Music Hall Casino review

URL: www.musichallcasino.com
Software: Microgaming
Software Type: PC download and install. Flash version available.
Accepted Deposit Methods: credit card, Neteller, Firepay, PrePaidATM, EcoCard, PaySpark, Citadel
Customer Service: Live Support / Email
Auditor: PriceWaterhouse Coopers.
Payment Services: Pro-Cyber
Payout %: 97.02%

The Bonus

Bonus Amount: Deposit 100% match up to $150.
Bonus Wager Requirements: must wager deposit and any transferred bonus 10x; 20x if wagered on blackjack, video poker or roulette. Craps and Baccarat do not qualify.

I don't like this type of sign up bonus at all. Sure, you get $150 in bonus money but it's in a whole separate account. Even if you win big in that account, you don't transfer the money over. Instead, you just get to keep that "credit" in your bonus account and play with it. The more you play, the more money you can transfer over to your real account. However, as I said in the intro, the conversion rate is pitiful. Not only that, the customer service refuse to answer how much you have to play to get $1 in bonus money. Ostensibly, this is because there are different conversion factors for different games. But the truth it, they just don't want you to know how poor the conversion is.

The Games

Music Hall uses the Microgaming software but it seems they've only installed the Lite version. The choice of games is very limited. They have the full assortment of slot machines but when it comes to other types of games, the casino is sorely lacking. For example, in Video Poker, almost every game is Power Poker or Progressive poker. Only Aces and Faces was regular one hand poker. Jacks or Better, in my opinion, the best video poker game, only is available in power version.

Music Hall Casino does offer 1 cent slot machines and 50 cent blackjack. Not many casinos do this. I'm not sure why you would play 50 cent blackjack but I guess it's good to have when you're just wasting some time and not playing for "real" money.

As for table games, there's no mini baccarat or Pai Gow poker but there are about 10 different versions of blackjack. Spanish Blackjack? Triple 7s? Bonus Blackjack? European Blackjack? Just say no. Stick to Atlantic City, Vegas Downtown, or Vegas Strip rules. Sure you might get three 7s in a hand but it's a sucker bet.

I explained how the bonus account works earlier. And since I managed to be able to transfer only $5 into my real account, I'll just give you the details on how my play in the real account went. With $100 of my initial deposit, I sat down to play some Jacks or Better Video Poker. Microgaming's Power Poker is my favorite out of all the multi-hand video poker games. It is fast and I seem to do pretty well. I played about 1,000 hands of poker and ended up $15 up. It seemed every hand, I was getting only pairs. There is a very handy button that lets you check your play stats. My biggest win was $22.50.

I went on to play some blackjack and then some more power poker. Blackjack didn't go very well but I had much better luck in video poker the second time around. I must have hit 5 four-of-a-kinds. Unfortunately, I was only playing quarters. At the end of the day, my bankroll was $150 and I decided it was time to cash out.

The Withdrawal

I requested my withdrawal on a Tuesday. Music Hall's policy is to hold the cash-in for 2 business days, just in case you want to reverse it and play some more. On Thursday, I received an email asking for a valid form of ID. I sent it in Friday morning and was almost immediate told via email that my ID was in order and that my cash-in would be processed. This may seem trivial but quick communication at this step is a huge plus in my opinion.

Since it was a Friday, I didn't expect my cash-in to appear in my Neteller account until Monday. By Tuesday, I still didn't see the cash in my account so I contacted Live Help. They were able to track down my request and informed me that it was being sent by check because I didn't specify Neteller as my preferred method of withdrawal. The check came in the mail on Friday. So overall, a pretty quick withdrawal process.

Customer Service

I contacted Customer Service on a few occasions -- sometimes when I needed help, sometimes just to see how the service was. I thought Music Hall Casino's customer service was very good. They were quick to answer live help and quick to reply to my emails. The tone was professional yet friendly and at no point did I feel like they were exasperated with me, even though I was asking some very basic questions. For the record, I was helped by Nikki and Kaicee.

Final Thoughts

I wish Music Hall Casino had a better sign-up bonus because then I'd recommend them wholeheartedly. As it stands, I will give them the thumbs up but as a player, know the kind of bonus you're actually getting when you see the 150% free promotion.

Their lack of certain table and video poker games was a little disappointing but the 1 cent slots and 50 cent blackjack is a nice feature. Their customer service and quick payouts make it a very good casino.