Cryptologic software review

Last update: June 29, 2001

Note: This review is for Cryptologic version 3. For the verion 4 review please click here.

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.

After opening an account a letter will be sent in the postal mail containing a PIN and account number. You will need the PIN to cash out and the account number for customer support, so don’t lose this information. Based on my experience Cryptologic casinos are very professional and offer fast and efficient customer service. The playing experience strives to be realistic, offering sound effects and voice narration. Multi-player and single player games are offered. The Cryptologic game rules are often modeled after those found in Atlantic City.

Cryptologic casinos offer a free "safe cracker" game in which the player enters a 9-digit combination into a safe. In the very unlikely event it is exactly right the player wins $100,000. Only one guess per day is allowed.

Following are my comments about the games that Cryptologic has to offer.

Baccarat
Eight decks are used.

Blackjack

With the exception that splitting after splitting is not allowed Cryptologic blackjack rules are the same as the standard in Atlantic City. The complete rules are as follows:

8 decks
Dealer stands on soft 17
Player may double on any first two cards
Player may double after splitting
Player may split only once
No surrender
Dealer checks hole card for blackjack

The following table shows the correct basic strategy according to these rules. It may also be correctly used in Atlantic City and with Boss Media’s multi-player software.

S: Stand
H: Hit
D: Double
P: Split

This table does not display some obvious hands. For example always hit on a hard 8 or less and always stand on a hard 17 or more. Following this basic strategy the house edge is 0.49%. This is 0.05% higher than in Atlantic City where resplitting is allowed.

Craps

Cryptologic’s craps game offers rules that are close 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 don’t pass or don’t 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.

Caribbean Poker

Caribbean Poker, otherwise known as Caribbean Stud Poker, takes one small deviation from the normal rules. This deviation is on a royal flush, which pays 200:1 rather than 100:1. Assuming optimal strategy this lowers the house edge from 5.22% to 5.21%.

Keno

Cryptologic keno payoffs are about equally as generous as land based casinos, paying between 71% and 75%. The following table shows the expected return according to the number of spots chosen.

Cryptologic Keno
Pick	Return
1	75%
2	72.15%
3	73.54%
4	73.79%
5	73.22%
6	71.61%
7	72.41%
8	72.71%
9	71.87%
10	72.35%

Let it Ride

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%.

Pai Gow Poker

Cryptologic follows conventional pai gow poker rules, including the rule that the ace-2-3-4-5 is the second highest straight. 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.

Red Dog

Cryptologic's Red Dog rules are conventional, featuring eight decks with a house edge of 2.75%.

Roulette

Atlantic City’s version of the European imprisonment rule can also be found in Crypologic’s roulette game. Under this rule if the ball lands in 0 or 00 half the bet is returned on all even money bets (red, black, 1-18, 19-36, even, and odd). For example if the player bet $10 on black and the ball landed on 0 then the player would get $5 of his bet returned. The house edge on the even money bets is 2.63%, on the five number combo is 7.89%, and on all other bets is 5.26%.

Slots

At least three Cryptologic casinos state their actual slot machine payback percentages on their web sites. The following are the monthly returns for two of them.

Casino	Jan/00	Feb/00	Mar/00	Apr/00	May/00	June/00	July/00	Aug/00
Sands of the Caribbean	91.40%	93.05%	92.12%	92.42%	92.39%	92.06%	92.48%	92.50%
Inter Casino	91.98%	91.69%	92.21%	92.90%	93.93%	93.17%	93.27%	92.76%

In addition the Safari casino indicates their return to date for 2000 is 92.42%.

Video Poker

The following table shows the video poker games available at Cryptologic and their expected return assuming perfect strategy.

Game	Return
Jacks or better	98.25%
All American	98.11%
Deuces wild	97.97%
Tens or better	97.96%
Joker poker	97.95%

The following tables show the specific Cryptologic pay tables as well as expected return tables. All tables except Jacks or Better and All American were produced with the help of Bob Dancer's Winpoker 6.0. All tables assume optimal strategy.

Jacks or Better
Hand	Payoff	Number	Probability	Return
Royal flush	800	493546320	0.000025	0.019808
Straight flush	40	2174382228	0.000109	0.004363
4 of a kind	20	47093235876	0.002363	0.047251
Full house	9	229476095604	0.011512	0.103610
Flush	6	219476752512	0.011011	0.066064
Straight	4	223909304748	0.011233	0.044932
3 of a kind	3	1483995016080	0.074448	0.223345
Two pair	2	2576917506024	0.129277	0.258555
Jacks or better	1	4277798625024	0.214606	0.214606
Nothing	0	10871896052784	0.545416	0.000000
Total		19933230517200	1.000000	0.982534

All American

Hand Payoff Number Probability Return

Royal flush 800 447967224 0.000022 0.017979

Straight flush 90 2555453292 0.000128 0.011538

4 of a kind 35 44879539632 0.002251 0.078802

Full house 8 218979227088 0.010986 0.087885

Flush 8 313988688984 0.015752 0.126016

Straight 8 373997868540 0.018763 0.150100

3 of a kind 3 1370909316480 0.068775 0.206325

Two pair 1 2382250229568 0.119511 0.119511

Jacks or better 1 3646648353564 0.182943 0.182943

Nothing 0 11578573872828 0.580868 0.000000

Total 19933230517200 1.000000 0.981100

Deuces Wild - Cryptologic

Hand Pays Probability Return

Natural Royal Flush 800 0.000023 0.01814

Four decues 200 0.000188 0.037576

Wild Royal Flush 20 0.001799 0.035981

Five of a Kind 15 0.003129 0.046942

Straight Flush 9 0.004988 0.044892

Four of a Kind 4 0.061484 0.245936

Full House 4 0.026194 0.104774

Flush 3 0.0205 0.061501

Straight 2 0.057857 0.115714

Three of a Kind 1 0.268262 0.268262

Nothing 0 0.555577 0

Total 1 0.979717

Tens or Better

Hand Payoff Probability Return

Royal flush 800 0.000026 0.020530

Straight flush 50 0.000104 0.005180

Four of a Kind 20 0.002357 0.047145

Full house 6 0.011493 0.068955

Flush 5 0.010670 0.053350

Straight 4 0.012386 0.049544

Three of a Kind 3 0.074218 0.222653

Two Pair 2 0.128936 0.257872

Tens or Better 1 0.254368 0.254368

Nothing 0 0.505443 0.000000

Total 1.000000 0.979598

Joker Wild - Cryptologic

Hand Pays Probability Return

Natural Royal Flush 800 0.000025 0.019774

Five of a Kind 200 0.000093 0.018583

Wild Royal Flush 100 0.000104 0.010395

Straight Flush 50 0.000596 0.029788

Four of Kind 15 0.008505 0.12757

Full House 8 0.015625 0.125001

Flush 5 0.015852 0.079259

Straight 3 0.016871 0.050613

Three of a Kind 2 0.133296 0.266592

Two Pair 1 0.110667 0.110667

Kings or Better 1 0.141228 0.141228

Nothing 0 0.557139 0

Total 1 0.97947

See my casino index for a list of sites that use Cryptologic software. Here's a link to Cryptologic's website.

The Wizard's other sites: Wizard of Vegas, Wizard of Macau, Math Problems The Wizard recommends: The Bear Growls, Casinomeister, Online Casino Suite