Golden star online casino

Golden Star Casino Review

Most online casinos attempt to brand themselves as fun and approachable – but with a name like Golden Star, and a design that’s mostly black, dark blue and golden yellow, this one just screams ‘prestige’. But it takes more than a fancy name and a cool interface to join the big leagues, and we’re here to determine whether Golden Star Casino is worthy of this supposed prestige!

We’ve taken a thorough look at the casino, evaluating its bonuses, games, features and payment methods, all in an effort to give you a complete overview so that you can decide whether it’s worth signing up. We’ll give you all of the information and then present you with our conclusion regarding our findings, letting you make your own choice.

So, is Golden Star Casino shining brightly in the sky, or is this just another falling star?

Bonuses

Welcome Bonus – 100% up to AU$1,500 + 100 FS

The welcome bonus is the first interaction players will have with the casino after signing up, so it has to be something special – and, at Golden Star Casino, it is! When you make your first deposit, you’ll receive 100% of it as an added bonus, up to AU$1,500. In addition, the casino will throw in 100 free spins on the house!

Of course, there are certain conditions you’ll need to adhere to before you can claim the bonus. A minimum deposit of AU$30 is required – or, if you’re using crypto, 0.0006 BTC / 0.11 BCH / 0.2668 LTC / 200 DOGE / 40 XRP / 0.01 ETH / 20 USDT. Once you make your deposit, you’ll receive the bonus immediately, but the free spins will be given to you in batches of 20 over the next 5 days.

After that, you’ll have as much time as you want to enjoy the bonus – but if you want to withdraw it, you’ll have to wager the amount + the winnings from your free spins a total of x40 times. This is a pretty steep requirement which will make it very unlikely you’ll be able to actually withdraw anything, so it’s best to think of the bonus as a “free trial” to test the casino’s features out.

Be aware that you’ll need to use a special code when depositing to claim this bonus – “GS100”.

Reload Bonus – 50% Match up to AU$1,500 + 60 FS

So, you’ve used your welcome bonus. What now? Well, Golden Star Casino hasn’t left you in the dust, as you’re allowed to claim a regular reload bonus every week! In order to qualify for it, you’ll need to have made at least 3 deposits already, but after that, every subsequent deposit will carry a prize of a 50% match up to a maximum of AU$1,500 and 60 free spins!

While the bonus is smaller than the welcome offering, that smaller size is offset by the fact that you can claim it every week. The biggest difference is that you can only claim it on the weekend, between Friday and Sunday.

Everything else is the same between the two bonuses, including minimum deposit, wagering requirements and the dispensal of free spins. This includes the requirement of a bonus code – for this bonus, it’s “LUCKY50”.

Free Spins Wednesday

Did you enjoy the free spins from the welcome or reload bonuses and wish that there were just a whole lot more of them? Well, you’re in luck – you can claim quite a few of them by depositing on a Wednesday!

The bigger your deposit, the more spins you’ll get. Here’s how much you’ll need to put down to claim each amount, as well as what bonus code you’ll have to use to activate the offer:

Unlike the other bonuses, the spins from the Wednesday promotion will be credited to your account all at once! After you’ve enjoyed them, you’ll have to wager your winnings from them x30 times before you’re able to withdraw them.

Games

The games selection at Golden Star Casino is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s obvious that most of the effort has gone into the pokies section, with thousands upon thousands of different slot games from a variety of developers ready to play. You don’t even need an account to enjoy them, simply tap or click on any game and it’ll start up so you can have fun with it!

Table games are a different story, however. They’re not nearly as numerous as the pokies, with only about 45 games of dice, wheels and cards available. With that said, 45 isn’t a bad number, especially since it covers a variety of titles. Whether you’re interested in popular titles like blackjack and poker or less known ones like war or pai gow, you’ll find something in the table section that appeals.

Pokies

Golden Star Casino understands that pokies are the most important thing for many players coming into it, and they’ve gone out of their way to ensure that there’s as big of a variety as possible! Upon entering the pokies page, you’ll instantly be greeted by hundreds upon hundreds of games from dozens of different developers, which is no small feat!

While most of the providers offering their games to the casino are fairly small, there are definitely a few more recognizable names on the list. Experienced pokie enthusiasts are sure to recognize Yggdrasil, IGTech, Mancala Gaming and Playson, and while most of the remaining providers are unknown, we’ve found their games to be rather satisfactory.

You’ll be able to enjoy popular offerings like Playson’s “Wolf Power” and “Book of Sol”, GameBeat’s “Throne of Camelot” and “Max Miner”, Bgaming’s “Elvis Frog in Vegas” and Boongo’s “Sun of Egypt”. While not all of those games are household names, they’re still big among the pokie community – and even if you don’t like any of them, you’ve got over 3,000 other games to choose from!

Live casino

Despite the wide variety of pokies available at Golden Star Casino, though, the live dealer section leaves a lot to be desired. Fans of live games will be disappointed to discover that there’s only a handful of rooms available, most of which dedicated to only a select few games.

If you’re a fan of blackjack or roulette, then there should be enough choices to at least keep you satisfied for a while. But everyone else is out of luck. Australian players are not permitted to play even big, popular games like baccarat, let alone smaller titles such as Tiger Dragon, craps or sic bo.

Furthermore, the live game providers are relatively unknown, with most of the games coming from Atmosfera or Lucky Streak. Big, established names like Evolution are missing in action. This was very disappointing to see, and will certainly be a blow to players who were looking forward to the live section the most.

Deposits & Withdrawals

Being able to deposit at your online casino of choice is one of the most important things to many players, and as such, having a wide variety of payment options is an essential quality. Golden Star Casino took this to heart, as they’re providing their players with literally dozens upon dozens of payment methods – some of which you’ve probably never even heard of!

Players will be given the option to make their first deposit using a bank card (such as Visa or MasterCard), a number of e-wallet services (like Neteller, Skrill and AstroPay) or even a pre-paid voucher (like Neosurf and Paysafecard). All options have the same minimum deposit requirement of AU$30, but the maximum deposit permitted at once is different, ranging from AU$750 all the way up to AU$7,500.

Crypto fans need not worry, however – there’s a wide variety of cryptos supported through Crypto Processing. Those who prefer using blockchain currency to flat dollars will find a lot of options for that, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Dogecoin.

Withdrawal time

Once you’ve hit it big at any casino, the next logical question becomes “how soon can I get my winnings?” And the answer, at least at Golden Star Casino, will depend on your withdrawal method.

E-wallets like Neteller and Skrill will be by far the fastest – the withdrawal request will be processed instantly, and then the amount will be sent to your account within a few hours, up to a day. Bank cards will be a little bit slower, as there are some checks and verifications that will need to be done on the bank’s side before you’re able to access the funds. Still, it shouldn’t take longer than 2-3 business days for the transaction to be completed.

As for cryptocurrencies, while they’re dispatched instantly, how long it’ll take will depend on the crypto itself. Some coins (like BTC and DOGE) are much slower than others due to the limited number of transactions they can handle at one point. Still, we estimate it shouldn’t take longer than a few days for even the slowest to make it into your wallet.

If you still haven’t received your winnings after the specified time, your best bet is to contact the support team and inform them of the issue.

VIP Program

Loyalty is rewarded – or at least, it should be! And the best way online casinos can do that is by offering their players with bonuses, cash and gifts for choosing to stay and keep playing. At Golden Star Casino, this comes in the form of a dedicated VIP program that lets you net complimentary points the more you bet!

These points (or CP) can only be earned on real money bets, and will be given to you for every AU$100 you bet on pokies and AU$200 you bet on other games. The more you earn, the higher you’ll level up in the loyalty program, with a unique gift or bonus once you get there – but what exactly that gift will be is a secret only VIP players know.

However, you can do more with CP than use them to level up, as you can also exchange them for real money! The higher your level, the better the CP-to-dollar exchange rate is! Here’s how the rates look like for each level, and how many points you’ll need to accumulate to get there:

Keep in mind that even if you convert them, your CP will still count towards your level (so if you reach 150 CP and then exchange them, you won’t go down a level). And while it’s definitely going to be rather difficult to level up, especially the higher you climb, the rewards are worth it – especially since the bonus cash comes only with an x3 wagering requirement, allowing you to withdraw it relatively easily.

Tournaments

Pokie tournaments have grown rather popular in recent years, with many online casinos offering their players to experience these classic games in a new and exciting way – while also scoring some extra prizes in the process. If you’ve grown to be a fan, or are at least a little curious, we’re happy to say that Golden Star Casino has made them a big part of its identity!

At any point, multiple tournaments will be running at the casino – each with its own rules, games and prizes. While they change quite regularly (meaning any concrete information we write in this review is going to become outdated fairly quickly), on average, you can expect to win between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars in any of the tourneys… If you manage to rank high on the leaderboard! Golden Star Casino has rather long tournaments, so the competition is quite steep.

There is, however, a major downside for Australian players: some of the tournaments are not available to those living down under. As of the time of this writing, from the 5 tournaments running at Golden Star Casino, 3 are unavailable to Aussies, including the biggest one which has over AU$1m in total prize pool. We can’t help but take it a little personally!

Verification

Ah, verification, the word that scares experienced gamblers and confuses new ones! Due to international money laundering regulations that all financial institutions (and, by extension, any casinos using their payment methods) need to adhere to, your identity will have to be verified before you’re able to withdraw any winnings. This process is no different at Golden Star Casino.

To complete your withdrawal, you’ll be required to submit a number of documents to the casino’s support team. Chief among them will be a form of photo ID that proves you are who you say you are – for example, a national ID card, passport or driver’s license. You’ll also need to prove your address, which you can do by submitting a document that displays it alongside your name (such as a utility bill or recent delivery receipt).

Depending on which payment method you use, you may need to provide additional documents, such as paperwork from your bank or screenshots from your e-wallet interface. Verification will kick off as soon as you make your first withdrawal request, which also means that said request will be automatically rejected. No need to fret, though – your winnings will still be right there, and you can make another request once your identity has been verified!

Is Golden Star Casino Legit & safe?

Every reputable casino must be licensed by a certified gaming authority, which regulates them and keeps them fair and accountable. As such, it is very important for players to ensure that a casino they’re eyeing is properly licensed. This goes double for players from Australia, where the law strictly prohibits playing at unlicensed casinos.

Luckily, there’s no need to worry about Golden Star Casino – it is fully licensed under the Curacao Gaming Authority. We at casinoaustraliaonline.com always take measures to verify each casino’s license, and we’re happy to report that Golden Star Casino is safe and legit. Of course, we also encourage our players to verify the license as well, just so they can be sure they’re playing at a legal, legitimate online casino.

Customer support

Whether a casino has good customer support or not isn’t something that most players even think about… Until they need it! And take it from us, while a great support team can save you from a huge bind, a poor or non-existent one will make you curse the heavens when your bonus fails to arrive or your winnings seem to have evaporated into the aether!

The good news is that Golden Star Casino gets a golden star for its support. During out testing, we found the support team to be rather well informed and polite, and they were able to answer our questions without any issues. We reached out to them using the live chat button on the left-hand side panel, which is the recommended way to contact them if you’re facing a problem.

However, live chat isn’t for everyone, and we get that. Maybe your problem would take far too long to explain in text, so your best bet is to talk it out – in that case, you can call the casino over the phone. And if you’re feeling that the less human contact you’ve got, the better, then you can always send them an e-mail, either through your client (like Gmail or Outlook) or directly through the casino’s Contact Us form.

Mobile casino

Most players today prefer to spin pokies from their phones rather than their computers – and even on the off-chance you’re not among them, we bet you’ve still enjoyed a casino game or two from your mobile device when the occasion called for it! As such, having a great mobile version is essential, and we’re happy to report that Golden Star Casino does not disappoint in that regard either.

The entire casino’s interface has been redesigned to work and look well on mobile devices, and, in our experience, everything important was still visible even on smaller screens. All features and menus that are available in the desktop version are there, giving you complete access to the casino in the palm of your hand. We also tested quite a few games, all of which worked flawlessly, loaded quickly and controlled without issues on a touch screen.

All in all, if you’re a mobile gambler, there’s plenty to like at Golden Star Casino!