Cryptologic Software Review

Last update: June 12, 2007

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.

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 donít 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. On the negative side I have always had problems with dropped connections and error message pop up boxes with Cryptologic. 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.

Cash back is awarded automatically at Cryptologic casinos according to money bet and the game played. Following are the cash back percentages by game.

The following are Cryptologic rules, house edges, and strategy tips for Cryptologic version 4 games. For version 3, which is still available, click here. The game rules are usually the same between version 3 and 4. Some differences include red dog went from 8 decks in version 3 to 1 deck in version 4, craps version 4 allows betting extra dollars on odds bets so that winnings will round evenly, and two video poker games were added to version 4: double bonus and Super Jackpot.

Following are my comments about the games that Cryptologic version 4 has to offer.

In version 3 8 decks were used in baccarat. I assume this to be true of version 4 but can't confirm it. Assuming 8 decks 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%.

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.

TFollowing are the specific rules of single deck blackjack:

• 1 deck
• Dealer hits 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 house edge under these rules is 0.07%. Following is the proper basic strategy for these rules.

The rules are the same as the standard blackjack game except there is also a progressive blackjack bet. The side bet pays according to the number of consecutive aces the player receives. So unlike most side bets order IS important. The following table is based on a jackpot of $53,462, which I observed at Inter Casino on April 7, 2005.

The lower right cell shows a return of 55.80%, or a house edge of 44.20%. Of course this is only for an exact meter of $53,462. The return for any other meter amount is 39.98% plus 2.96% for each $10,0000 in the meter. To reach break-even the meter would need to reach $202,812.56.

In this game the player plays 1, 3, or 5 hands against 3, 5, 10, or 50 dealer hands. The face-up card on all dealer hands is the same. In the image below five player hands played against 50 dealer hnds, for a total of 250 $1 bets. All dealer hands started with an 8 up. After doubling one hand the total bet was $300, and the gross return was $536, or a profit of $236.

Following are the rules.

• 8 decks
• Dealer stands on soft 17
• Double on any first two cards
• Double after split allowed
• Split only once
• No surrender
• Split aces get one card each
• Dealer does not peek for blackjack. However, if the dealer gets blackjack, and the player never busted on any hand resulting from the original hand, then the original wager only will be returned to the player.

If it were not for the bizarre last rule the house edge would be 0.45%. With it, the house edge goes up slightly. For most hands the strategy is the same as the six-deck stratey above. However, there could be changes for splitting eights against a 10 or ace. I have not analyzed it yet. If you do split eights against a ten or ace, especially an ace, I would be careful to not bust either hand, which would result in losing the one unit refund if the dealer gets a blackjack.

Cryptologicís 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 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 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%.

New to version 4 is a progressive side bet. 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 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 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%.

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.

Playtech 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 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.

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: One zero. No half back rule. House edge is 2.70% on all bets.

European VIP Roulette: One zero. Half of even money bets are returned if ball lands in zero. House edge is 1.35% on even money bets and 2.70% on all others.

The following two casinos list the actual returns for all their games on their web sites: Sands of the Caribbean and Inter Casino. The average monthly return at the Sands of the Caribbean for months between Sep 2000 to August 2001 was 93.17%. The average monthly return at the Inter Casino for months between January 2001 to July 2001 was 95.65%.

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%.

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.

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

Super Jackpot is a progressive version of jacks or better. Other than the progressive for royal flush the paytable is standard 5/8 (5 for a flush, 8 for a full house), which pays 97.30%. If the player uses 5/8 strategy the expected return is 95.31% plus 0.50% for every 1000 coins in the meter. Under 5/8 strategy the meter would have to reach 9427 coins to break even. With proper strategy adjustments with a meter of this size the actual return would be 100.47%.

The following tables show the specific Cryptologic pay tables as well as expected return tables for all games except Super Jackpot. All tables except Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and All American were produced with the help of Bob Dancer's Winpoker 6.0. All tables assume optimal strategy. Remember Cryptologic also pays 0.1% cashback.

In early 2006 Cryptologic downgraded their Double Bonus pay table. The earlier version followed a 1/2/2/4/5/8/50/90/150/50/840 pay table, which pays 99.94% with optimal strategy. Players who downloaded before the change may be able to enjoy the old pay table until the software downloads the new one, which may take 15 minutes or so.

The standard deviation on the joker poker game is 5.084501691.

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.

See my casino index for a list of sites that use Cryptologic software. The URL for Cryptologic is www.cryptologic.com