Website UX & Registration 9/10

The Spin Rio brand has a Samba theme to it with the unmistakable backdrop of Rio di Janeiro taking centre stage on their home page along with a tropical bird of paradise amid bright colors and upbeat images.

Behind the playful exterior this is a standard Aspire Global site and the platform and layout will be familiar to anyone who has played at others on the network. You can see the website home page in the image displayed below. It follows the standard format with account log in and sign up on the left and full game catalogue displayed in the main content area. It feels a little cluttered but you get used to it quickly enough. 

Finding Important Information

For those who like to read up on the fine print there is a lot of easily accessible information on the Spin Rio site that you can access at the foot of any page. Links to terms and conditions, responsible gambling information, bonus policy and fair play information, as well as cash out rules, are all there. Pages like these pop up in a new window the same as at all other Aspire sites.

Registration and First Deposit

The registration form takes just a few minutes to fill in. There are two stages. One for email, username and password; then one for full name, address, mobile number and currency.  Agree to the terms and conditions, and you’re good to go.

Any initial verification on your ID and age is done behind the scenes so you won’t need to provide any further documentation to make a first deposit.

After that I deposited £20 and received a £20 bonus which was displayed in my account with remaining wagering requirements. You also have the option to forfeit the bonus if you wish. This is helpful if you don’t want to be tied up with wagering requirements. You can see this in the screen shot below.

Account Pages

Once logged in the account area is the same as all Aspire Global sites. Which is nice because it’s functionally good and feels familiar. Real money and bonus money balances are clearly displayed and any remaining wagering requirements are shown as a cash value rather than percentage which makes them easier to understand.

You can upload verification documents within your account if you wish to pre-empt any future checks. Responsible Gambling tools like Reality Checks, Time Outs and spend limits are all easy to configure from here. And there is a useful Bonuses section that displays active bonuses as well as any you are currently eligible to claim.

In summary, whilst there are nicer-looking account pages at Spin Rio this one preforms its function well. And overall the site is simple to use if a little crowded in places.

Online Slots 7/10

Catalogue and Game Providers

There are more than 700 slots to spin at Spin Rio, from more than 30 game providers including NetEnt, Big Time Gaming, Scientific (now Light and Wonder), Microgaming, Quickspin, NextGen and Pragmatic Play.

This will be enough for most recreational slots players though more hardened fans of the high variance specialists like Nolimit City, Push Gaming and Relax Gaming will be disappointed to find that those providers are not represented and therefore classics like San Quentin xWays, Money Train 3 and Big Bamboo are not on the lists.

If you are looking for a wider selection of games then we recommend you try a Skill on Net site like BacanaPlay or a White Hat Gaming site like Slotnite.

Jackpot Slots

Unlike its sister site, MrPlay, Spin Rio DOES have a Progressive Jackpots section in the game menu. But the selection is well short of what we normally expect. There are 43 games, and ALL are from the Jackpot King series from Blueprint Gaming. So, there are no Mega Moolah slots (Microgaming), no Mega Fortune games (NetEnt), no Megapays from Big Time Gaming, no Dream Drop Jackpots (Relax Gaming) and no Red Tiger Must Drop games.

The Jackpot King series have three levels and can pay out in the multi millions at the top. But if you are looking for a wider choice of jackpots then we recommend you try Play OJO which has 367 in its menu.

New Games

Browsing the list of ‘New’ games at Spin Rio we checked to see how up to date the catalogue was. There were very recent releases from Hacksaw Gaming (Keep Em Cool) and iSoftBet (Red Hot Cherry) which suggests you will find new games in the week they are out if you choose to play here.

Megaways Slots

There are only 10 Megaways slots available at Spin Rio. These are two from Scientific and eight from iSoftBet, including Piggy Bank Megaways and Majestic Gold Megaways. This is a much smaller list than you will find at other UK casinos. We recommend 21 Casino which offers more than 160 Megaways games as an alternative if you wish to spin this kind of slot.

Slingo Games

There is a small selection of just 10 Slingo games to try at Spin Rio. The list includes Deal of No Deal Slingo and Fluffy Favourites Slingo. However, there are lots of classics that are not available such as Slingo Cleopatra and Slingo Da Vinci Diamonds.

If you want more choice we recommend playing at All British Casino where there are more than 40 Slingos to test your luck on.

Game Menu, Search Functions and Game Window

Onto the game menu itself. It allows you to search by top level groupings – New, Featured, Jackpots and Slots – as well as by game title using the search box. However, there are no sophisticated tools allowing the player to filter by game provider, paylines, volatility or RTP for example. So, whilst I can search down my favourites, this is not the kind of casino where I can explore the menu in great depth to find new games matched to my tastes.

Games at Spin Rio also load up into a very basic window. There is no option to quick deposit or search for other games from here. You can only go back to the main site and choose a new game from there. However, you can view your real time balance and session time which is critical information. Again, if you have played at other Aspire Global sites then you will be familiar with this set up.

Slots RTP at Spin Rio

As part of our review process we verify the RTP of 10 slots that we know to have multiple RTP options available to the casino operator. It is at their discretion which RTP setting they choose. At Spin Rio this is what we found:

NOTE: These RTP settings were verified on 23^rd May 2023.

Like other Aspire Global sites, Spin Rio does not perform well for slots RTP. All the games we checked were set to a low RTP. In particular, Book of Dead by Play n Go runs at 87.25%, and Just for the Win slot, Western Gold 2, runs at the lowest available setting of 92.23%. You can find these games at better RTP levels at other sites. In our tests, Mr Q ran EVERY game at the maximum RTP available.

Find out why RTP is so important in this guide.

Live Dealer 8/10

The Live Casino is separated from the main Casino area at Spin Rio so it can be a bit tricky to find. To do so you’ll need to hit the ‘Live Casino’ link under your account information on the left of the screen. This brings up the full list of tables on the right.

You can then search by game type – Roulette, Blackjack, Gameshows, Live Poker, Sicbo and Baccarat. The games are provided by Authentic, Evolution and Skywind Group. There are no Pragmatic Play tables despite the provider’s games appearing under the slots section.

The star of the show is Evolution Gaming whose live lobby dwarves all competition. These are all pooled tables so there are none exclusive to Spin Rio. You will find 10,000s of players online at all times as they are drawn from online casinos across the globe. Blackjack is the biggest section with more than 150 tables and stakes from 20p up to £5,000 per hand. The Gameshows section is also big with 16 games now including Crazy Coin Flip, Mega Ball and Lightning Dice.

Authentic’s lobby is smaller in comparison with just 9 studio games and 5 auto roulettes. However, they do have a trick up their sleeve. They stream from five real casinos between 2pm and 5am daily. These include Chinatown, Mayfair and Kensington in London.

Skywind Group offer a handful of games and make an interesting choice as they are not found at many other UK casinos.

Loyalty Promotions 7/10

The player promotions at Spin Rio are limited.

Everyone is eligible to take part in regular Pragmatic Play prize draws that promise big headline figures as they are pooled across 100s of partner casinos. Names like Drops and Win will be familiar to anyone who has played regularly at other Aspire Global sites. Over a six-month period the prizes are totalled at £6.5 million. Just play the relevant Pragmatic Play slots to take part and be entered into the daily draw.

There are also regular weekly slots tournaments with £1,000 top prizes that can be found on the promotions page. Top 50 places on the leaderboard payout from £10 up to £1,000, with places decided by highest ratio of win to bet. All you need to do to take part is spin the reels on the specified games.

There doesn’t appear to be any loyalty program at Spin Rio. This is not uncommon for small white label sites. However, you should keep your eye on the New Bonuses tab on your account page where new deals may show up on a weekly basis.

Cashier Options 8/10

The cashier options at Spin Rio cover the most popular payment services with the exception of the eWallet, NetEnt. You can use Visa and Mastercard, Paypal and Skrill, Trustly, MuchBetter and the pre-paid card, Paysafecard.

A £10 minimum threshold for deposits and withdrawals means if you are in for smaller transactions then you are looked after here. However, this is offset by an unusual policy on transaction fees. Aspire Global sites all now charge 2.5% for debit card deposits and withdrawals, and 3.1% for Paypal transactions.

Here are the payment options in summary.

Payout Speed 6/10

We tested the payout process at Spin Rio. This is what we found:

Withdrawal to Mastercard made at 13.26 on Friday processed at 12.45 on Monday. 71 hours and 19 minutes.

This reflects another drawback of the Aspire Global group of sites – they do NOT process withdrawals over the weekend. Therefore, if you choose to withdraw on a Friday then your transaction will not be processed until Monday at the earliest.

This is why we gave Spin Rio a low score for payout speed.

Customer Support 7/10

The support team at Spin Rio are available on email or live chat but not on phone line. The office hours are 8am to midnight CET so you won’t get help through the early hours. However, there is a standard FAQs that pops up from the footer menu. Its comprehensive enough with sections on security, tech issues, cashier and responsible gambling.

Your best option however is to use the live chat function that can be accessed during opening hours by hitting the Chat icon under your account information on the left of the screen. The response times were very good in testing. A message will tell you that a team member will responds within a minute once you ask a question. Most times it was 1 to 2 minutes. Agents are real people, not ‘virtual’ assistants, and answered most questions on account, verification and bonuses well.

KYC Process 8/10

Know Your Customer checks are done through your account pages at Spin Rio. That means you don’t email your ID and bank documents but rather upload them through your account. It feels more safe and secure. I uploaded a scan of my passport to verify my ID after registering and it was verified in minutes.