawal of real money can be requested, a minimum deposit of thirty Euro (€30) is required. The deposit must be wagered at least one (1) time before withdrawal.” If we translate that into human language, in practice it means that, for example, you make a minimum deposit of 20 EUR, make bets, win in a game, but cannot request a withdrawal without making another deposit of 10 EUR, minimum.
Now, if you made a minimum deposit allowed and have not taken the Welcome bonus that is subject to a fix amount of wagering requirements, your deposit still has to be wagered at least one time. In other words, if you have deposited 50 EUR, but the first 30 EUR in bets brought you winnings, you still have to continue playing to wager those 50 EUR at least once, which increases your risks of losing both your own funds and the money you’ve already won.
The third weird rule we have spotted is as follows: “Before a withdrawal of real money can be requested all deposits must have been wagered at least one (1) time.” What that means is if you have made a deposit of 20 EUR and started playing, but then decided to add, say, 10 EUR more and suddenly the bet on the previously provided 20 EUR brought you a win, you cannot request a withdrawal, but still have to continue playing until you wager the additional 10 EUR you deposited later, at least once. This also increases your chances of losing both your deposits and also the money you won, while trying to meet the wagering requirement.
See? This is why it is so important to go through T&C every time. Whatever good the parlour may be, these rules can change the other day, and unless you double-check, you will continue gambling without knowing the game rules have changed.
Design and Usability
Bethard is a pleasant looking and easy to use platform. Most of the times, you do not need to do the guesswork to find anything you want to find. The navigation is pretty intuitive and does not interfere with the reading experience. And yet, the design is custom and fun to explore.
Mobile & Apps
For advanced mobile experience, you can actually download Bethard app and gamble from your mobile device easily. On the other hand, the site is totally functional via browser.
Feedback and Complaints
Just to make sure you have a full picture about this gambling platform, let us list some of the most popular complaints people have about Bethard:
- long waiting time for withdrawal request confirmation
- long waiting time for cash out
- some games do not run that smoothly on mobile as they do on PC
- the platform may apply currency exchange and also apply fees for currency exchange, even if you deposit one of the currencies allowed
Please pay attention to the last problem, because it seems the casino plays skillfully against customers here.
Contact Bethard
In case you would like to contact the Customer Support and maybe ask them about their unhealthy deposit and withdrawal requirements, you may drop an email to support@bethard.com.
Features and Perks
Despite the fact that there are several things we didn’t like about Bet-hard, it would have been unfair not to underline some of the perks that really make this site stand out among others:
- sport betting is available
- fantasy sports are available
- separate Welcome bonuses for Casino, Live Dealer, and Sport
- very low wagering requirements
Sum Up
Bethard online casino is tricky, there’s no doubt about that. One has to be careful and think twice before taking their bonuses; in fact, even depositing and withdrawing may be problematic at this site. However, there are certain benefits that you can use to your advantage.