Blue Chip Games Review

Introduction

Disclaimer: Let it be known that I have served as a consultant to Blue Chip Games. All my reviews attempt to stick to the facts only, specifically game rules and odds.

Blue Chip Games at one time provided Pinnacle race and sportsbook, despite dated screenshots, that would indicate they still do. It is the Blue Chip business philosophy is to offer the player the best odds on the Internet, making up for the low house advantage on volume. Blue Chip Games are headquartered on the Caribbean island of Curacao. The software went live at Pinnacle in September 2004. I am striving to get an updated list of casinos that do use Blue Chip Games.

An important feature of Blue Chip Games is the cash back program. The cash back rate on all games is 0.3%, based on the initial wager amount. However zero house edge bets do not count, namely the odds in craps and the double up feature in video poker.

Following are the games offered, strategy tips, and the house edge.

Baccarat

A six deck shoe is used. Tie pays 8 to 1. As shown in my baccarat section the house edge is 1.06% on the banker, 1.24% on the player, and 14.44% on the tie.

Blackjack

Following are the rules.

• Six decks
• Dealer stands on soft 17
• Double on any first two cards
• Doubling after splitting allowed
• No resplitting
• Dealer always peeks for blackjack
• Aces get one card only
• No surrender

Following is the correct basic strategy for these rules.

Key to basic strategy:

H

Hit

S

Stand

D

Double if allowed, otherwise hit

P

Split

The house edge under these rules is 0.46%. However with the 0.3% cash back the house edge drops to a low 0.16%.

Casino Hold'Em

Casino Hold 'Em is a fairly new Texas Hold 'Em variation. At Pinnacle they use the most liberal 100/20/3/2 pay table, for a house edge of 2.16% with optimal strategy. On the AA bonus side bet they follow the 100/50/40/30/20/7 pay table, which is also the most liberal, with a house edge of 6.26%.

Craps

Blue Chip offers what I believe is the most liberal craps on the Internet. Because of the 0.3% cash back (which does not apply to the odds), liberal odds after a line bet, and generous payoffs on some of the proposition bets. Except where noted house edge figures in this section are before considering cash back.

The odds offered after a line bet are 3x,4x,5x, which means 3x on a 4 or 10, 4x on a 5 or 9, and 5x on a 6 or 8. The odds correctly are based on the win after a don't pass or don't come bet. As my section on craps shows the combined house edge by taking the maximum odds on the pass and come is 0.326%, and on the don't pass and don't come is 0.227%. After considering cash back it is 0.257% on the pass and come, and 0.177% on the don't pass and don't come. This is not directly 0.3% less because the cash back does not apply to odds bets.

The hard 4 and hard 10 pay 7.5 to 1, which is higher than the usual 7 to 1. The house edge on these bets is 5.56%.

The hard 6 and hard 8 pay 9.5 to 1, which is higher than the usual 9 to 1. The house edge on these bets is 4.55%.

The 3 and 11 pay 16 to 1, which is higher than the usual 15 to 1. The house edge on these bets is 5.56%.

The 2 and 12 pay 33 to 1, which is higher than the usual 30 to 1. The house edge on these bets is 5.56%.

The field pays 3 to 1 on a 12, for a house edge of 2.78%.

The 5% commission on buy and lay bets is only charged on a win. The commission is based on the bet on buy bets, and the win on lay bets. The house edge on both buy and lay bets is 1.67% on the 4 and 10, 2.00% on the 5 and 9, and 2.27% on the 6 and 8.

Keno

Blue Chip offers liberal and consistent odds in keno, except the pick 1 has a low return at only 75%. The following table shows the win, return, and hit frequency according to the number of picks.

 

The table shows the most liberal odds are on the pick 9 at 97.49%.

Oasis Poker

Oasis Poker is the same game as Caribbean Stud Poker, except the player may switch one to five cards before making the raise or fold decision. The rules are explained in depth in my section on Oasis Poker. With the 0.3% rebate the house edge is 0.549%.

Pai Gow Poker

The standard rules are followed and the dealer is always the banker. There is a button to sort the player's cards and the dealer house way is indicated in the help files, something I have never seen done before.

As shown in my pai gow poker section when the dealer is the banker the house edge is 2.73%.

Pinnacle Stud Poker

This is what Blue Chip Games calls Caribbean Stud Poker. The paytable is more generous than the standard one found in the land casinos. As far as I know this game offers the best odds for Caribbean Stud Poker anywhere, land or online.

The house edge under this pay table is 3.35%. The strategy is the same that under the standard paytable, found here.

Roulette

Two versions are offered: American and European. You would be a fool to play the American roulette because the European roulette has much more liberal rules.

The American roulette follows ordinary U.S. rules are followed for a house edge of 5.26%.

The European roulette has both a single zero and the if the ball lands in zero the player has the choice of losing half or leaving it imprisoned (explained in my roulette section). By taking half back, which is the better option, the house edge is 1.35%.

Slots

I have no public information on the theoretical or actual return of the slots.

Here is an image of one of my favorites.

Video Poker

Blue Chip Games features the following games. The return percentage follows each game, assuming optimal strategy.

The following tables show the probability and the contribution to the total return of each hand and each game.

Written by: Michael Shackleford