mayfairsalon.com

Bit of advice I wish someone had told me years back, especially for anyone trying a site they've not used before.

Before you put any serious money in, deposit a small amount, play a little, then request a withdrawal of a tenner or so. Treat it as a test run.

What it tells you: whether their KYC is reasonable or a nightmare, how long an actual cashout takes start to finish, and whether they try any nonsense with pending windows or 'verify again' loops. Costs you next to nothing and you learn more about a site in one small cashout than from any review.

Did this recently on a new UKGC site, small test withdrawal paid in about 4 hours by e-wallet, KYC was painless, so I was happy to use it properly after. Saved me the stress of finding out the hard way with a big balance stuck in pending. Anyone else do this as standard?

This is sound advice and I tell new members the same.

A test withdrawal is the single best way to vet an operator. Reviews tell you what happened to someone else, a test cashout tells you what happens to you, with your bank, your card, your name on the account.

One addition: get your KYC done during the test, not when there's a big balance riding on it. Verify early on the small one and the proper cashouts later are usually quick because the hard bit's already cleared.

Agreed, and it's a decent responsible gambling habit too, not just a payments check. Forces you to actually withdraw rather than letting a balance sit there tempting you to play it back.

Would add: do the test on the same payment method you plan to use for real. A site can be quick on e-wallet and slow as you like on debit card, so testing the wrong method tells you nothing useful.

never thought to do this, makes total sense though.

quick q, does requesting a small withdrawal like that mess with any welcome bonus wagering? worried i'd cash out a tenner and accidentally forfeit something. or is that only if you withdraw the deposit itself before the wagering's done?

Lou, good question and it's the bit people trip on. If you've an active bonus with wagering still to clear, withdrawing can forfeit the bonus and any winnings from it, depends on the terms.

So do your test withdrawal on real cash before claiming a bonus, or after you've met the wagering. Read the offer terms first. On most sites a plain deposit-and-cashout with no bonus attached is clean and won't cost you anything.