Tropicana Casino Review
Tropicana Online Casino was one of the first gambling sites to launch when New Jersey authorized online gaming in 2013. Tropicana Resort & Casino in Atlantic City holds the online gaming license as required by state law and also extends that license to fellow NJ casino site MonopolyCasino.com.
Pros
Generous promotionsNo bonus wagering requirementsRefer-a-friend programCons
Dated website and app designSmall games collectionPoorly organized casino lobbyTropicanaCasino.com does not look particularly impressive at first glance with dated website design and poor navigation, but nonetheless remains a player favorite. New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) financial disclosures show Tropicana Online averages more than $3 million a month in online gaming revenue – this despite being a pure online casino without sports betting or poker to boost the bottom line.
When looking strictly at online casino revenue, Tropicana AC is usually among the top-3 performers in New Jersey on a monthly basis. Much of the casino’s success can be directly attributed to its unique approach towards player perks.
For example, Tropicana Casino bucks the trend by offering a new customer bonus that comes with zero wagering requirements. While most other casinos force players to play through their bonus money 20, 30 or even 150 times before withdrawing, Tropicana bonuses are delivered with no strings attached.
Other unique offerings such as shared community jackpots, daily free games and a multi-player bingo room further differentiate Tropicana from other licensed casino sites.
While Tropicana Online is strong in some areas, it has plenty of room for improvement in others. A clunky navigation menu makes it difficult to find specific types of games and a lack of live dealer games both prevent Tropicana Casino from reaching its full potential in the New Jersey market. Tropicana also lacks online sports betting and poker.
TropicanaCasino.com could also use some improvement in overall game selection. In total, the casino has 230 casino games plus 90-ball bingo. While this should be more than adequate for new players, experienced online gamblers will likely have already seen many of these games elsewhere.
With that said, Tropicana has the fairest promotional offerings of any online casino we have reviewed to date. The bonuses are not as big as those advertised by some other sites, but these can actually be cleared within a reasonable amount of time and do not come with horribly confusing terms and conditions. Even if the game selection is a bit lacking, Tropicana is worth a look for its promotions alone.
One very important thing to note is many of the things we’ve described in our Tropicana Casino review could change over the next few months. Eldorado Resorts completed its of Tropicana Resorts on October 2nd of 2018 and gaming news website EGR Global reported the very next day that Eldorado Resorts had fired Tropicana’s online gaming staff. It remains to be seen what changes will be made under new management.
Snapshot: Tropicana Casino is one of New Jersey’s oldest licensed gambling sites. The game selection is on the small side, but Tropicana has the best promotions online – including a welcome bonus with no wagering requirements. Tropicana is also one of the only legal casinos to offer multiplayer online bingo.
Tropicana Casino Bonus
Tropicana Casino offers all new customers a 100% cashback offer on their first week’s losses. If you sign up for an account and lose money in your first week, Tropicana will comp your losses with up to $100 in cash to put you back in the game.
You can claim the bonus by signing up for an account, making a first deposit of $10 or more and placing your first wager. Tropicana Casino will then give you up to $100 cashback on your losses if you’re not ahead after seven days. This means if you deposit $100 and lose it all, for example, Tropicana will give you $100 on the house to bring you back to even.
The Tropicana Casino bonus stands tall among all other offers in one key respect: it comes with absolutely no clearing requirements. Once you receive your bonus, it’s all yours with none of the usual wagering requirements you’ll find at other online casinos.
Note that this offer puts actual cashback into your player account if you lose money in your first new week as a customer. This is not bonus money that’s subject to a litany of terms and conditions; it’s just a cashback offer.
Tropicana Casino No-Deposit Bonus
For anyone still on the fence, Tropicana Casino offers a no-deposit bonus as a means to test the waters without risking your own money. If you sign up for an account and input a custom promo code, Tropicana will give you up to $100 to try the real money games before you’ve even made a deposit.
Anything you win is yours to keep and may be withdrawn in full after making a deposit of at least $10 and playing through the bonus money one time. For example, if you get a $50 bonus and win money with it, you’ll be able to withdraw your winnings after wagering at least $50 and making a first deposit of $10 or more.
Tropicana Casino Refer-a-Friend Program
If you’re sold on Tropicana Casino, you can refer your friends to earn bonus money for them and for yourself. You’ll get $50 in bonus money for every friend you refer and they’ll each get an extra $10 just for being referred.
Tell your friends to look for the “referred by a friend” field when signing up and to put your e-mail address in there. This will give you credit for making the referral and you’ll both get something extra after your friend makes a first deposit of at least $10 and places his first wager.
You and your friend both need to roll over the bonus money one time in order to clear any winnings from the bonus for withdrawal. This means you’ll need to place $50 worth of wagers to clear your $50 bonus and your friend will need to place $10 worth of wagers to clear his $10 bonus.
Tropicana Casino Community Jackpot
Tropicana hosts community jackpots that can be won while playing any game. Whoever unlocks the jackpot wins one of the prizes listed below and also wins a share of the community jackpot. Additionally, anyone who played that same game within the last hour wins a share of the community jackpot.
When you play any game for real money at Tropicana Casino, look for a special key that randomly appears in the bar above the game. Click the key for a chance to win one of the following jackpots:
- Gold: $10,000
- Silver: $5,000
- Bronze: $1,000
- Green: $500
Whenever a Community Jackpot is won, every other person who played that same game within the past hour wins a share of the community prize even if they’re no longer online. The more you wagered at that game, the bigger your share.
Other Tropicana Casino Promotions
Moving past all the new player welcome bonuses, you’ll also find a regular lineup of short-term promotions along with a handful of longer-running promos for existing customers. Some of these are bound to change by the time you read this review, but the following examples should give you an idea of what to expect from Tropicana going forward.
- Daily Free Games: This is a long-running promotion in which Tropicana selects certain slots for the month. For each day you play those slots, you’ll be given seashells, eggs or some other item to collect in your account. At the end of the month, break open your items for a chance to win free spins. If you play the selected games on the last day of the month, you’re guaranteed a prize.
- Short Term Reload Bonuses: Check the promotions tab at TropicanaCasino.com for a look at the latest reload bonuses. If you make a deposit when one of these offers is live, you’ll get a deposit bonus added to your deposit amount. Recent reload bonuses have been worth something in the range of 15% added to your deposit up to a maximum of $50. All bonuses to date have come with wagering requirements of just 1x the bonus amount.
- Happy Hours: Tropicana occasionally hosts happy hour-style promotions that offer cash back bonuses on any losses sustained when you play online during happy hour times. One recent happy hour promo lasted a week and gave out 15% cash back on losses for up to $30 a day in bonuses.
- Giveaways: In one recent promotion, Tropicana gave out free stays at Tropicana AC suites when you played any game of your choice during the promotional period. Every $50 you wagered during this promo gave you one entry into the next suite giveaway drawing.
Tropicana Casino VIP Loyalty Program
The Tropicana loyalty program is extensive as it combines online and real-world play to give you benefits that can be redeemed in the real world at Tropicana Atlantic City as well as online for extra perks such as converting loyalty points into cash.
Tropicana does not explain the inner workings of the VIP program very well, but we’ll try to make sense of it for you right here.
Trop Advantage Loyalty Rewards
Trop Advantage is the all-encompassing rewards program that bundles all your online and in-person play at Tropicana. Whenever you play casino games online or in person, you earn tier points and comp dollars.
Tier points are used to determine your level in the five-tier loyalty program. The more tier points you earn by playing Tropicana casino games, the higher your level. Each level up in the program unlocks progressively valuable rewards as you can see in the rewards chart to the right.
All players start as level one “Green” members and earn basic perks such as comp dollars that can spent at Tropicana Resort, entries into sweepstakes and special offers based on your play. As you move up through the loyalty program, you unlock bigger and better rewards such as complimentary birthday dinners, an annual cruise and much more.
Trop Points for Bonus Money
Whenever you play real money games at TropicanaCasino.com, you automatically earn trop points that can be redeemed for bonus money. All players earn trop points at the following rates:
- Every $15 you wager playing bingo: 1 trop point
- Every $40 you wager on slots: 1 trop point
- Every $100 you wager on all other games: 1 trop point
Trop points are converted into bonus money at a rate of $0.01 for every 1 trop point (or $1 for every 100 trop points). That works out to the following cash back rates for each of the following games:
- Bingo: 0.067%
- Slots: 0.025%
- All other games: 0.01%
Another way to look at it is you can earn $1 in bonus money every time you wager the following amounts on each game type:
- Bingo: $1 in bonus money for every $1,500 wagered
- Slots: $1 in bonus money for every $4,000 wagered
- All other games: $1 in bonus money for every $10,000 wagered
Invite Only VIP Program
TropicanaCasino.com also has its own Online VIP Loyalty Program with membership extended by invitation only. If you’re invited to join the VIP program, you’ll receive benefits such as regular VIP bonuses, birthday gifts, exclusive promotions and other things along those lines.
If you’re particularly active as a VIP member, you may also be given luxury gifts such as weekend getaways to Tropicana AC complete with hotel stay, dinner and tickets to a show. You can also earn tickets to other shows and sporting events in town, “luxurious dining experiences” and more through the online VIP program.
Tropicana Mobile App and Software
Tropicana Online is fully compatible with mobile and desktop platforms. If you’re playing from a computer, just head over to TropicanaCasino.com to play online with no download needed. iPhone and Android users can download the Tropicana app to play online while mobile.
On all devices, the software is functional and quick to load, but it is not the most graphically-impressive experience. The website looks dated and it seems there is little rhyme or reason as to the placement of various game types.
Finding slots is easy because those account for the overwhelming majority of the games on offer. Table games and video poker, however, are haphazardly mixed in with the slots and it can be a pain to find specific games.
Most of the table games are located near the top of the “casino” tab at TropicanaCasino.com, but that’s just most. Sometimes users are left simply scrolling down randomly in search of a specific game. For example, I only found one of the single zero roulette tables after scrolling all the way to the bottom of the all-games casino tab.
The mobile casino is for the most part designed to be played when holding your phone in landscape mode. You will be able to play some games in portrait mode, but doing so significantly decreases the playing area.
All in all, the Tropicana software could use some serious design upgrades. It’s playable and the games do load quickly, but there are some pretty obvious design flaws that degrade the experience a bit.
Tropicana Slots
Tropicana Casino slots are provided by numerous software providers including IGT, NetEnt, Gamesys and Williams Interactive among others. There are about 200 slots on offer, which is not as much compared to some other licensed casinos on the market today. However, Tropicana does offer a collection of Gamesys exclusives that you will be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
You’ll also find a good number of the same slots on the casino floor of the actual Tropicana in Atlantic City available online for play. If you have any favorites from the brick-and-mortar Tropicana, there’s a good chance you’ll find those online as well.
Slots can be played in a wide range of denominations that run the gamut from as low as $0.01 per spin to as high as $100 per spin. Some of the games come with large fixed jackpots such as Million Dollar Money Drop which can pay more than $55,000 in a single spin, but there are no progressive jackpot games on offer.
Tropicana Casino Table Games
Table games and video poker are both a bit underrepresented at TropicanaCasino.com. The table games collection covers all the traditional casino staples plus a few variations on blackjack and roulette, but overall isn’t the biggest with a total of 16 table games in all.
Table games at Tropicana include:
- Blackjack (6 variations including single-hand and multiplayer)
- Single zero roulette (3 variations)
- American roulette
- Craps
- Let It Ride
- Three Card Poker
- Pai Gow Poker
- Baccarat
- Hi-Lo
Tropicana Casino Video Poker
Video poker is provided by IGT and features some of the most underwhelming graphics you’re likely to see on the market. The games look extremely dated by modern standards and there are not many variations to top it off. Tropicana’s video poker games will get you by if you’re only an occasional player, but you’ll want to look elsewhere if video poker is your first love.
Tropicana video poker variations:
- Bonus Poker
- Double Bonus Poker
- Double Double Bonus Poker
- Triple Play Draw Poker Multi-Hand
- Five Play Draw Poker Multi-Hand
- Jacks or Better
Tropicana Bingo
Tropicana is one of the only to offer full-fledged online bingo. This is not just a collection of bingo-styled slots like you’ll find elsewhere; this is actual multiplayer 90-ball bingo complete with chat rooms, chat moderators and guaranteed jackpots.
Free 90-ball bingo games run every 30 minutes while paid games run constantly with buyins of $1, $2 and $5. An embedded chat room assists in creating a community atmosphere as you chat with other players and compete to be the first to complete one of the multiple winning patterns.
Community jackpots and other casino promotions also apply to online bingo at Tropicana. If you are playing or have played bingo within the past hour of someone else winning a community jackpot, you’ll get a share of the prize money. All wagers made in online bingo also count towards the various rewards programs offered to Tropicana customers.
Tropicana Casino Deposit Methods
Tropicana accepts a small variety of deposit methods that can be used to fund your account. There are not as many deposit methods here as at other licensed casinos, but the following methods should cover most players:
Tropicana State Operations
Tropicana-branded casinos operate in a handful of states that have legal sports betting. The Tropicana brand itself is not particularly extensive as it can only be found four states, but parent company Eldorado Resorts has casinos in place across the US and is set to be a major player in the regulated sports betting market.
When it comes to sports betting, parent company Eldorado Resorts seems to have no interest in launching online sportsbooks under its own name. The company instead has a nationwide partnership with William Hill that has resulted in the launch of numerous sportsbooks at Tropicana properties across the US.
Tropicana New Jersey
- Retail Sportsbook: Tropicana AC
- Online and mobile betting? Yes, through William Hill
Tropicana’s approach in New Jersey is to offer casino games through a branded website (Tropicana Online) while partnering with William Hill to offer mobile sports betting. Tropicana AC also operates a retail sportsbook managed by William Hill.
Tropicana Indiana
- Retail Sportsbook: Trop Evansville
- Online and mobile betting? Coming soon
Tropicana has partnered with William Hill for its on-site sportsbook and will likely serve as the anchor point for a William Hill mobile betting app as well. Each may launch up to three individually-branded betting apps, which means Trop Evansville has additional options even if it does partner with William Hill for online betting.
Tropicana Mississippi
- Retail Sportsbook: Trop Casino Greensville
- Online and mobile betting? No
In Mississippi, Trop Casino Greensville is partnered with William Hill to run a retail sportsbook. Mobile betting has not been authorized in Mississippi as of yet, but there is a potential for change as lawmakers see the massive revenue potentials delivered by online betting in other states. In that case, it would be no surprise to see Trop Greensville launch online betting under the William Hill banner.
Tropicana Nevada
- Retail Sportsbook: Tropicana Laughlin
- Online and mobile betting? Yes, through William Hill
Tropicana has taken the same approach in Nevada as it has in New Jersey. That is, the casino is contracted with William Hill to run an on-premises sportsbook while mobile bettors are directed to download the William Hill US mobile app.