Maria Casino Review

2016 was a year of dramatic changes across the world—and this was certainly true for Maria Casino. Having previously operated as a bingo site, Maria's decision to switch to a casino-dominated offering certainly turned a few heads.

Thankfully, we're happy to report that the transformation was a success: Maria Casino is a sleek, classy site with plenty to offer for even the most discerning players. Plus, with plenty of bingo still available on site, a few bingo loyalists may be tempted over by Maria's charms. Read on for the full details…

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In depth

Banking

Placing deposits

Maria Casino allows users to deposit using a variety of methods:

• Credit card (Visa/Mastercard)
• Debit card (Visa/Maestro)
• Neteller
• Paysafecard
• Skrill
• Wire transfer

Making withdrawals

The minimum withdrawal amount is £15. Your withdrawal will typically be credited back to the account/card you used to make your initial deposit; for example, if you initially deposited using a Visa debit card, your withdrawal will later be credited back to that same card. Please note that this only applies to Visa cards—if you deposit via Mastercard, for example, you can withdraw back to a bank account in your own name. Withdrawals to Neteller or Skrill are processed within 48 hours; bank transfers and credit/debit card withdrawals take 3-5 working days.

Games

Bingo games

Thanks to its history as a bingo-focused operator, Maria Casino boasts a far better range of bingo options than many of its fellow casino sites. Players can get their fix of the classic 90 ball bingo in the Rush and Dare rooms, whilst 75 ball bingo is represented in the Bliss room. As Maria Casino is also available beyond British shores, the site's Thrill, All Stars and Lucky rooms offer a special variant of 75 ball bingo, with three tickets per card—a format more commonly found on Scandinavian bingo sites than in the UK, but still definitely worth trying out!

Slot games

Though Maria Casino has made a strong start with its range of bingo games, it's in its slot selection that it truly begins to shine. In fact, there are no fewer than 373 different slots available at Maria Casino, meaning that you're sure to find a game to pique your interest. The only problem you're likely to experience is knowing just where to start—especially as the site sadly lacks a search function. Luckily, we've picked a few of our favourites to help give you a couple of pointers—take a look at our choices:

Leprechaun Goes to Hell

Famously featured in our rundown of the 12 Weirdest Online Slot Games, it would be fair to say that Leprechaun Goes to Hell has a somewhat niche theme. In some ways, it's the typical Irish slot—there's a leprechaun, of course, and the chance to win plenty of pots of gold. But there's a twist in this 5-line, 25-payline slot's tail—the eponymous character has been sent to slave away in the furnaces of Hell, employed by she-devil Evilene. Still, this leprechaun's misfortune could be lucky for you, with the chance to win a fantastic jackpot.

Starburst

It would be remiss of us not to mention Starburst—after all, just by signing up to Maria Casino, you'll get 40 free spins on this game, so it's one you're sure to be acquainted with soon enough! This fun and colourful 10-payline game features dazzling jewels. The addition of the multicoloured star wild on lines 2, 3 and 4 gives you even more chances to win.

Pixies of the Forest

This 5-reel, 99-payline slot is simply mystical! Enter the enchanting forest and you could win riches beyond your wildest dreams! The pixies themselves are charming enough, but the game's real magic lies in its Tumbling Reels feature, which gives you some great opportunities to rack up some huge wins! With free spins available too, you'll be bewitched by this slot in no time!

Casino Games

As you may expect, Maria Casino comes fully loaded with a whopping 84 table and card games, giving players the ability to play on a wide variety of blackjack, roulette, poker and baccarat variants. The site also offers you the chance to play a number of exciting live casino games, including roulette, blackjack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold'Em, baccarat, and Casino Hold'Em.

Other Games

If you still aren't satisfied with what's on offer, there are yet more games available on Maria Casino. There's Keno, a lottery-style game where 20 numbers are drawn, and you get a bigger payout for every one you're able to match; Lucky Charms, where you'll need to find matching symbols; even the classic noughts and crosses in X&O. The world really is your oyster!

Tournaments

Let's face it—you wouldn't be playing online bingo and slots if you didn't have at least a bit of a competitive streak. Luckily for you, Maria Casino offers a fantastic range of tournaments to give even the most ambitious of players a real challenge. Every day of the week sees a different themed tournament take place, in which players across the site compete to gain the highest scores on selected games. The top five players all get a great cash reward, with the overall winner getting a cool £150! Check out the following tournaments every week between 17:00 and 20:00:

• Monday Movies — Eligible games: Aliens, Jurassic Park
• Tuesday Animals — Eligible games: Big Bad Wolf, Foxin' Wins, Piggy Riches, Gorilla Go Wild
• Wednesday Irish — Eligible games: Rainbow Riches, Leprechaun Goes Egypt, Leprechaun Goes to Hell
• Thursday TV — Eligible games: Wild North, Cloud Quest, Game of Thrones, South Park: Reel Chaos
• Friday Exclusives — Eligible games: Golden Ticket, Troll Hunters, Hit2Split, Rage to Riches, Leprechaun Goes to Hell
• Saturday Table Games — Eligible games: Live Blackjack - Grande, Live Roulette - Grande, Blackjack Multihand, European Roulette
• Sunday Classics — Eligible games: Twin Spin, Starburst, Golden Ticket, Gemix, Gonzo's Quest, Mega Fortune Dreams

In addition to the recurring weekly tournaments, you can also take advantage of selected one-off tournaments. Currently featuring on site is Carnival Bingo, where the top 100 players across the Rush, Bliss, Thrill and Dare bingo rooms have the chance to win up to £1,000!

Promotions

Maria Casino excels once again with its fabulous range of promotions. Some promotions are on offer permanently, whilst others are available for only a limited period of time—so make sure to keep checking the promotions page, and act fast when you see something that catches your eye.

Here are a few of our favourite current promotions:

My Daily Casino Offers

Every week, Maria Casino offers special daily promotions. These include:

• Monday – Cash is King: Get £5 cashback when you play on Guns 'n Roses for £100 or more.
• Tuesday – Share the Wealth: Wager £50 on live casino games and get £5 cashback.
• Wednesday – Free the Spins: Deposit and wager £10 or more on mobile and get 10 free spins on Leprechaun Goes to Hell.
• Thursday – Race for Gold: If you're one of the first 100 players to launch and open Gonzo's Quest (from 2pm onwards), you'll automatically get 5 free spins.
• Friday – Into the Wild: Play on DJ Wild for £100 or more and get £5 cashback.
• Saturday – Deposit Booster: Deposit £10 or more and get a 25% deposit bonus.
• Sunday – Salvage Your Sunday: Play for £10 or more on your choice of Jack Hammer, Lights, Twin Spin, South Park or Flowers and get 10 free spins.

Maria's £10,000 Live Roulette Fiesta Party

Play Live Roulette on selected days between the 6th and 22nd of February, and every 10 spins on the Fiesta Party Roulette table will instantly earn you one entry into the site's £10,000 prize draw! There are no fewer than 500 prizes to be won, with the chance to win up to £500.

Free Bingo for Beginners

If you're new to the game of bingo, then don't worry—Maria Casino gives you the chance to give the game a test drive before you commit to parting with any of your hard-earned cash. In fact, newbies get 14 days' access to the site's Beginners' Bingo Room, which comes with free games in addition to cheap tickets and other special features.

Performance

Maria Casino takes a ‘cream of the crop’ approach to game selection, featuring a mix of games from many of the world's best providers. These include games from Microgaming, Yggdrasil, Net Entertainment, and many more. Games run smoothly and easily, and open within your browser window.

Mobile

If you're looking to play on the go, then you're in luck—there are app versions of Maria Casino available for both iOS and Android. Apple users can simply download the app by searching for “Maria Casino & Bingo” in the app store. The process is a little more complicated for Android—you'll have to start by downloading the APK file from the website, then installing it yourself. However, if you'd rather skip this step, then rest assured that you can still play your favourite games simply by navigating to the normal Maria Casino website using your standard mobile browser.

Support

Players can get support 24/7 at Maria Casino using a variety of different methods—although the site also offers an extensive and well-organised FAQs section, meaning that you should be able to find the answers to many of the most common questions quickly and easily.

• Email: info-uk@mariasupport.com
• Live Chat: Available 24/7 by visiting the Help section of the website.
• Phone: 0207 257 8702 (lines open 24/7)

Extra features

Loyalty programme

Whilst we've been very impressed with Maria Casino so far, one issue that we feel lets the site down somewhat is its lack of a traditional VIP scheme. Considering many competitor sites offer some fantastic perks for VIP members, we're a bit disappointed that this swanky site isn't able to live up to this promise.

Nevertheless, the site does offer a bingo loyalty programme—which, as the name implies only applies to the site's bingo games and mini-games. As you play on these games, you'll earn points, which will cause your loyalty progress bar to fill up. When this progress bar is full, you'll be able to launch the Loyalty Wheel. This can reward you with free spins, bingo vouchers, or even cash prizes. Whilst this offer doesn't extend to the site's slot and casino games, bingo lovers will be very fond of this extra touch.

Social media

Looking to keep up with all the latest goings on at Maria Casino? Can't bear the thought of missing out on a fantastic promotion? You're in luck. Simply follow Maria Casino's regularly updated Twitter account, and you'll get daily updates on all the most exciting events on site. The site's social media manager is also responsive to messages, meaning that this also provides an extra route of support for users. Sadly, we're still waiting for Maria to launch accounts on Facebook and Google+, but we award full marks for their effort so far!

Final comments

Too many bingo sites offer only a limited range of slots, whilst many casino sites eschew bingo altogether. Maria Casino is different. Having pivoted away from being a bingo-focused provider, the site has nonetheless stayed true to its roots and still offers a great range of games that should keep even the most hardened bingo lover satisfied. Meanwhile, with its large selection of slots, fantastic table and card games, and even some live options, casino fanatics won't be disappointed either. Though there are still a few flaws to iron out, we rarely found ourselves asking "how do you solve a problem like Maria?"—instead, we're singing its praises!

If you love Maria Casino, why not try:

• Royal House Casino
• Spin Genie
• Wicked Jackpots