Cryptologic Software Review

Last Update: Aug 13, 2010

Disclaimer: Let it be known that I have served as a consultant to Cryptologic. While this review was originally written before they engaged my services I do update it from time to time. This review attempts to be unbiased and mostly sticks to the game rules, odds, and strategy. While I feel comfortable there is no conflict of interest I think it is appropriate to disclose the relationship.

Cryptologic is a Toronto-based company providing downloadable online casino software. The company was founded in 1995, went live with their first casino in 1996, and was the first to provide multi-player games in 1998. Depending on the casino, the player may earn monthly deposit bonuses, random prizes, or cash back incentives.

Crytologic casinos offer a Cashback Club. For each $10 you bet you earn points. The number of points you earn depends on the game, from 0 in single-deck blackjack, to 4.5 in VIP slots. Every 100 points is worth $1 in cash back. InterCasino has a page explaining how it works and comp points earned by game. To find the cash back rate, divide the comp points earned per $10 bet in the table by 1000. For example, VIP slots earn 4.5 points per $10 bet, for a cash back rate of 4.5/1000 = 0.45%.

The following are Cryptologic rules, house edges, and strategy tips for Cryptologic games.

Standard rules are followed, including eight decks of cards. The house edge on the banker bet is 1.06%, on the player bet is 1.24%, and on the tie bet is 14.36%.

Cryptologic offers seven different blackjack games. Here are the rules that are common to all of them:

• Cards shuffled after every hand.
• Player may double on any initial two cards.

The rest of the rules vary, according to the table below. The house edge figure is based on total-dependent basic strategy. These figures can be found using my blackjack house edge calculator by taking the "realistic results" and subtracting out the cut card effect, as stated in my blackjack appendix 10.

The next table shows the odds on the progressive blackjack side bet for the fixed wins, and not including the progressive jackpot.

The lower right cell shows a return of 39.98% on the fixed wins. Each $10,000 in the meter adds 2.96% to the return. The breakeven point, where the game would have zero house edge, would be when the meter is $202,812.56.

The Perfect Pairs games follows what I call pay table D, as shown in my blackjack appendix 8, which pays 25-1 for a perfect pair, 15-1 for a colored pair, and 5-1 for a mixed pair. The house edge with five decks is 5.79%.

Casino War is dealt with six decks. The standard rules are followed. There is no bonus for a tie after a tie. The house edge is 2.88% if the player goes to war on ties, 3.70% if he surrenders on ties, and 18.65% on the tie bet.

Cryptologic's craps game offers rules that are similar to those found in physical casinos. All place and proposition bets pay according to standard rules. Buy and lay bets are not offered. The player may bet up to two times any line bet on the odds. The double odds are always relative to the bet made. This departs from conventional rules in which laying odds after a donít pass or donít come bet is relative to the amount the player can win. Finally, winning bets get rounded down to the nearest dollar so be sure to bet in correct increments. To avoid getting rounded down the player may bet as many extra dollars on top of their double odds bets as needed so that winnings will be an evenly divisible by $1. A pop up box will also alert the player if they stand to get rounded down, something very nice and unique to Cryptologic.

Caribbean Stud Poker follows the usual rules, with one small deviation, a royal flush pays 200-1 rather than the usual 100-1. Assuming optimal strategy, this lowers the house edge from 5.22% to 5.21%.

The side bet pays $50 for a flush, $100 for a full house, $500 for a four of a kind, and the usual 10% and 100% of the meter for a straight and royal flush respectively. For the player to break even on the side bet the meter would have to reach $218,047.37.

Cryptologic follows the usual Let it Ride rules. Unlike Atlantic City, however, Cryptologic features a $1 side bet. The house edge on Let it Ride is 3.51% and on their side bet is 22.61%.

This is a clever video poker variant exclusive to Cryptologic. As of Aug. 5, 2010, it is only available at InterCasino. The rules are rather involved to explain here, but I hope to add a separate page on the game later.

Cryptologic follows conventional pai gow poker rules. In their game the dealer is always the banker giving the house a 2.86% house edge, assuming both player and dealer play by a standard house way. The rules say Cryptologic uses the Atlantic City standard house way, although I know the Claridge uses a different house way than the Trump Plaza.

This is not to be confused with Australian pontoon. Rather, this is another blackjack variant found at Cryptologic, Playtech, and Real Time Gaming casinos. Cryptologic uses 8 decks, dealer hits a soft 17, and pays a pontoon after splitting aces 2 to 1. In other words the rules are the same as those at Cryptologic and Real Time Gaming. The house edge is 0.38%. For more informaiton please see my online pontoon section.

Cryptologic's Red Dog rules are conventional, featuring one deck with a house edge of 3.16%.

Three versions are available as follows. The more liberal versions require a higher minimum bet.

American Roulette: Two zeros. Half of even money bets are returned if ball lands in zero or double zero. House edge is 2.63% on even money bets and 5.26% on all others.

European Roulette (min. bet <$25) : One zero. If the ball lands in zero, then even money bets lose the full amount. House edge is 2.70% on all bets.

European Roulette (min. bet >=$25) : One zero. If the ball lands in zero, then even money bets lose half. House edge is 1.35% on even money bets and 2.70% on all others.

There are two scratch card games under the "Lottery" menu, High Fasion and Money Farm. Sorry, I have no information about the return.

At InterCasino two versions of Sic Bo were available, "Atlantic City" and "VIP." The VIP version has a more liberal pay table, but a higher minimum bet is required.

Some Cryptologic casinos used to publish their actual slot return percentages. However, I can't locate such information on their web sites any longer. Thus, I have no public information on what their slots are set to.

This is the standard Klondike version of Solitaire (as found in the Windows game menu). There are two versions. In "Draw One" the player draws one card at a time and can run through the tableau only once. In "Draw Three" the player draws three cards at a time and can run through the tableau three times.

The player may bet 2-cents to $1 per card, so the total bet ranges from $1.04 to $52. For each card the player moves to the foundations the player gets back 5 times the bet per card. So the player would need to remove at least 11 cards to make a profit.

No, I do not know the house advantage. If anyone can else does I would be interested to know.

Rules and strategy for this game can be found in my Super Fun 21 section. The house edge is 0.94%.

Cryptologic follows Las Vegas rules in Texas Hold 'Em Bonus. Assuming optimal strategy, the house edge is 2.04% on the Ante bet, and 8.54% on the Bonus bet.

On both the Pairplus and the Ante the "full pay" pay tables are used. Specifically the Pairplus has the 1,4,6,30,40 pay table for a house edge of 2.32%. The Ante bonus has the 1,4,5 pay table for a house edge of 3.37%. For more information about Three Card Poker visit my Three Card Poker section.

As far as I know, Cryptologic is the only company to offer Triple Action Hold 'Em online. The standard rules and pay tables are followed. Optimal strategy is to raise on the Ante bet with anything. The house edge is 1.82% on the Ante bet, 2.93% on the Flop bet, and 5.39% on the Bonus bet.

The standard rules are followed for Vegas Three Card Rummy. Optimal strategy is to raise with 20 points or less, otherwise fold. The house edge, assuming optimal strategy, is 3.23% on the Ante bet, and 3.46% on the Bonus bet.

The following table shows the games, pay tables, and return (assuming optimal strategy) for Cryptologic video poker. The returns for the two progressive games are based on a minimum jackpot meter of 4,000 coins.

Super Jackpot Progressive will reach a breakeven point at a meter of 9426 coins. Deuces Wild Bonus Progressive will reach a breakeven point at a meter 11135 coins. Both breakeven points assume optimal strategy based on a 4,000 coin meter.

Cryptologic features a unique game I have never seen before called Bonus Video Poker. It is based on conventional video poker, either 3-play, 5-play, or 10-play. Unlike regular video poker when the player discards a card it is put back in the deck. If the player gets back a card on the draw he discarded on the deal the player gets a bonus that varies depending on the game.

The following table shows the return of each game, assuming optimal strategy, and before considering the 0.1% cash back.

For more information about Bonus Video Poker please visit my section on Bonus Video Poker.

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