Whether you realize it or not, a casino’s software plays a huge role in the experience you ultimately have. The games you play, the rules, payouts, how fast or slow the games run, and to some extent, the promotions, are all a byproduct of the software the casino chooses to use.
So instead of choosing a blackjack casino based on their promotions or playthrough requirements, a better approach is to figure out which software company you like the most. Most software companies power multiple blackjack casinos, too. This gives you the opportunity to find a casino that has all the important bases covered, such as support, security, trust and deposit options, but without having to give up on what you like about their software. Furthermore, once you find a casino and get settled in, you can always take a part of your bankroll to another casino using the same software company merely to ‘bonus hunt.’ You won’t miss a beat playing their blackjack games, since you’ll be familiar with the layout, lobby, games and rules, and you can try to earn free money at the same time. Who wouldn’t like that?
So with that in mind what you’ll find below are the biggest and best software providers, followed by an explanation of what separates one software company from the next. Read on to learn more.
Blackjack Software Providers
There are multiple software providers. However, only a few ever make it big in the i-gaming industry. The following is a list of providers that have, or are on their way. Read on to get an overview of each software company. The links will take you to pages where we cover each company in more detail.
Microgaming Casinos
Microgaming – The Microgaming company is the granddaddy of all software providers. They’ve been around the longest, since 1994, and have set a standard that few companies can come close to matching. For blackjack players they have nearly 20 games, and when you factor in their multiple variations for each game, you have a library of over 40 blackjack games to choose from. These games can be played via download, Flash, mobile or live dealer casino.
Playtech Casinos
If Microgaming is the granddaddy, I think that would make Playtech the ‘daddy’ of all casino providers. They’ve been in business since 1999 and power some of the largest online casinos including Bet35, William Hill and Sky. Their general casino comes with 90+ games, 9+ of which are dedicated to blackjack players. One of Playtech’s claim to fames is their live dealer games. So in addition to the standard (video) blackjack games, you can play blackjack that’s dealt by European, Asian or Playboy Bunny (women) dealers.
WGS Casinos
Wager Gaming Systems is a lesser known software company. Part of this could be attributed to their change of names over the years. They were once known as Odds On Gaming, then Vegas Technology when they were merged with English Harbour Gaming Ventures. When that company bowed out of the market, they rebranded themselves as Wager Gaming Systems. They only power 2 casinos, but they do have an ok variety of blackjack games and promotions.
RTG Casinos
Realtime Gaming is a well-known software provider. RTG is known for their games, such as their Real Series slots. In addition, players will be able to participate in large welcome bonuses and choose from 7 blackjack variations. RTG casinos offer their own mobile blackjack games that’s compatible with Android and iOS operating systems.
NuWorks Casinos
NuWorks is a relatively new and unheard of software provider. They’re a division of Realtime Gaming, which is why you’ll notice a similarity in their games, graphics and game play if you play at one of their casinos. Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of the similarities end. NuWorks casinos do not have Flash, mobile or live dealer casinos. So at this point only Windows users can sign up to play. There is only 1 blackjack game, too, and 3 casinos to choose from. There are a lot of improvements that can be made, which we cover in our article.
What Makes One Software Provider Better Than Another?
Software providers are not created equal. The software company that a casino operator chooses to work with will dictated what they can offer their players, ultimately making them better, or worse, than their competitors. Here are a couple of examples of what may be different from one casino to the next.
- Games – This can come down to the number of blackjack games there are, as well as variations, table limits, progressive jackpots and bonus games. One software provider might have better odds and payouts than another, too.
- More deposit options – Many software providers help casino operators find and develop relationships with banking / processing companies. That’s one of the reasons why you’ll see one casino with 20+ banking options, and another casino with 5.
- Available platforms – You’ll notice that casinos that use Realtime Gaming only have download and Flash casinos, while the casinos that use Microgaming have downloads, Flash casinos, mobile and live dealer games. So if you have the option as to where you play, and you have a specific platform in mind, the software provider will make a difference.
- Number of casinos to choose from – The bigger the software provider, the more options you should have for where to play. This won’t make much of a difference in terms of games, software and deposit options (in many cases) since all casinos are the same in that aspect, but it will when it comes to promotions like welcome bonuses and VIP offers.
You’ll notice that different software providers will also look different, play different, be slower or faster, have different settings and so on. These are differences that won’t impact your decision as to where to play – too much. At least not to the same degree that the above points will.
