RTG Blackjack Casinos

Realtime Gaming, often abbreviated as RTG, was first established in Georgia in 1998. They eventually moved to Costa Rica in 2007, about the same time the company was sold to  Hastings International.

One thing that Realtime Gaming casinos are known for is that they are one of the few software providers and casinos to accept US players. Their casinos are also known to have large welcome bonuses, usually between $1-$5,000.

Unfortunately, Realtime Gaming is also known to have relaxed terms for their operators. What ends up happening is that many operators do not take care of their customers’ complaints, deposits fast enough or flat out scams their players. So you’ll notice that many RTG casinos are blacklisted on many casino portals. (We don’t list them here because they’re a waste of your/our time.) I point this out only to warn you and encourage you to be selective when choosing a Realtime Gaming casino. Stick to our recommend casinos, or make sure you do your research if you’re trying to find a casino on your own. Do that and I guarantee that you’ll have a good time playing blackjack online.

Most, if not all of the Realtime Gaming casinos you come across will have 7 blackjack variations to choose from. All of them are available in the download, but only 2-3 are available in the Flash casino. So that’s something to keep in mind when choosing what platform to play from.

The following are the blackjack games that Realtime Gaming has, and the rules for each one.

Blackjack

The Classic Blackjack game has a .56 percent house edge.

• You can double down on any two cards.
• You can double down after splitting, except for aces.
• You can split pairs to 3 hands, except for aces.
• You will receive one card dealt to split aces.
• The dealer hits soft 17.

Perfect Pairs

Perfect Pairs will have the same rules as Classic Blackjack, except that you can play for the Perfect Pair side bet. This will increase the house edge to 3.8 percent. It pays based on the following outcomes:

• Suited pair – 25:1
• Same colored pair – 12:1
• Different colored pair – 6:1

European Blackjack

European Blackjack has a .57 percent house edge.

• The dealer stands on hard/soft 17s.
• You can double down only on hard 9-11.
• You can double after splitting only on hard 9-11.
• You can split pairs up to 3 hands, except for aces.
• You will receive one card dealt to split aces.

Face Up 21

Face Up 21 has a .85 percent house edge.

• Blackjack pays even money.
• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You can double down on hard 9-11 only.
• You can double after splitting on 9-11 only.
• You can split pairs up to 3 hands, except for aces.

Match Play 21

Match Play 21 is like Spanish 21. You have no ‘10’ cards, but only 10-point cards. The house edge in this game is .81 percent. You’ll notice that there are several special payouts; this is because of the removal of the ‘10’ cards.

• Match play 21 – 40:1
• 777 of spades – 3:1
• 678 of spades – 3:1
• 7+ card 21 – 3:1
• 777 suited (non-spades) – 2:1
• 678 suited (non-spades) – 2:1
• 6-card 21 – 2:1
• Any 777 (not suited) – 3:2
• Any 678 (not suited) – 3:2
• 5-card 21 – 3:2

The rules –

• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You win with natural 21.
• You automatically wins with 21.
• You can double down on any two cards.
• You can double down on any number of cards following a split.
• You can late surrender after the dealer checks for 21.
• You can surrender after doubling down.
• You can split pairs up to 3 times.

Pontoon

Pontoon has a .38 percent house edge.

• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You can double down on 2, 3 or 4 card-hands.
• If your double down equals less than 15, you must draw another card.
• You can hit after doubling down.
• You can split pairs up to 3 hands, except for aces.
• You can double after splitting.
• The dealer wins all ties.

Super 21

Super 21 has a 1.2 percent house edge.

• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You can double down at any time, even after drawing.
• You can double after splitting.
• You can surrender.
• You can surrender after double downing.
• You can surrender after splitting.
• You can surrender after hitting.
• You can split pairs up to 3 hands, except for aces.

Realtime Gaming software is available in one of two platforms:

• Download – The downloads are available only to players using Windows operating systems. The upside is that you get access to all the blackjack games, as well as any other casino game you’d want to play.
• Flash – The Flash casino is available to anyone using Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems that have the latest (free) copy of Flash installed onto their computer. The downside to the Flash casino is that you’ll only be able to play classic blackjack and 1-2 variations.

Right now you won’t find a RTG casino that has live dealer blackjack. The only casino that has mobile casino games is Bovada. It doesn’t look like this was developed by Realtime Gaming, based on what I could gather from their site and the other casinos. So I’m assuming this is an in-house operating from Bovada (which is great!). So you’ll be able to play a blackjack game on your Android or iOS phone and tablet.