Online Casino Game Reviews

Quite an old game and it shows, mobile availability is limited seeing that it is a flash game and hasn’t (yet, RTG?) been converted to HTML5. The clue in that one was that is it a Realtime Gaming video poker product. The game looks like a video poker machine at a land based casino with faux buttons, coin slot and a screen - quite charming. All that there is to tell you that it’s All American is the logo with a burst of fireworks as a background. It looks decidedly 1980s. You’ll immediately notice from the paytable that it is, in fact, a Jacks or Better video poker with a slightly tweaked paytable: the 2 pairs payout is reduced with the slack going towards an increase in the 4 of a kind payout.

All American Poker is a one hand style video poker only, as opposed to the 10 hand, etc. you sometimes find with other games. The play is simple and the paytable easy to understand. This is a good game for beginners to practice on. Playing casino games online generally is good for beginners as there is no pressure and you can take all the time you like as it’s just between you and the machine. Old hands at gambling use online casinos for secrecy and convenience of being available anytime and anywhere, more than anything else.

Playing the maximum of 5 coins, you have the chance of winning 4,000 coins if you’re lucky enough to land a Royal Flush. Video Poker is the kind of game where you make your own luck, will you be brave enough to break a Flush for a Royal Flush? Or throw away a pair? 4,000 coins in winnings says probably not.

Features

Other than progressive jackpot video pokers, these games generally don’t have many, or any, features. All American Poker, though, at least has a gamble feature. It’s a beautifully simple system: 4 cards are dealt face down, one face up. You pick one of the 4 face down cards and if it’s higher in value than the 5th, face up card then you double your money. Picked a lower card? You lose your winnings and start a new hand.

A single, 52 card deck is used on this video poker, adding a little bit of predictability to the game. You get your 5 cards, choose which to keep and which to discard in order to maximize your chances. Finding the balance between too risky play, for maximum rewards, and the safe bet, holding on to pairs better than Jacks, is the challenge while you figure out your long game for maximum rewards. Grab one of our freebie offers and get the balance figured out before you spend your own money playing for the big wins.

Blackjack can be a fast paced and exciting game to play. In the land based environment this can be a little intimidating and so most people play straight up for the 21s and never find the courage to explore the other betting options that the game offers. For this reason, they turn to online casinos to hone their blackjack skills and learn about the options at hand.

A particularly intriguing outside bet being the Perfect Pairs bet. With perfect pairs, in the online casino and land based environment, you have what the gambling community refers to an outside bet, what this means is that it is independent of your original, or in this case Blackjack bet. Win or lose at the blackjack (get closest to 21) game, your outside bet could pay off handsomely. In a standard hand of blackjack your payout is 2:1 for beating the dealer and 2.5:1 for hitting a blackjack (21 in 2 cards, i.e. an Ace and either a 10 or a picture), but with an outside bet for a perfect pair your payout possibilities increase massively! You’re now looking at these payout possibilities:

• Any pair of different colors: 6:1
• Any pair of the same color: 12:1
• Any suited pair, i.e. same shape: 25:1

That’s an incredible benefit and the risk need only be a quarter of your in game bet. The odds of hitting the perfect pair are pretty low and depends entirely on the number of packs being used to deal from. The standard for this type of game is 6 packs but RTG does not disclose the number of packs used in their online casino version, with research suggesting that it could be as low as 4.

Features

Blackjack is a very straightforward game, you’ve just got to get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over, or busting out as the act is called. But with outside bets like the Perfect Pairs option featured on this casino game, the odds change dramatically. With just a quarter extra being wagered, the payout possibility increases massively.

The key to blackjack is to be aware of the dealers stand limit (usually 16 or 17, it means the point where a dealer is forced to stand and cannot draw any further cards) and always keep it in mind when choosing to draw extra cards or stand firm. In the standard form of Blackjack the winners are usually the more conservative players among us. But when it comes to outside bet options, the opportunities are irresistible! It’s something you’ve got to try at  least once and try for long enough to actually hit a perfect pair, and bask in the glory of that outside bet come true!

Roulette, the sexiest casino game online and off. The second most portrayed casino game in the movies, after craps for some reason, the popularity of online roulette is unwavering. Table games are generally more popular than videoslots on television and that’s surely because of the interactivity and social aspects. Video slots are more of a solo game.

Like any Roulette, you’ve got to take your picks by placing your bets on the appropriate numbers or preset combinations on the table. Your aim is to predict which pocket on the roulette wheel the ball will land in. The wheel is spun, the ball is released and when it comes to a stop, the pocket that holds the ball is the winner.

The main difference between American Roulette and other forms of the casino game is that American Roulette has two 0 pockets: a single zero (0) and a double zero (00). This has the effect of reducing the straight up odds from 37:1 to 38:1.

The gameplay and animations of Realtime Gaming’s iteration of the game is very lifelike. Coupled with the sound effects, this game has the effect of making you feel as though you’re playing at an actual roulette table. Which is great because roulette is a game that you want to fee a part of, except for the fact that the speed at which the game is played in the land based environment can be very intimidating: cue online casinos. Intimation factor gone, the roulette wheel doesn’t spin until you’re ready for it to, giving you enough time to think it through and place your bets.

RTG’s American Roulette offers all the betting options including:

• Singles: where you pick a number or many numbers that you think the ball will land on. My lucky number is 17.
• Ranges: where you pick from a range of numbers on the roulette table. You can choose the first 12, second 12 or third 12, or the first 18 or second 18. Remember, these ranges don’t include the zeros.
• Red or Black: the numbers on the roulette table alternate between red and black. You can pick one of these. Again, these bets don’t include the zeros so you aren’t playing at 50% odds, even though your payout will be.
• Odd or Even: you can choose to place a bet on any odd or any even number being hit.
• Columns: the table is split into 3 columns of 12 pockets each You can choose 1 or 2 of these to bet on.
• Pairs or Quads: you can have a single bet split between any number and it’s neighbor, making a pair, or all neighbors, making a quad. This has the effect of reducing your bet amount and increasing your odds of landing a win.

Seems like a lot? Fear not, RTG’s American Roulette has a comprehensive instruction guide that will help you to master this and any other Roulette game online.

Grab a free chip from our Other Games page or through an online casino review and give it a go. Take your time and learn the bets before playing online roulette for real money.

For an overall on Roulette, please read our American Roulette piece. This review will focus on the differences between American Roulette and European Roulette, and some bits on what makes RTG’s European Roulette stand out from other software providers’ derivatives.

The main difference between this classic type and the American version of roulette is the odds. European Roulette offers a greater return to player percentage and, therefore, a lower house edge. The reason for this is the simple fact that European Roulette has 1 less pocket on the roulette wheel in which the ball could land. American Roulette has two 0s: a single zero (0) and a double zero (00), whereas European Roulette has only the single zero (0).

Another important difference to note is the preset bet options. European Roulette contains French roulette’s oval racetrack of bet options which sport the Tiers du Cylindre, Voisins du Zero and Orphans.

What the?

• Voisins du Zero: Neighbors of zero - covers 17 pockets around the 17 on the roulette wheel including the 0. The numbers are 0, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32 and 35.
• Tiers du Cylindre: Third of the wheel - covers a section of the wheel directly opposite the neighbors of zero. These are 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33 and 36.
• Orphans: Everything not covered by the two above, i.e. 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31 and 34.

These bets are too complicated to place individually and would take a lot of time, especially to an inexperienced hand, and so the option exists in European and French roulette games to simply place a bet on one of the three options on the betting racetrack on the roulette table.

In online roulette the computer will split your bet onto the appropriate numbers, from which you can then choose to add or remove as you wish, and that’s a neat feature that you’ll only find at online casinos.

This as an exciting casino game. Using a standard European Roulette table, Betsoft’s Common Draw Roulette wheel holds 36 numbered pockets and a single zero (0) giving online gamblers a better chance of winning than on American Roulette.

What’s different about this game is in the name, the draw is common. Whereas normal online casino roulette games have a random number generated draw for each individual player and each spin, this game holds a draw every 35 seconds and all players, throughout the world, playing the game take part in the same draw and see the same pocket being hit by the ball. It brings a bit more credibility to the game and there’s some value in the feeling of being a part of the community.

Think of it as a live dealer game, a full decade before it’s time!

Common Draw Roulette is for the intermediate to professional player as there is quite a bit of pressure on players to have your bets placed in time. Having said that, you always have the opportunity to sit out a round and spectate while you make your calculations and pick your roulette strategy.

Another great inclusion that will help towards your roulette strategy is the inclusion of hot and cold numbers. And these are no guess, the game records the last 500 rounds in real time and works out the 5 most common, or hot numbers, and the 5 least common, the cold pockets, and displays these to players at all times.

BetSoft is known to produce some of the most beautiful online casino games in the industry and this golden oldie is no exception. Way ahead of its time in both graphics and gameplay functionality, it’s certainly a game worth playing...if you’re still an instant play or download casino player. The online roulette game is a bit behind modern technology and so doesn’t play on mobile casinos, losing it 2 stars in our 5 star rating system.