Royal Panda Casino Review
If you might want to play at a modern casino which despite its young age is reputable and trustworthy, then Royal Panda might be the online casino for you. Royal Panda online casino was launched in the month of March of 2014. The casino owners quickly managed to get a dual licence. They have a licence on the Mediterranean island of Malta form the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority, as well as one from the United Kingdom Gambling Authority. The dual licence allows the casino to operate legally under strict supervision, which means that citizens of almost every European country and even quite a few outside of Europe can play their favourite casino game at Royal Panda.
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Solid casino with excellent reputation
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Great bonuses and VIP loyalty scheme
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Brilliant live casino
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Relatively few withdrawal methods
The best of casino gaming
It is however not only the dual licence which makes Royal Panda such a trustworthy and safe casino to put down a wager. Royal Panda only uses casino software from the best companies in the casino business such as Microgaming, Evolution Gaming, NetEnt and NextGen Gaming. It however also features games from lesser known software developers such as Barcrest Games, Genesis Gaming, Elk Studios, Thunderkick, 1×2 Gaming, Aristocrat and Rabcat. You can rest assured that if you play one of Royal Panda’s casino games that you have a honest and fair shot at winning and that all game results are fully automated and random, this being regularly checked by the regulatory authorities in Malta and the UK.
We will show you in this unbiased review at all that Royal Panda has to offer to you as a player. What games does Royal Panda offer? How smooth is the playing experience at its software platform? Is the mobile experience as good as on the laptop or computer? How fast are your winnings cashed out and which payment options are there? We will list both the pros and cons of this online casino so you as a player can make up your own mind in the end if you want to try out Royal Panda, or rather want to try your luck at a different online casino.
A bit of panda history
Even though Royal Panda was technically founded as a Maltese casino, in practice it is a Maltese-British casino nowadays due to its double licence. It is actually the United Kingdom where Royal Panda is most active, with recent history clearly showing the focus of this online casino. In 2017, Royal Panda announced for example that it had signed a sponsorship deal with London-based football club Queens Park Rangers, with the online casino featuring for at least three yeas on the shirt of the football club. June 2017 was a pretty good month in general for Royal Panda, as the online casino also announced that month that it had started to cooperate with the company BetConstruct which allowed them to also offer sports betting in the UK next to its casino activities.
In the autumn of 2017 Royal Panda was however itself acquired by a competitor. LeoVegas bought the casino in October of that year for a fee reported to range around the 60 million euro mark. The casino has however remained its old style and theme due to its high name recognition and is still operated as a separate brand. Royal Panda has been the winner of several prizes at the UK Casino Awards where it was praised for its great promotions and wide game selection.
Widely accessible no matter where you live
One noteworthy aspect which you immediately notice at Royal Panda online casino is the huge amount of language options and accepted currencies. It is clear from the start that Royal Panda online casino is not only ‘royal’ towards it players in the UK, but towards an entire worldwide audience. Even though English is the casino’s main language, the Royal Panda website is available in quite a few other languages as well. You can re ad the Royal Panda website, play your favourite casino game and contact the casino in German, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese, Spanish and even Japanese. The same counts for the currencies in which you can deposit money to your online casino account and play your favourite game. Of course, you can select the three biggest currencies of US dollar (USD), pound sterling (GBP) and euro (EUR) here. Other currencies such as the Brazilian real (BRL), Indian rupee (INR), Mexican Peso (MXN), Polish Zloty (PLN), New Zealand dollar (NZD) and Czech koruna (CZK) are also offered by the casino.
Casino games for every kind of player
Even though Royal Panda is a relative newcomer in the world of online casinos, it has a platform that feels decidedly professional. Whether you are playing on the Royal Panda website or you decide the special app on your smartphone, players will find plenty of games to keep them entertained.
Whatever your preferred game is, you are likely to find it back at Royal Panda. There are plenty of slots to choose from, ranging from modern video slots to classic fruit machines, video poker and progressive jackpot slots. Of course there are table games as well such as roulette, baccarat and blackjack. These games are also on offer at Royal Panda’s live casino, where you are connected through a live video feed with professional dealers and croupiers who are happy to place your bets on a real table.
Great video slots
All games which are offered by the casino come from reputable software developers. These software companies are industry giants such as NetEnt, Microgaming, Evolution Gaming and many other smaller companies. NetEnt Gaming is for example represented with games such as Gonzo’s Quest and of course the well-known Starburst video slot. NextGen Gaming, another famous casino software provider, delivers high quality games such as The Mask and King Kong Fury which are playable as well at Royal Panda’s online casino. There are plenty of other great video slots which you can play at Royal Panda – just take your time to browse through the extensive selection to find your favourite!
High rollers and VIP players will be happy to hear that there are plenty of table games to select to get your kicks at some real high stakes gambling. Most important games such as baccarat, roulette and blackjack allow you to put wagers of up to 5,000 EUR, potentially winning 120,000 EUR with a single bet. Of course, also those on a tight budget will feel at home in this panda-themed casino, as there are plenty of tables and slots as well with low minimum betting limits, allowing players to bet with as little as a few cents at a time.
High roller roulette at Royal Panda
Recently, the casino has introduced brand new roulette tables especially for its high rollers and VIPs. These tables have extra high maximum betting limits which easily surpass the standard 5,000 EUR maximum bets of other tables. Some of these special roulette tables have maximum limits up to 75,000 EUR and potential payouts which reach 156,000 EUR. The tables are by the way not always completely exclusive, as some of these high roller tables are open for those who do not have the bankroll to put large wagers. These players can start on these special tables with minimum bets from 25 EUR upwards. That is still a big amount if you have a tight budget, but it does give you the extra kick to play in between the real high rollers and seeing some high stakes casino action right at your table! In total, Royal Panda has eight such roulette tables which are available 24/7.
Baccarat and blackjack
High rollers who want to get their kicks from card games also have plenty to look forward to at Royal Panda. There are for example high roller tables for baccarat where you can bet up to 2,000 EUR with payouts reaching 11:1. At the special VIP tables minimum bets are 100 EUR, although when high rollers really start to play for high stakes with massive bets it is not uncommon to see some walking away from the table with winnings of up to 100,000 EUR on a single bet.
Even though baccarat is a fantastic casino game to play, it is of course the great game of blackjack which has always been the casino favourite. If you enjoy the excitement of a game of blackjack, you will be happy to hear that there are also high roller blackjack tables at the Royal Panda online casino. Minimum bets are 50 EUR at these high roller tables – and reach to a maximum of 3,000 EUR. That means that with a single wager you can win up to 4,500 EUR. There is one special table where the limits are even higher. At this so-called red VIP table, you can bet up to 5,000 EUR in each game. In total there are seven different blackjack variants which you can select.
Royal Panda bonuses
Even though the height of bonuses do not tell everything about how good a certain casino is, it is a deciding factor for many when it comes to selecting a casino to play. Even though Royal Panda does not have the best ever bonus offers of all casinos on the internet, it does have frequent promotion campaigns which can be worthwhile. New customers who register for an account at the website of Royal Panda can expect a 100 percent welcome bonus of up to 100 EUR (or 100 USD or GBP if you prefer to pay and play in one of these currencies). This is for sure not the fattest bonus we have ever seen on the internet. On the contrary, it might even be a bit on the meagre side. That said, it is a nice little bonus which can kick start your bankroll on your online casino account.
The welcome bonus has a wagering requirement of 35 times. This means that once you received the full 100 EUR bonus, you need to put in at least 3,500 EUR (100 multiplied by 35) worth of bets in order to fully unlock the bonus. Only at the moment when you have reached the wagering requirement will you be able to withdraw the bonus amount from your online casino account and cash it out. As an extra benefit, you will also earn bonus points (called ‘Loyal Panda points’ by Royal Panda) in the casino’s loyalty programme when receiving the welcome bonus. Of course, the more loyalty points you collect, the more rewards you will receive!
Seasonal promotions
Even though the welcome bonus might not be the best there is in the online casino world, Royal Panda online casino does make up for this by offering attractive recurring bonuses to its loyal players. Royal Panda is especially well-known for having great bonus offers and handing out other rewards during special seasonal campaigns, which mostly occur during popular holidays. For example, during Christmas or Halloween there are tailor-made, themed bonuses which you can use for your benefit. It depends on each individual promotion campaign what these bonuses entail, but most of the times these are special reload bonuses. This means that you have to deposit a certain amount to top off your online casino account in order to get a nice bonus amount for free in return. During these special promo campaigns, Royal Panda usually gives away a few dozen free spins as well.
One special promotion campaign which is beloved among Royal Panda players is called the ‘Lucky 21’. As you might have guessed already, this is a special blackjack promotion deal which gives you the chance to win 210 EUR on every 21st of the month. The rules of this bonus campaign are simple: everyone who plays blackjack that day automatically gets into the draw to win the extra bonus. You get a ticket for each blackjack (21 on your first two cards) during the game, so the more you play, the better your chances are. On the 22nd of each month, the winners of the Lucky 21 will be announced for that particular month.
Royal Panda mobile casino
In the digital age we nowadays live in we all want to be reachable wherever we go and have access to the internet at all times. This has become a real possibility in recent years due to fast mobile internet and smartphones. Whenever you need to access the internet, you can just take your phone from your pocket instead of needing to return home to your computer. Of course, this development had implications for online casino gambling as well. Nowadays you can as easily play on your smartphone as on your home computer – and the whole playing experience is exactly as beautiful, fast and exciting.
Royal Panda has also played into this development by launching its own app – which works on both iPhone and Android phones. It is also possible to install the app if you like to play on your tablet on the go or at home. The app is well-designed and runs smoothly on all systems. What makes the mobile experience of Royal Panda unique is that most of the website-based games are also playable on the mobile app. This is not straightforward – as many casinos have a different (often much smaller) array of mobile games compared to the assortment on their normal website. Luckily this is not the case with Royal Panda, which not only has an almost identical assortment between the computer and mobile based casinos, but also has some specially designed mobile games on top of it. The reason why the mobile casino of Royal Panda is such a hit is because they only acquired the best of the best of mobile casino games from providers such as Evolution Gaming, Microgaing and NetEnt. The UI and functionality of the platform and games is great no matter which kind of mobile phone you have!
An exhilarating live casino
If you like to gamble in real physical casinos such as the ones in Monaco, Macau or Vegas, then of course you do want an online casino with a live casino feature. When you play your favourite casino table game through a live video feed with a real table and dealer it almost feels like you are standing there on a casino floor instead of sitting behind your laptop screen. If you prefer live casino play above normal online table games, then Royal Panda is a great choice as casino. Royal Panda really tried hard to make their live casino the most exhilarating on the internet, with a top notch service to beat.
All dealers and croupiers who operate the live table games are professionals in their field. They are not only excellent in their jobs, but also know how to keep players entertained while they play. It is certainly possible to have a nice chat with them while you try your luck at roulette or blackjack, which makes playing all the more fun. One of the nicest aspects of playing in a physical casino is of course socialising with fellow players and dealers – and Royal Panda now gives you the chance to do the same at their online casino live games.
Watch live casino games
If for whatever reason you might not want to play live casino games but rather watch, you will be happy to hear that this is possible as well with Royal Panda. All games at the live casino tables are broadcast through a special feed which everyone can watch. This can be a great way to learn how to play a particular game or to see how exactly live casino play works. The live stream is produced by professional TV studios and is broadcast in HD quality to ensure optimal entertainment.
Payment options
Another important indicator which tells a lot about the quality of an online casino are the payment options, cash-out speeds – and all the conditions which might be attached to it. When selecting an online casino to play at, players often look solely at the games on offer and the bonus they can get, which is a rookie mistake. The payment methods and speeds have a great impact on how quickly yo will receive your casino winnings and how smooth the entire process will go. Of course, you preferably don’t want to wait for weeks from the moment you hit the jackpot until you have received the amount on your bank account.
With Royal Panda, you can opt for 25 different payment methods to deposit money to your online account. The most important payment methods of these can also be used to deposit your winnings back to your bank account, credit card or e-wallet. Royal Panda takes pride that they quickly process all their transactions in a wide array of currencies. It uses a combination of traditional banking methods, debit and credit card options as well as modern e-wallet technologies. This means that money can be deposited easily by Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards, as well as by Maestro, Skrill, iDebit, Neteller, instaDebit, Giropay, Paysafe, Interac Online, AstroPay, DineroMail, iWallet, ecoPayz, Sofort, Euteller, ePro, eWire, MuchBetter, Transferencia Bancaria Local, toditoCash, Trustly and Zimpler. As you can see, the list of payment options is quite long indeed!
Cash out
If you want to cash out your money and receive your casino earnings, the list of payment options is unfortunately much smaller. You can request a bank transfer, or ask Royal Panda to deposit your casino winnings to your e-wallet account such as Skrill and Neteller. Of course, you can also request the casino to transfer the money to your debit or credit card. Even though the disparity between payment and cash out options is not ideal, it is quite normal as this is the case with most online casinos. It is however something you should pay attention to if you might not have access to the standard payment options.
Payment limits
We advice you to take note that Royal Panda has a minimum cash out limit of 10 EUR – you cannot request any amount of money below this limit. The same counts for depositing money. Again, the minimum limit for each transaction is 10 euro, or the equivalent in American dollar or British pound. The same counts for maximum limits for each payment transaction to your online casino account. This limit is set at 50,000 EUR for card transactions, 10,000 EUR for Skrill, 2,500 EUR for ePro and 14,000 EUR for most other payment methods. Of course, if you want to deposit a larger amount you can do so in multiple deposits.
There are of course maximum limits to cash out amounts as well. Royal Panda really has a ‘royal’ limit here, as it allows you to request a pay-out of maximum 100,000 EUR for each transaction. The exception are card payments – which have a 50,000 EUR limit. If you might be lucky enough to win an even higher amount than these mentioned here, you do have to request multiple payouts instead of a single one to circumvent the maximum limit. All these transactions can be requested and administered through the dashboard of your online account.
If you requested a cash out on your e-wallet account it will be processed instantly by Royal Panda. It will take a bit longer if you requested the winnings to be deposited on your bank account or credit card, as in this case a one to five day period is more common. Royal Panda does process these transactions in a day, although credit card providers and banks usually take another three to four days to do the final processing on their side. If you requested a payout of more than 2,000 EUR in a 24 hour time frame, Royal Panda requires you to send them a valid identification card or passport to verify your identity.
Customer service
Royal Panda advertises itself as a premium casino – and also when it comes to client support the casino does deliver with premium support options. We have tried out the casino’s customer support on several occasions and we can happily report that we are very happy with the correspondence in each case when we pitched some questions or theoretical problems. What we especially like about the customer service is how pro-active they work. We are active on several gambling and casino internet forums. There, we frequently see Royal Panda customer service employees monitoring discussions and answer questions from users. This way they even solve problems before people even have contacted the help desk! On these forums, users do appreciate the casino a lot as Royal Panda generally receives very good feedback. For sure, their pro-active approach and accessibility helps a lot here.
Royal Panda has three customer support channels. These are the live chat, email and telephone. We tried all three of them and are especially satisfied with the speedy answers we received over the live chat and phone. Do however note that the Royal Panda phone lines only work between 8am and 4.30pm GMT. Obviously, the email option is always the slowest option – but even here we got a speedy reply in a working day. We also appreciate that Royal Panda has published an exhaustive self-help guide in the form of a long FAQ section on its website.
Social responsibility
Royal Panda does take responsible gambling seriously and wants the casino experience to be about the excitement of its games and not about the outcome of the game. This is why the casino has introduced an option for its players to impose their own payment and gambling limits. For example, a player can request the casino to limit his or her monthly payments to 500 EUR. If a player might have lost his deposited 500 EUR, he or she would then not be able to deposit (and theoretically lose) more money and can only do this again when the new month starts. Players can even exclude themselves altogether from gambling by asking the casino to put a temporary ban or to even terminate their accounts. If your gambling habit gets out of control, the casino can also come to your aid by putting you in contact with several professional organisations which are trained to help you to deal with it.
Our final verdict
Royal Panda is a solid casino with an excellent reputation when it comes to its fair policies, variety of games and a large selection in payment methods. We are certainly impressed when it comes to the high pay-out limits, which comes in handy if you are a high roller or might have won large amounts of money. The games, of which Royal Panda has several hundreds, are also impressive and are good for hours of playing fun. We were especially happy with the excellent live casino games on offer in this casino. The dealers and croupiers are some of the most professional – and certainly most entertaining – we have encountered among many online casinos. In general, also the entire platform of Royal Panda scores high marks, whether you play on the website or through the app on your smartphone.
We do however have to highlight a few downsides as well, although if we want to be fair we should rather call these points of improvement, as the points we will list now are not necessarily bad but are rather average and could be better. Even though the amount of payment methods is large, the same cannot be said of the ways in which you can request your casino winnings to be cashed out. We also found the bonus offers to be decidedly average. Especially when it comes to the welcome bonus, Royal Panda is rather mediocre. That said, the bonus promotions for existing players are quite decent – so not everything when it comes to bonuses is bad with Royal Panda. We can therefore easily conclude that the many advantages of Royal Panda by far outweigh the few negatives and can easily recommend this casino to you.