Silver Oak Casino is an online casino. Unlike many casinos that will also operate a sportsbook and poker, Silver Oak strictly focuses on online casinos operation. It was established in 2009 and is owned by BTK Ltd. The casino which is linked with the Virtual Casino Group (VGC). The VGC runs a lot of casinos but has caught a bad reputation in the industry, especially for slow payouts.
The Silver Oak Casino is primarily for entertainment value, as a result, no deposit is necessary or required to play the Casino. However, you can choose to bet money on games and have the chance to win huge rewards. They have a variety of exciting games provided by one of the biggest gaming software providers – RealTime Gaming.
You can signup and play in the casino if you are at least 21 years old, and if it is legal for you to participate in gambling events according to the laws that apply in your jurisdiction. You can reach the casino at https://www.silveroakcasino.com, and it is available in English.
Silver Oak Casino has been in operation for a long time; but will it deliver what a modern casino should, which is wholesome entertainment and an opportunity to increase the bankroll?
This question and more is what this Silver Oak Casino review will answer.
Is Silver Oak Casino Scam?
This is a question that players ask of almost all gaming houses. Internet fraudsters abound whose main aim is to scam you of your hard-earned money, and a gaming house looks like a nice front for the dark art. The first check-in establishing whether a casino is legit is looking for a license that allows the casino to operate legally.
In this regard, Silver Oak Casino is licensed for gaming operation by the jurisdiction of Costa Rica. This means that Silver Oak Casino is 100% legal, and has passed the first test of whether it is legit.
However, too many players, the jurisdiction from which a gaming license is obtained is as important as the license itself. This is because the jurisdiction determines the amount of protection that the players have. The licensing jurisdiction regulates the casinos and ensures that the casinos consistently meet high standards of operations.
In this regard, the Costa Rican license of Silver Oak Casino does not inspire any confidence. Costa Rica does not have any specific gambling laws, and the gaming license they issue is nothing more than a business license.
This means that casinos don’t have to meet any stringent requirement to be licensed, and afterwards, they operate largely independently without any oversight. For example, in more reputable jurisdictions, licensing authorities are known to wade in when dispute arise between players and the casino, and even penalize the casino if found wanting; but Costa Rica is known not to want to get involved in such dispute, leaving the players unprotected.
Yes, Silver Oak Casino is legit. It is managed by a very popular and reliable company in the industry.
Fairness of Games
Another important check when establishing whether a casino is legit is whether their games are fair. A casino whose games are not fair is simply a scam house; because players will keep making deposits, and losing every bet. Fair casino games mean that players can actually have winnings.
You can test for fairness of games yourself, but it’ll cost you a sizable sum. Alternatively, you can look out for third party audit seals. A legit house would have their games tested and certified as fair by third parties; and will openly display this for all to see.
Silver Oak Casino have their games tested and certified by Gaming Laboratories International (GLI). GLI is a global leader in gaming and lottery testing, and their work is trusted by regulators in more than 475 jurisdictions. Also, we’ll see that most of the games of the Silver Oak Casino are provided by RealTime Gaming (RTG). RTG is one of the biggest names in the industry, and all their games have been certified fair by industry-trusted casino software testing houses.
With industry-trusted testing houses certifying their games, there’s no doubt that the games in the Silver Oak house are fair.
Security and Privacy
When you use a casino, you share sensitive information with them. Silver Oak Casino request your name, email address, contact address, phone number and more when you sign up; and when you make deposits, you give them your credit card information and more. If this information gets into the wrong hand, you will be at the wrong end of some bad experiences. Therefore you should seek casinos that are safe – that is, have structures for securing the data you share with them.
In this regard, Silver Oak Casino cannot be safer. They employ Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption which is the standard for creating a secure link between a device and a web server. Any data that is sent in the link is private and shielded from all third parties. With this encryption standard, there’s no doubt that the Silver Oak Casino is safe.
Games
Game Providers
The games of Silver Oak Casino are provided by RealTime Gaming, which is one of the biggest software providers in the gaming industry. RealTime Gaming provide some of the best quality games with amazing graphics, sounds and themes.
Download version and instant play version
There are two ways of playing casino games, and Silver Oak Casino gives you both. You can download the casino software to your device, and play the games directly from your device; alternatively, you can play the games directly from the casino website by loading them through a web browser. However, to use the instant play version, you’ll need an internet connection and bandwidth. It also does not give you the full games library, as the download version will.
Mobile Compatibility
Many more casinos are beginning to support portable devices. It’s important because you cannot always go about with your PCs, but will want to play games on the go. Silver Oak Casino gives you this by supporting mobile gaming.
You simply type their URL into your mobile device, and you’ll have access to all their mobile games. With this, long queues no longer need to be boring.
Live dealer games
The closest thing to playing in a real-life casino is playing live dealer games in an online casino. The live dealer games have you connected by video feed to a human dealer who deals the cards and spins the wheels.
Many players who like the human element cannot imagine a casino without live dealer games; and if you’re such, Silver Oak Casino has you covered. Their live dealer games include roulette and blackjack. Because of the cost of providing live dealer games, and maybe also because they’re a new offering in the Silver Oak house, you will not find a lot of games in the category.
Games Selection
A casino is first a gaming house before a gambling house. Therefore, it should provide a variety of entertaining games; and Silver Oak Casino is no exception. Their offer all the popular games which include slots, table games, video poker, and speciality games.
Slots
Slots are the most popular games, largely because there is no technical expertise needed to play them.
A casino’s games library is always dominated by slots, and Silver Oak Casino follows the trend. They offer over 130 classic slots categorized into the following: Real Series Video Slots, Video Slots, 3 Reel Classics, and Bonus 3 Reel Slots. If you love quality slot games, with graphics and sound that wows, you won’t be disappointed with the real series in the house.
Some of the slots games you’ll see in the house include Triple 7 Inferno, Achilles, Jazz Time, Food Fight, Pharaoh’s Gold, and Cleopatra’s Gold. Also, there are lots of Slots with a progressive jackpot attached; so you can try your luck on any of the machines and hit big.
Table Games
Casinos can have the best slots machines, but without the classic table games, they will not stand near the competition. Silver Oak Casino gives you all the popular table games for your gaming pleasure.
You’ll find the blackjack and roulette with their variants, baccarat, Carribean Hold’em, Let’Em Ride, and Pai How Poker
Video Poker
Fans of Video Poker will not be disappointed in the Silver Oak house. You’ll find all the popular games in this category in the house with amazing visuals and sound. Some of the games you’ll find include Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, Loose Deuces, Bonus Poker Deuces, Deuces Wild, and more; and most of the games can be played in one hand or multiple hand (3 to 100) denominations.
Specialty Games
The Specialty Games section includes games that do not fall into the other categories, or that enjoys a lot of plays to be seemed special. In the Silver Oak house, some of the games you’ll find in the special category include scratch, keno, craps and roulette. The latter is actually a table game.
Bonuses and Promotions
The casino always has the edge on all games, that is why players will lose more bets than they win. Therefore, it’s important to find casinos giving players some of that edge via bonuses. Bonuses come as sticky cash or free chips, but they give players the opportunity to increase their bankroll.
Players seek Casinos that give enticing bonuses, and casinos knowing this they compete with bonuses and promotions. Silver Oak Casino offers a raft of bonuses and promotions that includes welcome bonuses, match bonuses, no deposit bonus and VIP bonuses. I’ll discuss some of these:
Welcome Bonus
Welcome bonuses are used to attract new players to the house. It’s usually a percentage of the first deposit(s), and every new player is eligible to claim it just by registering and making the first deposit(s).
Silver Oak Casino has one of the most attractive welcome bonuses in the market. Instead of giving you a percentage of your first deposit as is common; Silver Oak Casino stagger their welcome bonus to cover the first 10 deposits. It is 100% bonus up to $1,000 for the first 10 deposits. This means you can max it up to $10,000.
Match Bonuses
Match Bonuses are directed at existing players. It includes all the freebies that are given to casino players in order to keep them playing in the house.
Silver Oak Casino offers enticing match bonuses from time to time. You’ll have to check their site often to know what’s on offer. At this time of writing, there is a “crewpon” match bonus running which gives players a 270% bonus plus a guaranteed free chip.
However, the free chip amount is not dependent on you, but on the number of players that claim the bonus before the end of the month; the more claims the house gets, the bigger the free chip amount given to individual players (150 claims = $100, 200 claims = $150, 300 claims = $200, 500 claims = $300, 1000 claims = $500, and 1500 claims = $1000). At the time of writing, the bonus has seen 213 claims which are $150 free chips.
However, you’ll need to deposit at least $50 to claim the crewpon bonus; and the bonus coupon is valid on Slots and Keno only. Also, the Free Chip amount has a 30x wagering requirement (60x for Table Games); and there is a 1x maximum cashout limit on the coupon.
VIP program
All casinos have a loyalty program, and Silver Oak Casino is no exception. Their VIP program has five levels – Centurion, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Ultimate. As you move up the levels, you unlock better rewards. To move up the levels, all you need do is keep playing your favourite games, and accumulate comp points as you play.
Centurion gives you: one Comp Point per every $10 wagered, 2x table limits, 10% Monthly Insurance with a 1x Max Cashout, and $100 welcome chip. Silver gives you: one Comp Point per every $7.5 wagered, 4x table limits, 10% Monthly Insurance with a 2x Max Cashout, and $150 welcome chip. Gold gives you: one Comp Point per every $5 wagered, 8x table limit, 15% Monthly Insurance with a 3x Max Cashout, and a $250 welcome chip. Platinum gives you: one Comp Point per every $5 wagered, 20x table limits, 17% Monthly Insurance with a 4x Max Cashout, $500 welcome chip, and Fast Track on your withdrawals. Ultimate gives you: one Comp Point per every $2 wagered, 40x table limits, 20% Monthly Insurance with 5x Max Cashout, $1000 welcome chip, fast withdrawals, luxurious rewards on special occasions, and a personal and dedicated VIP Host.
Bonus Wagering Requirements
However, it is also important to consider the bonus wagering requirements. These are conditions that are attached to the bonus, and they must be met before the bonus or any winnings from it can be withdrawn. Simply, the casino wagering requirements are imposed so that bonuses cannot be withdrawn either at all or on time. Therefore, you need to go for houses with wagering requirements as low as possible, so that you can clear your bonus as quickly as possible.
The wagering requirement in Silver Oak Casino is playing 30x the deposit amount plus the amount of the promotional bonus redeemed. For example, if you deposit $100 and redeem a 100% bonus, you’ll have to wager the deposit amount plus the bonus amount (which is $100 + $100) a total of 30 times; that is, your wagering with the bonus must be at least $6000.
This playthrough requirement is not good enough because it is higher than the industry average which is 20x bonus plus deposit, or 40x bonus amount alone.
It should be noted that some of the complaints against Silver Oak Casino have been incomplete payouts. Many players who withdrew their winnings found out that what the casino paid out t them was far less than the winnings withdrawn. I think it’s worth mentioning this here because it has to do with a restriction on bonuses.
In the Silver Oak Casino; bonus amount cannot be withdrawn even after meeting the playthrough requirements. Thus, if you redeem a bonus, and manage to meet the playthrough requirements with some winnings, the bonus amount will be deducted from your withdrawal.
So a player max the welcome bonus ($10,000) and ended up with $13,000 after the rollover will find that if he/ she withdraws $13,000, the payout will be only $3,000. This can really be frustrating especially after patiently going through the bonus rollover process.
Banking Options
You’ll want to check the banking options that a casino uses. This is because to place bets on games and stand the chance of increasing your bankroll, you need to deposit real money, and you need a banking method for that.
In this regard, you’ll need to check the number of options provided for making deposits and withdrawals, as well as the convenience afforded by the methods.
Deposits
The number of options that Silver Oak Casino offers is limited, but you will find one convenient for use anywhere you might be.
The casino accepts credit/ debit cards (Visa card an master card). They list that they support American Express, but this is strange since the company does not support gambling operations. If you’ll rather use e-wallet, Silver Oak supports Neteller and Skrill (moneybooker).
Note that the particular method you can use depends on your location. Also; the minimum and maximum deposit amount depend on the method used; minimum limits range from $30 to $50, the maximum limits range from $1000 to $5000 per day.
Withdrawals
For withdrawals, Silver Oak Casino allows bank and wire transfers as well as physical bank checks by mail.
Withdrawals may incur a processing fee of $40 which is what is charged across the industry. Withdrawal limits also depend on the method used, but its mostly a minimum amount of $200 and a maximum of $2,500 per week. The max amount can really see some increase because it can easily become frustrating if you have big winnings.
It is also very important to consider the payout timeframe. When deposits are instant, one would expect payouts to also be expedient.
Silver Oak Casino state that withdrawals will go through a 3 to 5 days review/ approval process, after which it will take them an additional 7 to 10 days to issue the payment. This will be followed by another payment processing time, which depends on the withdrawal method used; this can be a day with bank wires and e-wallets, but could take up to 2 weeks with checks by mail. Adding it all up shows that your payment will get to you anywhere between two weeks to one month.
It should be noted that Silver Oak Casino does not have a good reputation in the area of payouts. The casino and its sister casinos in the Virtual Casino Group are reputable for slow payouts. Users reviews are replete with reports of users having to wait for too long (sometimes over three months) to receive their payment. This is an unacceptable practice and is one reason the Silver Oak Casino has been blacklisted by some review sites.
Customer Support
It is almost impossible to play in a casino without reaching out to the house’ support service. You’ll need to contact the service at one point, especially about requesting a payment method or sending documentation for approving your payouts.
When you contact the support service, you’ll not want to be neglected. Therefore it’s important to consider the channels a casino provides for contacting them, as well as the effectiveness of the channels.
Silver Oak Casino burst the roof with the number of channels provided. You can reach them via Fax, Email, Live Chat, Skype, and Phone. The email support service was very impressive. You can reach them using the email address support@silveroakcasino.com, and you’ll get a response in about two hours (despite that the casino says their reply is within 48 hours).
If you’ll want an instant response, you can use the telephone service with the toll-free line 1-888-402-2063 (for the US and Canada). Alternatively, you can use the live chat.
It should be noted that there are reports of poor customer support, but these reports have to do with customer service not being able to help players in getting their payouts any faster. Technically, this is not a failure of customer support but of the account/ finance department. I’ll maintain that the problems with payouts that have been well documented, to some extent, have been kept at the lowest possible by their responsive customer support service.
Restricted Countries
Casinos do not allow players from certain countries/ regions because of the gambling laws of the regions. Therefore it is important to check if you are not in any of the restricted countries before committing time to other checks.
The countries that are restricted by Silver Oak Casino are many, so it’ll be easier to list those that are allowed. So if you belong to any of the listed countries below, you are welcome to the house.
Aland Islands, American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, Antartica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (keeling) Islands, Cook Islands, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Falkland Islands (malvinas), Faroe Island, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakstan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Montserrat, Namibia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Russian Federation, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts And Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin (French and Dutch part), Saint Pierre And Miquelon, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Island, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Svalbard And Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad And Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States (except Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and New York), United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British and U.s.), and Wallis And Futuna.
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Summary
Silver Oak Casino is 100% legal. It has a valid gaming license issued by Costa Rica. This and the fact their games are certified fair by third party industry game software testers make them a legit platform. They also encrypt players information with SSL technology, which means they are not just legit, but also safe.
In terms of games, RealTime Gaming provides them with some of the best games in the market, and you’ll be entertained with some excellent slots, table games, video poker and speciality games. Their bonuses and promotion are one of the most enticing in the industry; though few banking options are provided, you’ll find one you can readily use both for deposits (visa, master card, Neteller, Skrill, and bank transfer) and withdrawals (bank and wire transfer, bank check). You can contact them with a lot of channels fax, email, telephone, live chat, skype; and respond time is fast. However, you might have to do with a slow payout when you withdraw.
I liked
- Excellent slot games
- Enticing bonuses (welcome bonus that covers first 10 deposits, and a host of other promotions)
- Responsive customer service
- Support via Skype
Not so sure
- license by Costa Rica (= poor player protection)
I didn’t like:
- High bonus wagering requirements and conditions
- Slow payout
- Limited banking options