ViG blackjack comes in three varieties:
- Blackjack Classic
- Blackjack with Early Pay-Out
- Blackjack HD
Each variety comes with a selection of three limits, although exactly what these are is determined by the host casino.
Standard blackjack from ViG is a seven-seat six-deck-shoe table, using Vegas rules. This means the dealer takes two cards, including one face down hole card, that they can ‘peek’ at to see if they have an instant blackjack that wins the hand.
All VIG’s blackjack games feature three side bets and a surrender option. The three side bets are:
- Bet-behind
- 21+3
- Perfect Pairs
Bet-behind lets players bet on the hand of a player already seated at the table. The bet-behind players take no part in decision making, but just ride along with the seated player until the bet is settled. It’s a decent way of getting more players onto a table when it is full, but since ViG also offers an unlimited option it’s hard to see why many players would choose this.
21+3 is as bet on your hand and the dealer’s combining to make a poker hand. At ViG it pays out as follows:
- Matching Trips – 100 to 1
- Straight Flush – 40 to 1
- Three Of a Kind – 30 to 1
- Straight – 10 to 1
- Flush – 5 to 1
Perfect pairs lets you bet on the result of a pair turning up in your first two cards. It pays out for different kinds of pairs, as follows:
- Mixed pair: 6-1
- Suited Pair: 12-1
- Perfect pair: 25-1
Blackjack with early pay-out is a totally unique game to ViG. This is because, as the name suggests, it offers early pay-out. This system gives your hand a cash rating as you play. This score will go down your chances of winning the hand improve and go up if you look more likely to lose. At any time, instead of taking your action or receiving a card, you can cash out your rating for an early pay-out. Obviously, this pay-out will be less than if you won the hand, but sometimes it can be quite close – up to about 80% of your stake for a hand the system considers extremely likely to win.
As if just to make this game stand out further, it is also a three-hand unlimited variety. This means unlimited players can play on the same seat. If you choose to stand and other players hit, for example, your hand will carry on separately and be displayed electronically. Unfortunately, this means you can’t decide to split – instead certain hands will be auto split, unless you decide to fold and sit out the rest of the round. Still, a small price to pay for such an interesting game.
Oh and, you can also bet on the dealer’s hand to win if you so wish – although only before any cards are dealt. Blackjack early pay-out is a six-deck, European style game.
Blackjack HD, plays like the normal version except with a higher definition stream. To be honest we didn’t see much difference between the stream quality of the two. The live studio looks spacious and modern, although, as with many Costa Rican studios, the loud carpet and bright white walls can contrast somewhat garishly. The studio seems big but also busy with the sound of the other tables and dealers, as well a pit boss who will walk by now and then checking on the tables. This is a nice touch and adds to the atmosphere, although we would suggest they turn the background music down slightly.
Finally, all ViG’s blackjack games offer pop-up assistance which hints you towards the perfect strategy bet. This is nice for new players, although experienced blackjack fans may disagree with the system. Luckily ViG have made sure it is simple to turn the hints off, or just ignore them.
