Last Updated on September 28, 2023
The Double Bubble Bingo Sister Sites
In this article we are not going to lose your time, but we’ll go straight to the point. Here are the five Double Bubble Bingo sister sites, most of which are only here to break your heart: Megaways Casino, Jackpotjoy, Monopoly Casino, Rainbow Riches Casino, Virgin Games.
Sites Like Double Bubble Bingo
Overview
What makes a casino break bad? One day you’re a hero, a UK icon on the real money online casino scene. The next day, you’re a pariah, the public is screaming at you, and you’re trying hard to weather the storm. The Double Bubble Bingo sister sites can relate to this story.
But what happened? There are no regulatory actions on the books. The Bally’s Corporation takeover was nearly two years ago now. Was this a slow boil over, long overdue? Or have changes been made to the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites that incorrectly rub punters?
We detected systematic RTP lowering at the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites sometime between April and May 2023. Read on to see all of the evidence. Just understand that we don’t take the measure of withdrawing our recommendations lightly.
Reviews of Double Bubble Bingo Sister Sites
We’ll go through these in order, but here are a couple of things to note first: Unless otherwise noted, all of them share UK license number 38905. We’ll only list the deposit and withdrawal methods for each of these Double Bubble Bingo sister sites if they differ from the original in a significant way.
Remember that the RTP issues we discussed often hinge on what the sites are advertising and pushing on their homepage and product pages, not the total they have available. We know that many of these sites have hidden gems. Some might be so hidden that we don’t find them during our review! That doesn’t change what the mainstream crowd is exposed to or how they react to low RTP machines being pushed on them.
Also, if there’s a systematic lowering of the RTP on machines that can set the Return To Player percentage, that would be a significant concern. Sorry for the spoilers, but it’s that last thing. And we’re going to prove it.
In this article we’ll cover a few sites like Double Bubble Bingo to offer high-value alternatives. Then we’ll investigate the possibilities as we give you an honest Double Bubble Bingo casino review and explore which sites are worth examining and which you should avoid.
Megaways Casino – A sister site of Double Bubble Bingo
We know the importance of putting your best foot forward, which Megaways Casino does well.
Right off the bat, we get a good impression from their home page. The top menu is organized, the UK and Gibraltar license information is displayed at the bottom, and the color scheme is easy on the eyes. Even if you aren’t logged in, clicking through to a game displays vital information, including the Return To Player percentage (RTP).
Another good sign leaps off the page: The first three slots they advertise are 96% or better RTP (Bonanza Megaways, Bison Rising Megaways, and the exclusive Tiki Totems Megaways)!
This is a much better start than many Double Bubble Bingo sister sites. There’s transparency, pushing fair games, and elements of good website maintenance. How can we go wrong from here?
Well, the front page could be better. There are a couple of stinkers, like 7-Up scratchcards with a 92% RTP. But some people like scratchcards and generally know what they’re getting into. A couple of slingo titles show a variable RTP (Book of Slingo and Red Hot Slingo), once again needing more explanation for why variables are involved.
Megaways Casino Games
Those are relatively minor issues when most of the front page is solid. The problem comes into play when you click to see the game category pages.
Looking at the Slots page, we’re back to the same story we saw at Double Bubble Bingo: A slew of unimpressive 94% RTP machines, followed by 90.71% RTP + 3% Jackpot contribution machines. The titles they’re pushing are identical, down to the placement! This means people will have the same issues and complaints we noted before.
The Live Casino, Online Casino, and Online Poker are standard. The selection is excellent, including some rarities like Bac Bo. Ultra-high RTP games like Blackjack and Ultimate Texas Hold-Em are there for the dedicated grinders (though these generally won’t count towards a bonus or notable event statistics, at least not entirely).
However, the Scratchcards and Instant Games section show a slightly disturbing sign. Some high-return scratch cards and games like Chasin’ Rainbows Instant Gold (98.04% RTP) exist. But there are some borderline predatory scratchcards that only hardcore addicts would play if they knew the odds. The MONOPOLY Hot Property minigame is well known for being awful, with a pitiful 87% RTP. And this is the first time I’ve heard of the Fishin’ Frenzy Scratchcard, but at 80% RTP, I never wanted to know about it in the first place.
Return to Players (RTP)
These are predatory RTPs. Assuming they use an RNG system and not a table-set (most games these days use an RNG with the result generated upon purchase), the Malta Gaming Authority would declare Fishin’ Frenzy to be illegal, as it’s below the 85% RTP threshold. Sadly, the UK has no such laws. Still, offering such low RTPs is a terrible practice and could easily contribute to the user reviews we will discuss shortly.
The Slingo and Bingo sections return to form, essentially cloning Double Bubble Bingo’s layout and thus the issues we’ve already mentioned there (under-explained slingo RTP ranges being the big issue).
Their mail sign-up offer is 30 Free 20p Spins After Wagering ยฃ10. These free spins have no wagering requirements afterward, so they are a good deal assuming they work as promised.
This should be a slightly better version of Double Bubble Bingo since the front page is more professionally curated. But the reality is this is the worst-reviewed Double Bubble Bingo sister site. It has a TrustPilot rating of just 1.4 out of 5 as of mid-June 2023.
One of the issues is that management still needs to claim the TrustPilot page or assign support staff to look out for issues. So all injustices are allowed to stand, no claims are ever explained or challenged, and negative reviews continue to pile up.
If even half of these explanations are true, the site’s automation has a lot of false positives that trigger account closures. That might be because of over-tuned money laundering checks or overly paranoid duplicate account checks. Whatever the case, sudden account closure is never a good sign.
The other common accusation is switching to lower RTP variants of slots and slingo games with adjustable RTPs. One of the most well-known adaptable RTP slot providers is Play’n Go. Their Return To Player ranges can be set to 96%, 94%, 91%, 87%, and 84%.
Is there evidence of tampering? Let’s have a look.
Here is the Play’n Go slot for Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. The RTP from September 2021 was set in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Play’n Go’s Legacy Of Dead: The RTP from January 2023 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Play’n Go’s Moon Princess: The RTP from January 2023 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Given that this has been the case for every Play’n Go slot we’ve checked, we’re confident that Megaways Casino has intentionally dropped the RTP of many (if not most) of their variable slots between April 2023 and May 2023.
You heard us right. This is evidence that these people posting negative reviews are not crazy. Or at least not for this reason.
Is this RTP drop just for Megaways Casino? Or does it apply across all of the Double Bubble Bingo sites? Let’s leave our negative recommendation for Megaways Casino due to intentional RTP tanking and see what else we can discover.
Jackpotjoy – A Sister Site of Double Bubble Bingo
Before the impact of the possible systematic RTP drops, we did a comprehensive review of Jackpotjoy. If you wanted to see our opinions of the site before these recent events, that’s an excellent place to start.
We’re currently focused on seeing if the RTP drop we discovered on Megaways Casino is also present on the other Double Bubble Bingo sister sites. We’ll now be examining Jackpotjoy for signs of this tampering.
Here is the Jackpotjoy version of Play’n Go slot Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. The RTP from March 30, 2023, was set to 96%. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
The Jackpotjoy version of Play’n Go’s Legacy Of Dead: The RTP from March 30, 2023, is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
The Jackpotjoy version of Play’n Go’s Moon Princess: The RTP from February 2023 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
To ensure this isn’t a coincidence, we checked another title we did not match at Megaways Casino.
Here is the Jackpotjoy version of Play’n Go’s Hugo Carts: The RTP from December 2022 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
This is now beyond coincidence. Jackpotjoy also engaged in intentional RTP lowering. That means they deserve the 1.5 TrustPilot rating that they currently hold in mid-June 2023.
The results of this investigation mean that we must give a negative recommendation for Jackpotjoy Casino due to intentional RTP tanking.
We will examine the following Double Bubble Bingo sister site, Monopoly Casino.
Monopoly Casino – The Double Bubble Bingo Sister Sites
Once again, if you want our opinion of Monopoly Casino before our investigation into intentional RTP tanking, please refer to our Jackpotjoy sister site article.
We’re examining Monopoly Casino to see if the variable RTP slots have intentionally reduced their return percentage.
Here is the Monopoly version of Play’n Go slot Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. The RTP from January 2023 was set to the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
The Monopoly version of Play’n Go’s Legacy Of Dead: The RTP from January 31, 2023, is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Here is the Monopoly version of Play’n Go’s Hugo Carts: The RTP from January 2023 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
To ensure this isn’t a coincidence, we checked another title we did not match at Jackpotjoy Casino.
Here is the Monopoly version of Play’n Go’s Fire Joker: The RTP from January 2023 in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
This may be why Monopoly Casino has a TrustPilot rating of 1.9 as of mid-June 2023.
We must recommend Monopoly Casino negatively due to intentional RTP tanking.
Rainbow Riches Casino – The Double Bubble Bingo Sister Sites
Our apologies for breaking the standard review format. This investigation into systematic RTP lowering overrides our other concerns about the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites. To see our opinion of Rainbow Riches Casino before this investigation, check out our earlier Jackpotjoy sister site article.
We’re now examining Rainbow Riches Casino to see if we can detect any variable RTP percentage reduction.
Here is the Rainbow Riches version of Play’n Go slot Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. The RTP from Late March 2023 was set to the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
The Rainbow Riches version of Play’n Go’s Legacy Of Dead: The RTP from early February 2023 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Here is the Rainbow Riches version of Play’n Go’s Hugo Carts: The RTP from early February 2023 is in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
To ensure this isn’t a coincidence, we checked another title we did not check at Monopoly Casino.
Here is the Rainbow Riches version of Play’n Go’s Eye Of Atum: The RTP from February 2023 in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
With a heavy heart, we must give a negative recommendation for Rainbow Riches Casino due to intentional RTP tanking. Their mid-June 2023 TrustPilot rating was 2.1, the best of the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites- such a pity.
Let’s briefly make sure that Virgin Games follows the same pattern.
Virgin Games
Let’s cut to the chase and show the clean sweep across all Double Bubble Bingo sister sites. It’s not like the people on TrustPilot who gave Virgin Games 1.5 out of 5 ratings (circa mid-2023) will be shocked by this news.
Here is the Virgin Games version of Play’n Go slot Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. The RTP from February 2023 was set to the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Here is the Virgin Games version of Play’n Go’s Legacy Of Dead: The RTP from early February 2023 in the 96% range. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
This is a negative recommendation for Virgin Games Casino due to intentional RTP tanking. That makes a clean sweep for all Double Bubble Bingo sister sites.
Who Owns the Double Bubble Bingo Sister Sites?
Originally, Gamesys Operations Limited was both the owner and the license holder (UK license 38905) for all of the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites. They’re also licensed in Gibraltar under permit 046 to allow for a more global presence. Initially, this entity bought out Virgin Games (in 2013) and created its own real-money online casino empire.
But in 2019, they, in turn, were taken over by the JPJ Group. You’d be correct if you think ‘JPJ’ sounds oddly close to Jackpotjoy. The same company Gamesys sold off became huge, and returned to buy them.
Finally, Bally’s Corporation bought Gamesys out in October 2021. They’re the current owners, although the licenses are still under the Gamesys brand name.
Was The Bally’s Takeover Responsible For The Double Bubble Bingo Sister Sites’ Decline In Quality?
There was so much going on at the time that’s an impossible call to make. Between the pandemic, backlash from multiple relevant world governments, and the work-from-home transition, online casinos had lots of reasons to experience sudden upswings or downswings.
If Bally’s was responsible for a decline in customer service, the answer may be yes. The answer is yes if they were responsible for reducing sites’ overall RTP. But absent knowing the internal workings of the company over the past two years, nobody can be sure.
What we know here at Sister Casinos, and what we’re about to share with our loyal readers, is that something has negatively impacted public perception of the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites. We’re going to share the symptoms as well as some possible contributing factors.
Let’s start with an honest Double Bubble Bingo casino review and then look at the significant Double Bubble Bingo sister sites to see what state they’re in.
An Honest Double Bubble Bingo Casino Review
We aren’t going to sugarcoat it: Public opinion of Double Bubble Bingo is low. The TrustPilot score is sitting at 1.7 out of 5 (as of mid-June 2023). It has nowhere to go but up. However, some Double Bubble Bingo sister sites have proven that trite phrase to be demonstrably wrong.
So what factors at Double Bubble Bingo contribute to this perception? And does it have redeeming qualities that we can highlight? Let’s find out.
Double Bubble Bingo Games
The first thing we should look at is the game selection, as factors such as Return To Player percentages (RTP) and the ease or difficulty of clearing bonuses on these games play a significant role in public perception.
On the Bingo side, everything is standard. Double Bubble has an array of different games and formats that cater to low rollers and high rollers alike. 75, 80, and 90 ball games are kicking off all hours of the day and night.
Session tickets are available as well: 15 tickets for ยฃ5. It’s an excellent value for those active during the four one-hour periods that session games run daily.
Slots
Any decent Double Bubble Bingo Casino review should cover one of the most popular games on the planet: Slots. The branded Double Bubble slot machines have mostly decent returns, the best being Double Bubble, with a 96.02% RTP. Most others are around 95% RTP, factoring in jackpot contributions. Not the best, but no real problems there.
The RTPs start to sink when you get too many unbranded slots. For example, two featured slots in June of 2023, Dog Days and Wild Hike, are an unimpressive 94% RTP. Play these machines, and you might get tired.
But the jackpot slots are where players might find things difficult. Titles such as 10,001 Nights have a 90.71% RTP + a 3% jackpot contribution. That means the vast majority of players will experience a sub-91% RTP play pattern, and one player will hit the jackpot once in a while. That could be better for public perception. Even considering the jackpot contribution, this is still a sub-94%-RTP machine (as are Five Families, Clash of The Beasts, Agent Royale, Zillard King, Cash Or Nothing, etc.). But the public perception will be terrible.
They should have more jackpot machines like Cash Ultimate, which has a 92.67% RTP + a 3% jackpot contribution. A bit of generosity blunts the jackpot drought.
And none of this is to say that Double Bubble Bingo has no generous slot machines. 11 Enchanting Relics has an excellent 96.38% RTP. The Book Of Captain Silver slot sits at a respectable 96.4% RTP. So it’s not like good slots don’t exist at Double Bubble Bingo. Sometimes you have to do some digging.
On the Slingo side, the majority of the games are right around 95% RTP. Not too exciting, but not terrible. The weird part is when they present a range of RTPs for ill-defined reasons!
Many players will ask: Why Book Of Slingo has a massive, ambiguous 1.38% range between its lowest and highest RTP? Why do we see other content in Slingo Big Wheel? And again, in Slingo Da Vinci Diamonds? Were these just copied/pasted from the manufacturer, who offers a range?
The correct way to explain RTP ranges is to give specific circumstances when the RTP may drop. For example, they do this for blackjack side bet RTPs; why not explain it here? That’s just sloppy. And they need to be more apparent to their customers.
The Table Games and the Live Casino are fine, with all the basics covered and a few exotic options thrown in. Full marks there.
Bonuses
The Bonus Offers are goodโฆ. Downright generous at times. There doesn’t seem to be a rollover on the welcome bonus offers. For most of them, you opt-in, wager the minimum amount required (usually ยฃ10, win or lose), and then claim the bonus. No rollovers. The main Double Bubble Bingo sign-up offer is between ยฃ50 Of Free Bingo Tickets or 50 Free Spins.
Deposit and withdrawal methods include Visa Debit, Visa Electron, Maestro UK, and Apple Pay. These are a reasonable array of options.
Given all this, the primary source of the poor TrustPilot score comes down to insufficient support. Questionable account closures are a common theme among complaints, as well as slow or failed ID validations and slow or failed withdrawals. The ‘never winning’ complaints come down to pushing some bad RTP options on their home and slots page and needing to be more generous on the average RTP of their machines.
If these issues can be fixed, nothing stands in the way of Double Bubble Bingo’s redemption. Improving overall RTP and their support policy/execution is something we’ll be looking for in the future. If we see signs of improvement, we’ll let our readers know.
But is this a recent development? Or has there been a systematic lowering of the RTP in certain games?
Here is the Play’n Go slot Rich Wilde and the Tome of Madness. The RTP from March 31, 2023, was set to 96%. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
Here is the Play’n Go slot, Eye Of Atum. The RTP from March 31, 2023, was set to 96%. The RTP is now in the 94% range.
In short: We have detected a lowering of the RTP in multiple Double Bubble Bingo machines.
But is it just one site, or is this taking place at all of the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites? Let’s have a look at the Double Bubble Bingo sister sites to see if we can find an answer to this disturbing question.
Why Is RTP Tanking A Big Deal?
We live in an era where corporations, particularly the executives at the very top of the food chain, make a disproportionate amount of money compared to ordinary people.
To silently drop the odds by 2% on dozens of real-money online slots and other games just so that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer is disgusting.
It’s the act of a corporation that is led by people who are not only heartless but blatantly cruel. Real money online casinos already print money. The entire system is designed so that their short-term losses are minor compared to the long-term wins.
We cannot condone RTP tanking in times like these when the cost of living is rising, fuel and energy prices are out of control, and regulatory powers do very little to inhibit corporate greed.
Contrary to popular belief: The gambling industry essentially regulates itself. We could use dozens of dirty little tricks that are technically legal but hugely destructive to the rest of the community. So, we do not do these things because that would lead to a collapse of the industry and, simultaneously, a failure of the public trust.
We cannot and will not make RTP tanking the norm. And the gambling community should not stand for putting titans of corporate greed on a pedestal.
Some Alternative Sites Like Double Bubble Bingo
Casinos are making money hand over fist, so we see no excuse for them to partake in RTP dumping, at least not in the UK region. With that in mind, we suggest alternative sites like Double Bubble Bingo that have been consistent and remain well-reviewed by the public.
Our Heart Bingo sister site article is the most helpful read on this particular subject. Three casinos from that article can serve as more reliable UK-licensed sites like Double Bubble Bingo:
- BetVictor (4.4 on TrustPilot in mid-June 2023)
- talkSport (4.2 on TrustPilot in mid-June 2023)
- Heart Bingo (3.9 on TrustPilot in mid-June 2023)
At Sister Casinos, we hope that this trend of RTP tanking will be stopped in its tracks and that the gambling community will not give patronage to those who engage in such greedy practices.