Due to an internal decision form Sky Betting and Gaming we are no longer able to recommend Sky Vegas, or indeed any other Sky related products, to customers in the UK.
Sky have decided they do not want to be reviewed, promoted or assessed by third party independents and for this reason we cannot provide you with a fair and objective review of the company and it’s casino products.
You may still find Sky Vegas, reviews and offers elsewhere but beware all Sky promotion now occurs on sites owned by them which means they are not independent. Sky are not a bad brand but without licence to give you our own perspectives we do not feel it is the right thing to recommend them to you.
For a list of casino sites we do recommend click here, or for a list of casino welcome bonuses click here.
Software and Games
Sky Vegas is a medium sized instant play casino offering around 220 slots, 30 table games (including 12 different versions of roulette and 8 versions of blackjack) as well as tens of other arcade games and scratch cards. Sky Vegas runs games from several different software providers including NetEnt, IGT, Crytologic, NextGen Endemol, Barcrest, Blueprint, High 5, WMS as well as about five others. This means pretty much all of the big titles can be found here.
There are also nearly 50 different jackpot games as well as around 25 games exclusive to Sky Vegas. The exclusive games include Sky’s own roulette, blackjack, video poker and 3 card brag as well as in house jackpots, instant play, arcade and slot games. You can also play exclusive Sky Sports and football related games that are very unique to this site.
Each game comes with detailed information (click the info tab next to real play) which will tell you everything about the game from how to play to game limits. All games come with a free play option so you can find your feet first before you risk any of your own funds.
The Sky Casino section (which you can use from the same central account although you cannot use your bonus here) contains an addition 100 games including live casino. Here you can play seven live games including roulette, blackjack, HiLo, Baccarat and Hold’em along with a further range of slots and table games all by powered by Playtech.
Download and Instant Play
Sky Vegas and Sky Casino are both instant play only, there is no longer a download available. This shouldn’t be a problem for the vast majority of people. Sky have an absolute wealth of technical knowledge when it comes to delivering user content online and have been doing so for well over 25 years now. The instant play casino therefore works seamlessly thanks to a perfect balance of graphics and usability. I personally have never had a single issue with either the instant play desktop casino or the mobile app even when playing on slow mobile connections.
Promotions and Loyalty
Sky are great at two types of offer, regular deposit bonuses and cash back deals for existing customers. The reload amounts vary depending on the offer but usually this gives you at least 50% free, the last bonus I took was a deposit £50 get £25 free deal. As with the welcome deal the wagering requirements are very fair, usually just 20x the bonus, and this means these offers are attainable for typical players and really do add a lot of extra value to your casino play.
In addition there are always free spins available for new and featured games and if you play during seasonal holidays this is one of the best casinos in the world for valuable deals.
Don’t forget there is Sky Casino too which has a whole suite of further promotions including bonuses that you can pick yourself. You can decide whether to take a 20% bonus from a £10 deposit, 40% from £50 or 60% from £60. This is also the best section to get cash back on loses.
Sky Vegas Loyalty Scheme
In short there isn’t one, but don’t look at that as necessarily a bad thing. Loyalty schemes are expensive to run and maintain and on the whole they tend to reward high rollers disproportionality. If you are an average casino player getting higher value regular offers that require lower deposits or stakes will give you far higher value in the long term – this is not something you will be short of at Sky Vegas.
If Sky had decided to not run a loyalty points programme to increase profits then fine, yes, I would say go to another casino. In reality there is no online casino out there that spends more on normal day to day low stakes casino players than Sky.
Interface and Features
I really can’t find much fault with the Sky interface for all of their products. You’ve got to think these guys have been tailoring graphics and interfaces for much longer than most other casino operators and this really does show. Everything about Sky Vegas and the other sections is exceptionally slick, even the colours are perfectly designed so you know exactly where you are within the Sky Gaming site without needing to read the headings.
The Sky Vegas section is bathed in a seductive red and you can tell at some point they probably had a whole board meeting to nail down the colour alone. Every game is presented in large enough tiles that you can find what you want immediately but the site still maintains a minimalist feel that means you don’t spend much time scrolling and navigating.
It will likely surprise you how quickly the Sky interface loads. When you first see the site you are struck by the stylish graphics yet unlike others that use exciting interfaces the site does not take an age to load up. When you look deeper you can see everything is optimised for this purpose. There are no sidebars or flashy promo features that slow sites down and the main menu navigation is as minimal as it needs to be.
One of my personal favourite instant play casinos for its reliability and function whilst maintaining a certain style lacking with most other online gaming products.
Mobile Casino
Sky were one of the first companies to enter into the mobile application market and when you think about how many apps the brand owns between their betting, gaming, sports and TV arms you would expect them to have a good template. Well they do and all applications, Sky Vegas included, are fantastic to use, never crash and rarely leave you frustrated. Around 150 of the games available on desktop are available on mobile and you can also access all banking and support from the app. The app also runs very well on mobile networks and slower internet connections.
Each Sky gaming section comes with it’s own mobile app, therefore, unlike the main site, if you want to switch between sections, such as Sky Bet for sports or Sky Casino for more games, you will need to download multiple apps. This might put you off if you are limited on memory or space but if you can afford it I would say it’s worth it to preserve the simple functionality within each.
The Sky Vegas app uses OpenBet software to deliver their games. This is not a game developer in itself, rather it provides games from various software’s in one functional package. This is probably the reason why the Sky Vegas app runs so smoothly as it has been designed from the outset to seamlessly integrate games from multiple providers.
Banking and Payment Methods
Sky maintains a constant banking and payment system across all of its products and I have covered the payment options available in detail in the Sky Bet review, click here to read more.
In summary the Sky have one of the lowest deposit minimums around at just £5 and a minimum withdrawal of £10 using all methods. Banking options are more limited at Sky than with most others and they only currently take major credit and debit cards as well as bank transfer and cheque if you ask. This is largely down to the fact they are primarily UK focused and also down to abuses through Skrill and Neteller in the past.
If you are looking for casinos that accept other methods visit our banking section where we list online casinos by payment type.
About Sky Betting and Gaming
Sky Betting and Gaming is the online games division of Sky and is operated and licenced under the company name Bonne Terre Limited based in Leeds, United Kingdom. Although in the early days Sky gaming was entirely owned by BskyB in 2015 the majority of the company (80%) was sold to private investment company CVC capital partners with the remaining 20% still owned by Sky Plc (who are themselves largely owned by 21st Century Fox!). Despite the ownership structure Sky Vegas is still proudly part of the Sky brand and the company will continue to work closely with their older brother for the future.
Sky Betting and Gaming are currently the 5th largest gaming operator in the UK. They are licenced from the UK channel Island Alderney and are one of only a few companies to still pay the majority of their tax and employ most people within the UK. If these things matter to you then this is a great company to play and bet with.
You can read more about the Sky brand in our SkyBet review.
Customer Support
There is literally no compromise when it comes to Sky customer services. With Sky their brand is everything to them and they go a long way to ensure customers are happy. All services are available 24 hours a day all year round and include Freephone, email (with responses in around 2 hours) and live chat (no longer than 5 mins to respond usually).
What impresses me most however is the knowledge of the staff. At Sky the agents need to be able to deal with every query whether in sports, casino, poker, bingo, etc., and this means they are on the button and know their products and services inside and out. The agents are also based in the UK and have a good degree of common sense compared to some other process driven services you can find with other online casinos.
Self-Exclusion and Responsible Gambling
These days ensuring responsible gambling is the law in the UK and companies can either embrace this or skirt around the edges doing the bare minimum. Sky fall into the first category, they not only fully comply with the law but they actually go beyond the basic requirements.
We again cover all of the responsible gambling tools available in our SkyBet review if you would like to see more. We also talk about these various tools and how to use them in our responsible gambling guide.
In summary Sky operate self exclusion, cooling off periods, deposit limits, self-assessments and full tracking and history.
There are several independent gambling advice organisation you can contact including Gam Care (http://www.gamcare.org.uk/).
Contact and Licence Information
A full list of all Sky contact details and licence details can be found in our Sky Bet review.