Rizk Review - Not Recommended

Captain Rizk keeps watch over the Rizk Casino, and he’s got a lot to look after.

Running on an independent platform and offering a modest 250+ games from numerous software providers, this instant play online casino hosts Slots, Jackpots, Live Games and more, and they do it with a few surprises up their sleeve. A Casino – cover your ears if you’re easily offended – “without the bullshit”, as they have eloquently put it.

Considering Rizk was only opened in 2016 it has done remarkably well, with awards already filling up Captain Rizk’s trophy cabinet and a marketing gimmick that has proven popular with players. Not to mention the invention of The Wheel of Rizk and a few other nice little extra features.

This is one for the player who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and who doesn’t mind the occasional swear word; so read on to see if this caped crusader of a casino is for you.

Rizk also have a sportsbook, which is unique in the fact that it is proprietary and designed by them for them.  This is not something that is too common for casino-sportsbooks.  It’s modular design is incredibly user friendly, especially in-play.

The sportsbook was launched for the 2018 World Cup and was designed to shake up the sports betting landscape, it didn’t quite manage that but it is definitely a strong addition to a very good casino.

Casino Software, Platform, Games

Microgaming and NYX Gaming (Nextgen) are the favourite providers at Rizk, but they have kept things varied by also including hits from NetEnt, Play’N Go, Yggdrasil, IGT and Red Tiger, among a few others. We say ‘hits’ because Rizk don’t accept middle of the road slots, they only include the very best each provider has to offer. All in all this adds up to around 250 slots which is a comparably small number if you have ever been on another casinos site, but this boutique approach guarantees no fat on the bone and still offers plenty of variety and choice.

The homepage displays only what you need to see, allowing you to get straight down to playing.  Navigating the game roster is no trouble if you have a favourite provider as you can list them as such, otherwise your only options are A-Z, Jackpot, Table, and Race Games (Rizk Races, not racing themed – see below). Other categories are available but you have to scroll to find them; this needs work in order to be more user friendly. Never fear, though, as the customary search bar is also an option if you have an old favourite in mind, and drop downs provide further info on games you haven’t played but might be interested in which is a nice touch.

The site itself is well designed in terms of theme and tone, carrying a sense of carnival fun with a superhero comic twist. It’s a shame that this isn’t built upon further, as the theme sort of trickles out on most pages – unless you play the Wheel of Rizk which is great fun. We never thought we would be asking a casino for heavier graphics but they could actually enhance things here. Still, the calibre of the visuals when there is something to look at are top drawer, and Captain Rizk’s voiceovers can’t fail to make you smile.

• Slots – You’ll never get bored with the selection on offer here. Go for Bier Haus if you’re a drinker, or 300 Shields if your spoiling for a fight.
• Jackpots – They say that a casino without the biggest jackpots isn’t a casino – well Captain Rizk’s got ‘em, and they’re big (his Jackpots – behave yourself). It’s not their focus but there are a solid handful try your luck at and they have hit £10 million in the past.
• Table Games – The table games are actually located in amongst the Live Casino games as well, which is all very confusing, since they aren’t live games at all… This decision is baffling, but nevertheless, there are 10 basic offerings here – nothing to write home about.
• Live Games – NetEnt and Evolution Gaming share responsibility for the Live Casino, which includes Blackjack Pro, Roulette variations from across the continents, and for something a little different – Football Studio.
• Rizk Races – These are tournaments, effectively. Pre-determined games award points depending on how well (or not) you fare playing them. If you finish the race with more points than everyone else you win extra goodies. These races run every 30 minutes but twice a day races with significantly higher prizes will run.

Overall the site works well, loading times won’t leave you frustrated, and there is just enough character to keep you interested. Navigation could do with a slight rethink at times but it is by no means troublesome.

Mobile Casino

Since Rizk did a decent job with the desktop site, we expected similar results from the mobile offering. Oddly, we thought the site was more impressive on a smaller screen.

The necessity to streamline the site to fit a mobile screen has forced a design change, and so the character that was sometimes lacking before is ever present here. The red branding and black background works a treat, although the game catalogue is severely reduced leaving around 150 left to play with.

The site isn’t particularly graphic heavy, so loading times when opening games felt fine. The header and footer frame the content of the site beautifully, and are perfectly placed to manage your account and activity.

The menu button allows access to anything you can’t already see, including Live Chat and the Sports section of the site and here’s a tip: Captain Rizk’s face down the bottom is a shortcut to your Rewards. We definitely didn’t spend ages looking for that. Nope.

Sportsbook

For bettors who take themselves and their sports betting seriously, Rizk is probably not going to cut the mustard. That’s not because there is anything wrong with it, it’s just not aimed at the more professionally minded bettors.

For anyone who bets semi regularly and also spends a lot of time playing casino games, though, it’s a pretty perfect solution.

There’s a decent selection of between 20-25 sports categories to bet on, and as well as covering everything you would expect to find at a bookie like Tennis competitions, Football going 3 leagues deep, Baseball, Basketball, Golf, etc. – you can actually bet on some interesting niche markets like esports and Futsal too. So yes it is a smaller book, but you wouldn’t say it was limited.

It isn’t the most user friendly sportsbook to navigate on desktop, probably because it has been designed for mobile first, but it follows a familiar top down flow when it comes to navigation; first selecting sport, then league/competition, etc.

Conversely, the mobile book is really quite natty. It’s essentially the same design but it works in the hand much more effectively than it does using a keyboard and mouse or touchpad. Check out Rizk Insider for bonuses and promos.

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