Happistar Review
120% Welcome Bonus up to ₹10,000
New Customers Only. 18+. T&C Apply.
HappiStar is an online casino that also offers a sportsbook for casual punters. The site has been online since 2014 and has gathered an audience primarily in Asian countries. Recently, HappiStar has begun to welcome customers from India as well.
The brand is operated by Blackbox Group B.V., a company registered and licensed in Curacao.
It appears, HappiStar is originally from the Philippines, where they also used to be licensed. It’s not possible to establish whether they still hold a PAGCOR license, though the Curacao license is more widely recognised and accepted and therefore more useful.
In any case, the casino offers a great choice of games for customers from India and the live casino also includes some favourite Indian games.
The casino welcome bonus offers up to INR 80,000 for your first three deposits, so be sure to read our thorough review to find out whether HappiStar might be the casino for you.
Security and licensing – How trustworthy is HappiStar?
Whilst the Curacao gambling license isn’t our favourite, it shall suffice here. Most of the time we judge an online casino on its own merit anyway and no license will change that. The benefit of a solid gambling license is, of course, additional security for customers, who will have a jurisdiction to reach out to in case they encounter problems with HappiStar.
Since the Curacao jurisdiction isn’t the most reliable in that regard, customers at HappiStar can still reach out to third-party forums to make complaints or potentially receive help if they do have issues at this online casino in India.
Of course, we certainly hope that won’t be necessary. If we had doubts about the safety and security at HappiStar, we would definitely mention that here. Most reviewers seem to have a favourable opinion about them, and we have also seen some positive customer comments, who seem happy to play games at HappiStar.
We did find mention that payouts can be slow at times but that’s not necessarily a reason not to trust them. Cancelled or withheld withdrawals would be.
We found no hint of fraudulent activity from HappiStar and they have been around long enough now that such things would have become known.
If you are in any way concerned whether this is a safe choice for you, we recommend testing them thoroughly, do exhaustive research and don’t claim the full bonus when trying them out.
Welcome Offer and Promotions
Which leads us nicely to the welcome bonuses and promotions on offer at HappiStar. The casino has a welcome offer for new players, which will give you up to INR 80,000 for your first three deposits and an additional 30 free spins for a specified slot game.
Here is how this is broken down:
- 1st deposit = 120% and up to INR 30,000 plus 30 free spins – the wagering is 16x the deposit and bonus
- 2nd deposit = 75% and up to INR 25,000 – the wagering is 13x the deposit and bonus
- 3rd deposit = 50% and up to INR 25,000 – the wagering is 10x the deposit and bonus
Whilst we never particularly like to see the deposit and bonus wagered, the amount in total is still within reason and we have certainly much worse. Interestingly, slot games contribute 100% towards wagering, whilst live games still contribute 40%, which is quite generous.
Free spin winnings must be wagered 40x before a withdrawal becomes possible.
Additionally, there is a sports welcome bonus, which offers new customers a match deposit of up to INR 30,000 for the first three deposits plus 70 free spins, which is slightly odd but why not.
The wagering requirements are similar in comparison, but there we find them exceedingly difficult to manage as you must complete your wagering on sports bets and odds of 1.5 or higher.
We certainly prefer the casino welcome bonus here.
Besides those two offers, there are also other promotions running, most of which appear to be temporary such a special reload offers, tournaments or cashback promotions. There is also a friend-referral bonus, which is nice.
If you a sports betting enthusiast, you will also find cashback or free bet offers, so nobody should feel left out here.
Games and products HappiStar
HappiStar doesn’t offer us the biggest casino we’ve seen recently. Indeed, they don’t work with dozens of different providers to bring us a vast library of thousands of games. Instead, the choice is more limited but of excellent quality. We do prefer quality over quantity anyway, so there are no complaints here.
You can look forward to games from Blueprint, NetEnt, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play, Play’n GO, Thunderkick, Habanero and a few others.
You’ll find the usual selection of excellent slots from these providers as well all your favourite table games such as roulette, baccarat, blackjack and casino poker games. Again, don’t expect tons of games here, but you won’t be bored either.
There is also a ‘Games’ section, which includes arcade-like games of various kinds. It’s a bit of an odd one as well, but we don’t mind the variety.
Unfortunately, jackpot games are not available at all. Neither the smaller local jackpots such as Divine Fortune nor the bigger progressive ones such as Mega Fortune.
That’s one major let-down at this casino and if you’re hunting for big wins, you will have to look elsewhere.
There is, of course, a live casino as well, which hosts games from Evolution Gaming, Ezugi or Pragmatic Play among others. You’ll find a great selection of classics and favourite Evolution Gaming specials, which includes Deal or No Deal or Monopoly and such games.
Of course, Andar Bahar and Teen Patti are also available, so players from India won’t be missing out here.
Finally, HappiStar offers a solid sportsbook with over two dozen sports to bet on. This includes popular cricket events, current kabaddi tournament and all the football leagues you could ask for. The sportsbook is easily suited for casual gamblers, though not necessarily for anyone seriously invested as the odds aren’t always the best and limits are on the lower side.
Payment methods at HappiStar
Unfortunately, there is no separate banking page at HappiStar. The main source as to which payment options are available here is available at the bottom of the homepage, where they appear via their logos.
Banking methods at HappiStar include Net Banking, PayTM, UPI, credit cards, crypto, iWallet, bank transfers and as well as a few others.
A few more details are available via the link at the bottom of the homepage, which leads you directly towards the related FAQ section. But aside from learning the withdrawal limit for Net Banking, which is set at INR 100,000, there is not much more for you to find out here.
Further information is difficult to come by and requires further digging. As such, the terms and conditions mention that a cumulative withdrawal amount of USD 500 (or currency equivalent) will result in a KYC check being conducting. This would be the case sooner or later anyway, but this is a much lower limit than we see at most other casinos.
As it is, we usually recommend that you have your ID verified soon after signing up at a casino as it saves hassle down the line and makes later withdrawals easier and faster.
24/7 customer service
Whilst HappiStar isn’t a huge online casino, they still manage to offer customer service around the clock. That is convenient and something we always appreciate, especially when the customer base is international.
Customers from India will have to rely on the English customer support, but for most that will likely not be a problem.
When you click on the two speech bubbles at the bottom of the page, you’ll be given the option of contacting the support team via live chat, Telegram or email. We usually recommend live chat, though mobile users with a Telegram account may find this the more convenient option.
There is also the previously mention FAQ section, which is small but covers some important subjects. You can easily browse it for further details plus there are several other pages and the terms and conditions, which provide additional information about many topics.
Design, usability and mobile play
The HappiStar casino has a very dark purple background with highlight in light blue and pink. It’s a fun and welcoming design, which we like though it may not be for everyone.
The layout is classic, the filter options useful, especially since you can also filter according to provider. And the usability is not going to give you any troubles.
The sportsbook can even be customised according to your preferences, which is something you don’t get for the casino, but it is generally not needed either. It would be nice to have the option to save your favourite games, but since this isn’t a massive casino, it probably won’t be too much of a bother.
If you prefer to play mobile, you will find the site fully optimised to mobile browsers and find the mobile page fully functional and easy to use.
There is no separate app, though that never bothered us.
Verdict: A high-quality online casino that is sadly lacking in big jackpot games
We consider HappiStar a high-quality online casino because they have an excellent quality of games from some of our favourite providers. Sure, there are other casino that offer vastly more extensive game libraries, but are you truly likely to play all these games, many of which are awfully alike?
Plus, there aren’t many developers that make slots of better quality than Play’n GO, NetEnt or Thunderkick. Yes, we can name a few, of course, but these should always be included.
We are certainly happy with the suite of games provided here with the only caveat that progressive jackpot games are not part of the offering.
If there is one reason not to play at HappiStar then it would be that, and only if you believe that you’re the one to be the lucky winner of such a jackpot.
Beyond that, HappiStar provides for everything casual players and punters usually look for and you get a solid selection of bonuses and promotions on top of that.
Let’s summarise what we liked about them:
- Small but great online casino
- Accepts customers from India and deposits in INR
- Solid sportsbook for casual punters
- Convenient payment options
- User-friendly website
- Variety of bonuses and promotions
- 24/7 live chat
What would we like to see improved:
- No progressive jackpot games
- No separate banking page
- Only Curacao license available
- Limited to very few countries