Website UX & Registration 6/10

Yako’s website is tidy and functional with a simple layout that will appeal to those don’t like cluttered pages, though it does have a few glitches and usability that should be ironed out.

Important information is generally easy to find – the terms and conditions, privacy policy, and responsible gambling policy are all available from the footer menu. You’ll need to use the drop-down menu from the burger menu by the logo to find links to Support and FAQs, but it’s all there.

However, other pieces of information and links were trickier to locate. For example, the sign-up bonus page with details of the offer excludes the full terms and conditions with important info like wagering requirements on it. To find that you’ll need to navigate to the Bonus Info page through the footer. Initially I couldn’t find the Withdraw link on my account either. In the end I found it in a secondary menu bar locked to the bottom of the browser window on desktop. And on several occasions the site locked and I was kicked out and had to log back in again.

Registration and First Deposit

Registration is at least simple. It takes less than 90 seconds. You’ll need your full name, address, email, mobile, username and password. You’ll also be required to accept terms and conditions and opt-in or out of promotional emails and SMS. Finally, Yako asks you to click a link in an email to activate your account. This is quite unusual, but it only takes seconds, then you are good to go.

After activating my account, I deposited £10 with Mastercard with no problems and my £10 match bonus was immediately available.

At this point you can load up the account area. From here you can edit your profile, set your responsible gambling controls, verify your account, and view any active or available bonuses. Again, the information is there but the pages are clunky and generally slow to load which can be frustrating.

When you do claim a bonus another oddity is that Wagering Progress is displayed as a percentage at Yako. For some this can be harder to understand than a straight cash value display.

In short, Yako Casino site is OK to use but it has many eccentricities that collective can start to grate. Once you know where everything is it becomes easier, but functionality could be improved.

Online Slots 6/10

Yako Casino has one of the smallest game catalogues of any slot site we have reviewed. In total there are somewhere around 30 game suppliers on the game list. And I would be surprised if there were as many as 500 slots to play. This compares unfavourably with other UK casinos. Try Play OJO (more than 4,500 games) or Casumo (more than 3,000 games) for a better choice.

However, if you want a small site with just the top game providers then this will still work for you. There are games from names like NetEnt, Microgaming, Play n Go, Nolimit City, Pragmatic Play, ELK Studios, Thunderkick and Blueprint Gaming. Notable omissions from the list include Relax Gaming, Yggdrasil and Quickspin amongst others.

Jackpot Slots

If you are looking for jackpot slots then you will find a small selection. Under the Jackpots tab there were just 12 listed, all of which were provided by Microgaming. These include the Mega Moolah games and the Wow Pot series. With prizes of over £20 million when we reviewed the site these are worth a spin. However, there are no Jackpot King slots (Blueprint Gaming), no Mega Fortune slots (NetEnt) and no Dream Drop Jackpots (Relax Gaming).

New Slots

There was no option to search by ‘New’ games so it was hard to tell how up to date the catalogue was.

Megaways Slots

Yako Casino has a list of more than 120 Megaways slots in its game catalogue. There is no specific category for these games, but you can find them by typing ‘Megaways’ into the search box. Highlights include Big Bass Bonanza Megaways and Eye of Horus Megaways.

If you like Megaways slots then we also recommend Casumo which lists more than 175 titles and 21 Casino with more than 165.

Slingo Games

Yako Casino has a selection of 47 Slingo games to play as well. This is a good-sized list and includes both old classics like Slingo Riches or Slingo Extreme as well as more recent releases like Slingo Starburst and Slingo Deadliest Catch. To find these games you need to type ‘Slingo’ into the search bar – there is no specific Slingo category.

If you want more casinos with Slingo games then try our Slingo Sites page.

Game Menu, Search Functions and Game Window

The game menu itself is very basic and sometimes difficult to use. There is no option to sort by game provider. There are also no filters for paylines, variance, RTP or other useful categories. On a few occasions I clicked the ‘More Games’ link in the expectation of seeing a bigger list of games in a group only for the page to fail to load.

Games load into a simple frame inside the main site but there is no option to quick deposit or chat to support without leaving the game. However, there is a list of recent winners and a live tournament leaderboard that appears to the right of the game when a tournament is in play with the option to minimise.

Slots RTP at Yako Casino

For games with multiple RTP settings it is at the discretion of the casino operator to choose which to run the game on. At Yako Casino we verified the RTP settings for 10 games that have more than one setting. This is what we found:

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

In this sample Yako Casino are running games at the higher end of the available RTP range, which is good. One – Mental by Nolimit City – is set to the maximum RTP. These numbers are what you find at most UK slot sites now. If you want to play Book of Dead at the maximum RTP you could play at 21 Casino. The only site we have tested where ALL games are set to the maximum RTP is Mr Q.

Learn more about RTP and why it is important for slots in this guide.

Live Dealer 7/10

Better than the slots selection if the live dealer zone at Yako Casino. L and L Europe have partnered up with both Evolution and Pragmatic Play to deliver a great selection of tables with classic and new formats and a wide range of stakes.

Both providers run pooled tables where players from 100s of casinos worldwide play at shared tables. There are no exclusive Yako Casino tables here.

Evolution Gaming’s lobby is the bigger of the two. Normally you will find 50,000 or more players active at any one time. There are more than 150 Blackjacks, 30 Roulettes, Hold Em Pokers, Sicbo, Baccarat and Gameshows. The latter include the famous Crazy Time and Dream Catcher formats, as well as Lightning Roulette and Lightning Dice.

The Pragmatic Play lobby is smaller but still offers upwards of 50 Blackjack tables, 12 roulettes and 30 Baccarats. There is a small Gameshow selection too, but it does include the famous Sweet Bonanza Candyland game based on Pragmatic’s famous slot.

This is the same live casino selection that you will find at many other slot sites. If you are looking for more choice you could try Casumo where there are games from Playtech alongside Pragmatic and Evolution, or Betfred Games, where you can play exclusive tables alongside the shared ones.

Loyalty Promotions 6/10

Yako Casino do not advertise any specific regular promotions. However, they do reference Recurring Promotions on their site with some general blurb about Bonus Bonanza (deposit bonus deals), Free Spins Galore (free spins for your favourite games) and on the house cash drops.

It’s therefore hard to comment on the quality of otherwise of the promotions at Yako but I suspect there is little going on. This sometimes happens at white label sites where the customer base is small. If you prefer to know that you can pick up regular bonuses you could try Yako’s label mate, All British Casino, were you get 10% back on your losses, or a bigger independent site like Play OJO where there is a loyalty program with regular level-ups and extra rewards as well as a VIP program.

Cashier Options 8/10

Like many things at Yako, the cashier proved to be quite basic. The good news is, deposits on all services, except Trustly (£25) start at £10. Withdrawals can also be made at a minimum of £10. This is favourable compared to other L and L sites which start at £20. However, there are some notable payment services unavailable in the cashier – Paypal, Apple Pay and Google Pay for example.

There are no fees to pay for deposits or withdrawals.

Here is a summary of the deposit and withdrawal options at Yako Casino.

Payout Speed 9/10

We tested the withdrawal process at Yako Casino. This is what we found.

• £20 to Mastercard on Thursday at 11.27am – processed at 14:12 on Thursday – 2 hours 45 mins

That is a very good withdrawal processing speed.

Customer Support 9/10

The customer support at Yako Casino is available 24/7 on live chat, phone and email.

• Phone: 00 356 2034 1662
• Live Chat: 24/7 on site
• Email: support@yakocasino.com

There is also a comprehensive FAQs section where you can browse common questions if you don’t want to email or log onto live chat. It’s got some useful information on everything from deposits and withdrawals to safety and security.

We contacted the support team via live chat on several occasions. The response was always within 2 minutes, often immediate. The live chat app shows a real picture of the agent which is a nice touch too.  This is not a virtual assistant or AI bot and the agents always seemed helpful and knowledgeable too.

KYC Process 9/10

Like all UK casinos, Yako will require documents to verify your ID if you become a regular player making significant monthly deposits and withdrawals. The operator, L and L Europe, is using a 3^rd party verification company called Hooyu to carry out automated KYC checks.

If you are required to send your documents then a link will appear in your account. Click there and you will be taken to the Hooyu site where you will be asked for scans of your passport, driver license, utility bills and sometimes bank statements. The process is automated and AI tools check your documents. This is much quicker, and more secure, than sending documents on email. You can learn more about how this works on the Hooyu site.