Playtech Blackjack Casinos

Playtech has been around the i-gaming industry for some time now – since 1999 – and is only second (or third) to Microgaming in terms of length of time in business, size and games. They work with some of the largest brands in online gambling including Bet365, William Hill and Sky, helping power their casino, poker, sports and bingo products.

One thing Playtech is known for is their live dealer games, which they were the first to introduce. This was (and still is) a big change for an industry used to playing on what appears to be video games. Better yet, you can play European, Asian and Playboy Bunny games, on both your computer and mobile devices.

In addition to their live dealer games, they have 90+ casino games, 9 of which are blackjack variations. They don’t have nearly as many games as Microgaming, but more than the other software providers and casinos that you’ll come across. So from the perspective of a blackjack player, a Playtech casino would make for a solid addition (or backup) to your favorite Microgaming casino.

So what you’ll find below are some details to Playtech as a whole, in regards to playing blackjack. I cover the games you can expect to find, as well as the platforms you can play blackjack on.

Here are the blackjack games made available by Playtech and the rules. Keep in mind that just because a casino uses Playtech software, that doesn’t mean that all 9 games will be available. So that might mean you have to do some shopping around to find the specific game(s) you want to play.

Blackjack

Classic blackjack has a .4 percent house edge.

• This is played with 6 decks.
• The dealer stands on soft 17.
• You may double on first pair of (any) cards.
• You may double once after splitting.
• You may only split once.
• You cannot surrender.

Single Deck Blackjack

• This is played with 1 deck.
• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You cannot double after splitting.
• You can only double on 10-11.
• You can only split once.
• The dealer peeks for blackjack with a 10 or ace showing.
• You cannot surrender.

Blackjack Surrender

Blackjack Surrender has a .32 percent house edge.

• This is played with 6 decks.
• The dealer stands on soft 17.
• You can double on any (first) 2 cards.
• You can double after splitting.
• You can only split once.
• The dealer peeks for blackjack.
• Late surrender available.

Blackjack Switch

Blackjack Switch has a .17 percent house edge.

• This is played with 6 decks.
• A dealer 22 pushes all hands except a player natural blackjack.
• Blackjack pays even money.
• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You can double down on any two cards.
• You can double after split.
• You can only split once.
• You will receive one card to split aces.

Pontoon

Pontoon has a .38 percent house edge.

• This game is played with 6 decks.
• The dealer hits soft 17.
• You can double down on any combination of cards.
• If you double downs and make a <15 hand you must draw another card.
• You can hit after double down.
• You can split pairs up to 3 hands (except aces).
• You can double down after splitting.
• The dealer wins all ties.

21 Duel

21 Duel has a 3.8 percent house edge.

The 21 Duel side bet pays when the player makes a pair (3:1) or 3-of-a-kind (20:1).  To determine their hand the player combines their up card with the two board cards.

Super Match Side Bet

This is a side bet in Blackjack Switch and has a 2.55 percent house edge. It covers all 4 cards dealt to the player and pays based on the following outcomes:

• 4 of a kind – 40:1
• 2 pair – 8:1
• 3 of a kind – 5:1
• 1 pair – 1:1

Lucky Blackjack

Lucky Blackjack has a 5.01 percent house edge. In this game players do nothing but place their bet and choose the outcome of the dealer’s hand. You can choose between 17-21, blackjack or bust. A single deck is used. The dealer stands on hard/soft 17s. Players are paid based on the following outcomes:

• Blackjack – 19:1
• Non-natural 21 – 12:1
• 20 – 4:1
• 19 – 6:1
• 18 – 6:1
• 17 – 5:1
• Bust – 2:1

Perfect Pair Blackjack

Perfect Pair Blackjack has a .4 percent house edge, unless you make the side bet, in which case the house edge is 3.9 percent.

• This is played with 6 decks.
• You can play up to 5 hands.
• The dealer stands on hard/soft 17s.
• You can double down on any two cards.
• You can double after splitting.
• You can split up to 4 hands.
• You will receive one card to split aces.

Payouts are based on the following outcomes:

• Suited pair – 25:1
• Colored pair – 12:1
• Non colored / suited pair – 6:1

Progressive Blackjack

The Progressive Blackjack game has a .4 percent house edge.

• It’s played with 6 decks.
• You can make up to 5 hands.
• The dealer stands on hard/soft 17s.
• You can double down on any two cards.
• You can double after splitting.
• You can split up to 4 hands.
• You will receive one card to split aces.

All of these games will have a table limit of $2-$100. This might vary from casino to casino, though.

You can play blackjack at a Playtech casino using one of the following platforms:

• Download – This option is available to Windows users only. Using the download means you’ll have access to the entire library of blackjack games, including live dealer.
• Flash – The Flash casino is available to players using Windows, Mac or Linux. The downside to this option is that fewer games are available. However, the upside is not having to download a file/graphic intense program to your computer.
• Mobile – Playtech has a child-company, Mobenga, that is a mobile open-framework that is designed to integrate content and games. Operators that use Playtech have access to this framework, but whether they use it or not is a different story altogether. So mobile casino games will be hit or miss depending on the casino you sign up to.
• Live Dealer – Play blackjack with both European and Asian dealers. It’s also possible to play live dealer games on your mobile phone or tablet.

You can turn off the animations for a faster game, change the card sizes and turn off warnings. All of these things make for a unique and much faster blackjack game.