Mr Play is a modern-looking sportsbook and casino site with a distinctive brand. Part of the Aspire Global family, it has been providing slots gaming, traditional casino games and betting on 35+ sports for a little over seven years.
The site operates through UKGC and MGA licences, and is technically owned by Marketplay Ltd, based in Malta, but is powered and operated by Aspire Global, one of the biggest names in the business, which has been providing casino and sports betting platforms since 2005.
Mr Play was launched at the end of 2017, as a casino site, but added a sportsbook in 2019 and that has become a big part of its brand. That brand, represented by a familiar handlebar moustache, is one of the more distinctive in the gambling sector, and it has been well integrated into this site, adding a touch of humour to the home page.
The site also boasts the licensing and other credentials you’d expect from an AG site, with links to Be Gamble Aware, BetBlocker and GamCare displayed at the foot of the home page, along with game fairness certification from independent auditor iTechLabs.
The account registration process at Mr Play involves two short e-forms so doesn’t take too long, although you’ll need to complete the KYC process before your first withdrawal. This should just involve uploading copies of government ID and proof of address, but Mr Play retains the right to ask for proof of income, in which case the usual 24-48 hour processing time may be extended.
The design at Mr Play feels slick and modern, but the layout is not ideal, particularly if you’re using a mobile device, as things can get a bit cluttered. Much of the home page is taken up with the welcome bonus offer, and there are links to Casino, Live Casino, Promotions and Sports, but not many search options, as you can only filter by Video Slots, Featured Games, All Games, New Games and sometimes a seasonal category, or Scratch Cards and Classic Games if you use the side menu.
Slots dominate the Casino section at Mr Play, and there’s a little under 2,000 of them to choose from, drawn from around 50 game providers, including big names such as Play N Go, Evolution, Microgaming, iSoftBet and Red Tiger, though Play N Go and Pragmatic Play have by far the biggest representation. That means you’ll see the most popular titles from those two providers such as Wolf Gold, Book of Dead and Sweet Bonanza, but it wasn’t easy to find games like Gonzo’s Quest and Immortal Romance.
That may also be down to the inadequacy of the search facility. There is no option to filter searches by provider, RTP, theme or any other factor. It is technically possible to carry out a form of provider search as entering the name of a company in the search bar will bring up some results for that name, but even then, you are limited to the top ten search results.
That poor UI extends to the jackpot section, or rather the lack of jackpot section. There are around 50 jackpot games here, including progressives such as the Jackpot King series and Downton Abbey from Skywind, but you have to have the patience to search for them. Finally, it’s worth noting that many slot games including all progressive jackpots don’t contribute towards the welcome bonus play-through.
We found just a handful of traditional table games, but the live casino section is a lot more impressive. There are over 160 games here, with Evolution inevitably accounting for the bulk of them. We found 53 blackjack, 14 roulette and 23 baccarat options, along with a few game shows, Andar Bahar, Sic Bo and three poker games. Unlike the Mr Play slots section, all of the live casino game icons display minimum and maximum stakes, which is handy information.
If you’re into your sports betting, Mr Play has impressive coverage, considering it was not originally a sports betting site. It offers betting on around 35 sports, ranging from soccer to Alpine skiing, although the market depth is not that impressive. Even top international soccer games or fixtures in the Premier League have fewer than 100 available markets, and random checks of WTA tennis matches and NBA games found fewer than 5 and 25 respectively.
Mr Play does offer in-play betting, but there doesn’t seem to be much live streaming available, which will severely limit the site’s appeal for those like to bet live.
The overall impression of the sports betting platform is that it is rough around the edges. As with the casino section, the sports betting UI is a little cluttered, and although there’s a potentially useful Magazine section, which provides betting advice and previews, when we checked, we found that this hadn’t been updated since the 2022 World Cup.
Mr Play is aimed squarely at the mainstream slots and sports betting markets, so you won’t find any bingo games here. Besides the welcome bonus, there’s a handful of additional offers under the Promotions heading, but these are mostly aimed at sports betting customers, though the site is part of the Pragmatic Play Drops and Wins promotion, so casino players have a crack at a share of a £30,000 prize pool each day.
Unlike with some modern casino sites, Mr Play retains access to downloadable apps as well as the ability to play through a mobile browser. We didn’t encounter any problems with browser play on iOS or Android, aside from the home page being fiddly to navigate.
Surprisingly, given Aspire Global’s experience and reputation in the industry, the customer support provision at Mr Play is not great. It’s not easy to find, for a start, and you have to scroll down to the small Contact Us link at the foot of the home page. There is a standard FAQ section, and an email link, which the site claims is monitored 24/7, but there is no live chat facility and no telephone contact option.
At first glance, Mr Play makes a good impression. The branding is excellent and the platform feels like a comprehensive modern site, with a big slot game library, an impressive sportsbook and an array of bonuses targeted at the modern casino customer.
Take a look under the hood, however, and things are not so impressive. The layout is cluttered, particularly on mobile screens, and the search facility is terrible. Finding a particular game genre or theme is extremely time consuming, and often players will be left no choice but to scroll through all the titles in the All Games section. Customer service is also lacking, by modern standards and if you have a query, you’re left waiting for an email reply.
Sports betting fans are better served than casino players, with an impressive selection of markets, but even there, the lack of attention to detail (untidy layout, magazine section that hasn’t been updated for three years, esports events listed individually rather than in one place) detracts from the positives.
Mr Play is not a bad site, but it provides an uneven product that doesn’t quite live up to the branding, and AG have some work to do to bring it up to scratch.
2nd & 3rd deposits of £20+: 50% slot bonus (up to £75)
35 x bonus or 50x spins winnings. Non slot games, progressive jackpots and some other games excluded.
Aspire’s Responsible Gaming document is standard across all Aspire Global sites, but Mr Play’s presentation of it in a pop up is particularly user friendly. At first glance it only appears to offer the mandated safer gambling tools (deposit limits, reality check, take a break and self exclusion) but on closer examination it becomes clear that’s possible to set a daily wagering and/or loss limit (albeit only with the help of a chat operator). Regarding self exclusion, players can choose whether it’s just from Mr Play or fro all Aspire Global sites.