Hopa Casino Review 8/10

Welcome to our Hopa review. Unlike many of those featured in our recent reviews, the casino we are presenting today is a veteran in the online gambling world. Hopa has been around since 2005, building up a reputation as a trustworthy and reliable site, as evidenced by its almost uniformly glowing online reviews. 

Featuring competitive bonuses, a large selection of games (with a special focus on scratchcards), excellent security and customer support, handy mobile apps, and two different gambling licences, there’s a lot going for this casino. Read on to find out more.

User Experience

We’ll begin by looking at the overall user experience of playing at Hopa Casino. To start with, we’ll examine the registration process and list of restricted countries. After that, we’ll take a look at the site’s design and mobile compatibility.

Website Navigation

Let’s start with the bad news first. Although you can play from the US, the list of restricted countries on the site is quite large. Most notably, US players are banned from registering, but also players from: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Benin, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chad, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Hungary, Ireland, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, USraine, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. 

Providing you’re able to register at Hopa’s site, the registration process itself is very simple and quick. You’ll need to verify your identity by providing a scan of your driver’s licence or passport before being able to deposit any funds into your account, but the entire process takes less than two minutes.  

The site itself features a classic design with a top navigation bar taking you between the casino, live casino, and sports betting sections, while the one below it switches you between the games, promotions, and help sections. Games take up the central part of the page and can be searched by name, provider name, or category. In order to play Hopa slots, you’ll have to verify your account first.

Website Design

The design here is rather understated, featuring mostly black and grey with a dash of colour here and there. The site manages to look both professional and a little boring, clearly aiming for a slightly more serious vibe compared to a lot of its online competitors. There are no funny gaming characters or mascots, and the overall design aesthetic is simple and functional.

Mobile App

While the site is already optimised for mobile devices, the ultimate way to play on the go is through the Hopa app for Android and iOS devices. You can access all of the important features such as the slot and table games, your user dashboard, and payment/cashout options through the mobile app. Therefore, once you’ve set everything up, you’ll never have to switch to the web interface if you prefer not to.

Software & Game Selection

In the next few sections we’ll talk about our favourite part of any online gambling joint – the games that are on offer. We’ll examine the software providers, as well as slot and table games offered by the casino.

Game Providers

The list of game providers for Hopa is quite impressive. Hopa games include titles from more than 30 popular industry companies, including big names like Amaya, NeoGames, NetEnt, Play’n GO, Playtech, iSoftBet, Microgaming, Amatic Industries, Pragmatic Play, and Evolution Gaming. This should be more than enough choice for even die-hard punters.

Slot Games

As you’d expect, a healthy selection of slot games makes up the core of Hopa’s casino experience. While you won’t find thousands of titles here, the 250+ slots on offer should keep you more than busy. Going for quality over quantity, you can expect to find all of the big hits such as Book of the Dead and Gonzo’s Quest here.

Card Games

Hopa live games include plenty of classic table games such as baccarat, blackjack, and Texas hold’em. You don’t have to opt for a live dealer, though: various versions of blackjack, poker, and baccarat can be played against a computer as well. The card game selection is not the largest we’ve ever seen, but Hopa gets bonus marks here for including a large selection of scratchcards in addition to the standard card games on offer.

Roulette Games

Whether you’re after a live dealer experience or just want to try your luck against a computer, Hopa offers numerous versions of roulette, including American, French, German, lightning, and speed variants. There are also various dice games such as sic bo that you can try your luck with.

Bonus Offer

Next up, we’ll talk a little bit about Hopa promotions and special offers aimed at both new and established players. 

Welcome Bonus

New players signing up with Hopa can look forward to a generous welcome offer that could be worth up to $500 plus 100 free spins. It consists of a 50% match up to $50 on your first deposit, followed by a 25% match up to $200 on your second deposit and the same 25% match but up to $250 on your third deposit. The wagering requirement for this bonus is 35 times the deposit amount. While this is happening, you can also earn 20 free spins per day as part of Hopa’s welcome bonus.

Ongoing Promotions

In terms of weekly and monthly promotions, the site caters primarily to the sports betting crowd, with online bettors getting more out of the loyalty rewards we’ll be talking about below. There are also seasonal promotions such as the Christmas-related one going on at the moment. These offer players a chance to win free spins or get higher multipliers on games. There are tournaments with rewards such as iPhones and cash prizes, too.

Loyalty Rewards

Hopa’s loyalty programme is called the Exclusive Club, and it offers great rewards for regulars who spend a fair bit of time on the site. There are six total levels to be gained in Hopa’s VIP scheme through playing and wagering on the site, starting with Bronze and going through Silver, Gold, Platinum, Premium, and Prestige. The final two levels are attainable by invitation only and feature personalised prizes, your own account manager, and other luxurious perks on par with similar offers by competitors.

You don’t have to get that far, though, to enjoy faster cashouts, birthday bonuses, live tournaments, free Sunday spins, and even (at Platinum level and above) monthly cashbacks and higher deposit and withdrawal limits.

Customer Support

Hopa’s customer support team can be reached through email or live chat, between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m. Central Eastern Time every day. We got in touch with agents for the purposes of this review and found the service fairly solid if unremarkable. Live chat agents are quick to respond, but you might have to wait several hours for an email response, although it’s not as bad as on some sites we’ve visited in the past. Overall, a solid service, but 24/7 coverage and phone support are notably missing.

Banking Options

The next part of our review will cover the accepted currencies and payment and withdrawal methods at Hopa.

Accepted Currencies

When it comes to payments, there is currently no support for cryptocurrencies. You can make a Hopa deposit or withdrawal in US, Canadian, Australian, or New Zealand dollars, as well as euros, British pounds, Norwegian and Swedish krone, and several other popular world currencies.

Deposits

Deposits can be made through Visa and Mastercard, bank wire transfers, Trustly, Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, Interac, Euteller, paysafecard, and a few other methods depending on your location. The minimum required deposit is $10.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals are made through mostly the same channels as deposits, with the notable exception of Euteller and paysafecard, which can only be used for depositing funds. The same $10 minimum limit applies for Hopa cash withdrawals, too.

Security

The site holds licences from both the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA/CL4/400/2007) and the United States Gambling Commission (000-039483-R-319409-001). It also uses industry-standard 128-bit encryption and a firewall for protecting sensitive data. The fairness of Hopa’s RNG is audited by gambling authorities and independent auditors, though the site does not specify which ones.

Deposit and playing time limits can be set as per industry standards in responsible gambling practices. Our Hopa review should also mention that self-exclusion is possible on request, and players can even block their account indefinitely, on demand.