Live Blackjack Features

Portomaso Oracle Blackjack is played from the casino floor, where users can hear the hustle and bustle of a working casino in action as they play. Especially on weekend nights, the surroundings can get quite lively at this popular tourist destination and holidaymaker hotspot.

The game itself is played with an eight-deck shoe according to European rules, which means the dealer only takes one card before play begins in each round. The side bets on offer are the standard 21+3 and perfect pairs bets. The most unique thing about Portomaso blackjack however though, is definitely the ability to split four times.

Most live casino developers will only let you split once or possibly twice – so being able to split four times means you can quadruple your win if you’re lucky. As far as we know this is completely exclusive to Portomaso live blackjack tables and definitely is a reason to check them out if nothing less.  However, the table does get a little confusing if two or more people decide to split three times.

The stream quality here is actually excellent, with crisp and clear visuals. All three Portomaso blackjack tables let you play in full table, or classic mode. This is where the video-feed takes up a small window of the screen compared to the betting interface. Why you would want to you use this mode at a live casino is beyond us, as it rather defeats the point.

The full table mode here comes with a simple user interface anyway, which makes picking your decision during gameplay intuitive and easy while keeping the immersive live casino experience intact. You can however, switch modes quickly without interrupting your game experience.

On the negative side, Portomaso’s blackjack tables are not all available 24/7 and they will also kick you pretty quickly if you don’t make any actions within one or two minutes.

House Rules

Portomaso’s Blackjack tables all have the following rules:

• 8 deck shoe
• Double on any hand
• You can double on a split hand.
• Split up to four times.
• Dealer stands on soft 17s
• Insurance offered on a dealer ace, paying 2-1
• Blackjack pays 3-2

Mobile

Portomaso blackjack wasn’t the best mobile version of this classic game we have played on the net. The stream quality certainly dipped a little and the user interface became a bit fiddly on smaller screens. Classic view in particular, made the cards on the table itself almost impossible to see. They do show your cards as a graphic on the side of the screen, for exactly this reason, but then what is the point of playing live blackjack?

Even in full table mode, the cards can become quite cluttered when a few players decided to take advantage of the multiple splits rule – and this matters a lot more on an already smaller screen.

Overall, Portomaso blackjack on in a mobile browser was definitely playable but nowhere near the top mobile experiences offered by developers like Evolution.

Native & Private Tables

Portomaso does not offer private custom tables for the different online casinos it provides services for. However, part of the attraction here is the unique nature of the Oracle Casino brand – so we can see why they haven’t gone down the private table route.

They do not offer any blackjack tables with live dealers speaking languages other than English either, which is more than a little disappointing.

In Comparison

Portomaso Gaming has a few unique selling points for its live blackjack tables. The Oracle Casino in Malta is a classy venue and streaming from its busy floor can help bring players right into the action.

Being able to split up to four times, and double down after splits as well, will surely be a huge pull for many blackjack fans as this is definitely not a rule you will find at many other online blackjack tables.

However, our experience playing Portomaso blackjack in a mobile browser was less than stellar and the classic streaming mode was just dead weight in our opinion. Still, the unique rules and bustling ambiance at the Oracle might just make Portomaso tables worth a visit.