Power BlackJack Review

You've eaten a Toblerone 🍫 without ever putting a ruler to one. In 2016 the UK bars came back from the factory with wider valleys between the peaks, the same box at the same price with less chocolate in it.

Shoppers spotted it, made enough noise to reach the news, and had the old shape back a couple of years later. Taking product out and leaving the price where it was is an old move.

Power BlackJack, from Evolution, runs the same play and prints it on the felt. Every 9 and every 10 is gone from all 8 decks 🃏, and those 64 missing cards buy me the Triple and Quadruple Down buttons ⚡.

Gameplay

A live dealer runs the table out of a studio, and the round takes as many players as want in. You're never the one hovering behind a chair waiting on a seat.

A chat box sits folded into the top corner - there for the other players or for whoever's turning your cards. Look, you don't have to be sociable if you don't want to, but the option’s there.

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 98.80% and the volatility is variable. The max multiplier is 250x and the max win is $350,000, with bets running from $1 to $1,400.

The shoe holds 8 decks with every 9 and 10 lifted out before a card gets dealt. Blackjack pays 3 to 2, any other winning hand pays 1 to 1, and a tie hands your money back untouched.

Cards from 2 to 8 are worth their face value, the Jack, Queen and King count 10 apiece, and the Ace takes 1 or 11, whichever does your hand more good.

Blackjack only counts off the opening 2 cards. Put 21 together out of a split and it pays like any ordinary win, then loses flat to the dealer's natural.

Once those 2 cards land you can Hit, Stand, Double, Triple, Quadruple or Split. Double, Triple and Quadruple multiply your bet and buy 1 more card, nothing further, and all 3 sit open on any 2 starting cards as well as after a split.

A pair of equal value splits once per hand, and each half carries a bet the size of your main one. Split Aces take 1 card each with no Hit. Oh, and the dealer draws on 16 or less and stands on soft 17.

Insurance comes out when the dealer's showing an Ace, costs half your main bet and pays 2 to 1. The dealer checks for Blackjack on an Ace or any face card, and a dealer Blackjack ends the round unless you're holding one too.

Every decision button carries a live percentage showing what the rest of the table did from that spot against the same up card, so you're never guessing alone.

Let the clock run out and the game decides for you, hitting on 11 or less and standing on anything above.

You can also pull several tables out of the lobby and run them next to each other in the same window, and walking away from one leaves the rest alone.

Features

SIDE BETS:

Four optional bets sit under the main betting spot, and each one settles on its own terms. That means a side bet can pay you on a hand the dealer took off you.

Perfect Pairs

This pays when your first 2 cards arrive matched. A Mixed Pair returns 5:1, a Coloured Pair 10:1, and a Perfect Pair, meaning twins of the same suit, 20:1. The bet returns 94.30%.

Poker Side Bet (21+3)

The bet reads your 2 cards plus the dealer's up card as a 3-card poker hand. A Flush pays 5:1, a Straight 8:1, Three of a Kind 25:1, a Straight Flush 35:1 and Suited Trips 100:1. The bet returns 96.09%.

Hot 3

This scores the same 3 cards on their total instead of their shape. Totals of 19 and 20 pay 1:1 and 2:1 respectively, an unsuited 21 pays 4:1, a suited 21 pays 20:1, and 7-7-7 pays 100:1. The bet returns 96.21%.

Bust It

This backs the dealer to bust, and it pays better the longer they take getting there. Busting on 3 cards returns 1:1, then 2:1, 8:1, 25:1 and 100:1 as the count climbs, up to 250:1 on 8 cards or more.

A player Blackjack pushes the bet instead of settling it. The bet returns 94.71%.

SIDE PLAY:

A 777 button opens a slot machine in a panel beside the table so you can spin between hands without getting up. It's desktop only, wants a frame of at least 1,000 x 500 px, and some tables don't carry the button at all.

Performance

I stayed at this game's table a good while and the picture held the whole way. Cards landed on cue, and every hand settled the moment the dealer cleared it, side bets and all.

Maximum Win

The max win is $350,000, and you get there off a max multiplier of 250x riding the top bet of $1,400. The smallest bet you can place is $1.

Conclusion

The game's money comes off the main hand. Blackjack pays 3 to 2, every other win pays even money, and that's the whole engine.

What sets the table apart from Evolution's other live blackjack rooms is the hole in the shoe. Pulling every 9 and 10 out of all 8 decks is the bill for putting Triple and Quadruple Down on any 2 cards.

No other Evolution table I've sat at lets you shove 4 times your bet behind a hand you've only half looked at.

That 250x belongs to Bust It rather than to blackjack, and reaching it wants the dealer to draw 8 cards and still fall over. It dwarfs the 3x and 128x max multipliers on Evolution's other live tables all the same, and the main hand never gets near it.

The swings are yours to set, which is what the variable rating means once you're in a seat. Play the hand on its own and the money moves in even-sized steps. Load up Bust It and Hot 3 and those steps sharpen.

A 98.80% return makes this a long-session table, so a bankroll lasts here in a way it won't on a high-variance game. Nothing bills you extra to reach the good part either.

The side bets are the only way to widen what you've got riding, and every one of them hands back less than the main bet does. Treat them as entertainment you're paying for and not a better set of odds.

Blackjack players who know basic strategy and want more decisions per hand are the target. Big-bet players chasing the top number have to buy it through Bust It, which returns less than the hand sitting above it.

Anyone who wants a bonus round or free rounds should stay on the reels.

Slot Details

Game Provider: Evolution
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.: 98.80%
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.: Variable
Bonus Round: No
Progressive: No
Free Rounds: No
Max Multiplier: 250x
Max Win: $350,000
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