VIP Blackjack 1 Review
You'd think a movie called Star Wars would be the first one. When it hit theaters in 1977, that's exactly what it was - a standalone space movie 🚀 with no number anywhere.
Then George Lucas re-released it in 1981 with one new line in the opening crawl: Episode IV. Fans who'd watched it a dozen times found out they'd started in the middle, and the first episode 🎬 didn't show up until 1999.
Pragmatic Play Live went the other way. VIP Blackjack 1 really is the first table in its VIP series, and the only thing crawling across this screen is a stack of chips 🪙 sliding onto burgundy felt.
Gameplay
This is a live table, so the first thing you meet is a person. Once again, I'm not going to talk about design because it's just a streaming game in a studio, so let's get on with it.
The rules are the classic kind. You play against the dealer, not each other, and the aim is a higher count without going past 21.
The RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. is 99.59%, volatility is low, and the max multiplier is 126x. The max win is $116,500 per seat, and bets run from $250 to $6,500 per seat with side bets included (the main bet alone tops out at $5,000). Japanese yen isn’t a currency you can bet with.
Click the "SIT HERE" icon to grab a free seat at any stage of the game. If Multiseat is available, clicking the Seat icon lets you take more than 1, and every seat you hold gets labeled "You".
The game deals from 8 standard 52-card decks.
You place or change bets until the betting timer runs out, then the dealer hands one face-up card to each seat, starting on her left and finishing with herself. Each seat gets a second face-up card, and hers goes face-down.
Cards 2 to 10 count at face value, Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth 10, and an Ace counts as 1 or 11, whichever is more favorable.
An Ace counted as 11 makes a soft hand, so Ace and 5 reads 6 or 16. An opening two-card 21 is Blackjack, the best hand at the table.
Decisions go seat by seat, clockwise from the dealer's left: Hit, Stand, Double or Split. Once everyone's done, she flips her hidden card and draws on 16 or less, standing on all 17s.
You can Double Down on any 2 initial cards, and the Double gets 1 card only. Doubling after a Split is fine too, except on split Aces.
Splits need 2 cards of equal value, with 1 Split per hand.
Aces can be split, but each one gets a single extra card with no Hit, and a 10 on a split Ace counts as 21, not Blackjack. If a Split fails and gets cancelled, the decision reverts to Stand.
Winning hands pay 1 to 1, Blackjack pays 3 to 2, and Insurance pays 2 to 1. A Push sends your bet back to your Balance.
Features
SIDE BETS:
Two optional side bets are available: Perfect Pairs (PP) and 21+3. They pay on their own whether your main hand later wins or loses, but you need a main bet down first.
Winners show up as soon as the first 2 cards land on each hand.
Perfect Pairs
Perfect Pairs pays if your first 2 cards form any pair, and the dealer's hand has no say in it. The max bet is $1,000, and the RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. is 95.9%.
A Perfect Pair (two identical cards, like two Queens of Hearts) pays 25 to 1.
A Colored Pair (same color, different suit, like the 2 of Hearts and 2 of Diamonds) pays 12 to 1, and a Mixed Pair (different suit and color, like the 2 of Spades and 2 of Diamonds) pays 6 to 1.
Max it out and land the top pair, and that's $25,000.
Twenty-One-Plus-Three
The 21+3 bet takes your first 2 cards plus the dealer's upcard and looks for a poker hand. The max bet is $500, and the RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. is 96.3%.
Suited Trips (three identical cards, like three Aces of Hearts) pays 100 to 1, a Straight Flush (three in sequence, same suit) pays 40 to 1, and Three of a Kind (same value, different suits) pays 30 to 1.
A Straight (sequence, mixed suits, with the Ace playing low in Ace-2-3 or high in Queen-King-Ace) pays 10 to 1, and a Flush (same suit, no sequence) pays 5 to 1.
Suited Trips on a $500 bet is $50,000. Thank the 8 decks for making three identical cards possible at all.
BET BEHIND:
Bet Behind lets you back another player's hand for up to $200. Drop a bet on an activated Bet Behind spot at their seat while betting is open, and you share whatever their hand does, at the same payout as main bets.
The seated player makes every call, so you have to be good with relinquishing control. Not sure if I’m ready for that level of commitment…
Unlimited players can Bet Behind anyone, and you can do it with your own main bet in play, just never on your own hand. If the player sits the round out, your bet comes back immediately.
By default you follow every move, with the money for Doubles and Splits coming straight off your balance. The Bet Behind tab in Settings changes that from the next round on.
Untick doubling and the 3rd card comes to you as a Hit with no more draws, untick splitting and you only cover the first split hand.
If the player you're backing Cashes Out, you get a proportional share based on your initial bet. You're trusting a stranger with your moolah.
CASH OUT:
After the initial deal, a Cash Out button joins the other decision buttons, with a payout calculated on the fly from your hand, the dealer's upcard and any decisions made.
Tap it and that hand is finished, with the money landing in your Balance when the round ends.
Split hands get a Cash Out button each, and Doubling or busting switches it off for that hand. It covers the main bet only, never the side bets, and you can turn it on or off in Settings anytime. The RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. based on the Cash Out offer is 98%.
INSURANCE:
When the dealer's 1st card is an Ace, an extra betting timer starts for Insurance. It costs half your initial bet and pays 2 to 1 if her 2nd card is worth 10. Tap Yes and it covers all your hands, each one marked with an Insurance icon.
Once that window closes, the dealer checks for Blackjack. If he/she has it, the round ends. If they don't, the round moves on to decisions.
EARLY DECISIONS:
Early Decisions lets you lock in a move before your turn by tapping the option you want. The scorebox switches to that decision's color, and the dealer acts on it when your turn comes around.
HONEST DECISION:
Run out of time or drop your connection, and Honest Decision chooses for you: Stand on 12 or more, Hit on 11 or less. Ignore an Insurance offer and it's an automatic No.
AUTO-DECISIONS:
The Auto-Decisions tab in Settings offers Basic or Advanced. Basic covers Auto-Stand, Auto-Hit and Auto-Insurance, plus rules for when a Split or Double gets picked.
Auto-Stand stands when your hand reaches a value you set or higher, and Auto-Hit hits when it's at or below one.
The two ranges can't overlap. Neither fires on a soft hand or on cards that fall inside your Split or Double ranges, because those work as exceptions based on the hand's value.
Each one shows an animated icon next to your seat when it kicks in. Auto-Insurance is Always or Never across all occupied seats, and Always gets an animated icon of its own.
Advanced is a full chart of rules for every scenario, set by clicking the values. Any Basic settings carry into the Advanced charts where they apply, but switching Basic on turns Advanced off. It's your own strategy card, programmed once.
AUTOBET:
Place your bets, hit AUTOBET, pick a number of rounds and press Start. The count shows on the Modify Autobet button and updates as the rounds go by.
The Autobet window also holds the "Auto Deal Now" toggle, which only applies to Autobet main bets.
You can add chips during betting time mid-run, and if a betspot becomes unavailable, that bet just doesn't get placed. Stop it yourself with the Stop button, or let it stop when the rounds hit 0 (with an on-screen message) or your balance runs too low.
Performance
When you play this game, you'll inevitably see some dude or babe dressed in black collecting all the cards and shuffling them. It makes me wonder how many times a day they have to do that job.
They're pretty slick at it, just as slick as the software powering this game, which gave me no issues.
Maximum Win
The max win is $116,500 per seat, at a table where you can hold up to 7 seats, and the max multiplier is 126x. The top bet is $6,500 per seat with side bets included. The minimum bet is $250.
Conclusion
The money here lives in the main bet. It pays 1 to 1, Blackjack pays 3 to 2, and Doubles and the Split are what turn one hand into a decent payday. The side bets pay on their own schedule, win or lose up top.
Getting to the $116,500 max win needs everything happening at once. By my math, that's a $5,000 main bet split, both hands doubled and won, while the same deal lands a Perfect Pair at $1,000 and Suited Trips at $500.
The side bets are fun, but at 95.9% and 96.3% every dollar on them faces a fatter house edge than the main bet. Play them for a crack at 25 to 1 and 100 to 1, not for value.
Mid-to-high-limit players happy at $250 a hand, with room to go up to $5,000, are the right crowd, especially if you like strategy and long sessions.
Slot Details
Game Provider: Pragmatic Play Live
Game Type: Video Slots
PaylinesPaylines are preset lines that run across the reels, and when you land matching symbols on them, that will result in a payout. The more paylines, the more ways you can win, but also the higher your bet per spin.: N/A
RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate.: 99.59%
Volatility RateSlot games can have low, medium, high, or extremely high volatility rates (or a combination thereof).
The less volatile the game, the more often it should pay out, but the lower the amount, the less the payout, as this is in keeping with the risk you’re taking. Volatility rate should be considered in conjunction with a game’s RTP.: Low
Bonus Round: No
Progressive: No
Free Rounds: N/A
Max Multiplier: 126x
Max Win: $116,500
Published by
BitStarz, award-winning Bitcoin Casino
