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Espresso Games
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Introduction
Espresso Games is looking to deliver this bolt of energy to your online gambling experience with their slate of betting titles. A division of Talenta International, Espresso Games has been in operation since 2002, delivering slot machines, table games, keno titles, and more.
Espresso has offices in many regulated markets, including Italy, the UK, Colombia, Malta, the United States, Hong Kong, and Spain. This allows the company to provide their games to big-name operators as well as licensed platform aggregates. This has led to the group’s games being offered at the likes of Melbet, Karl Casino, 22 Bet Casino, and more.
In our opinion, the graphics and interface of Espresso games are rather dated, based on this review in late 2019. Their game library is decent, with plenty of slots, video poker, and four types of table games. The video poker pay tables are quite stingy compared to most of their competitors. Some credit should be given in creativity a couple of unique games, Color Champion video poker and Six Card Charlie blackjack.
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Table Games
Tables games offered are blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and Texas Hold 'Em Bonus (which they refer to as just "Texas Hold 'Em"). Special mention should be made about their single-deck blackjack game, with a house edge of a nice low 0.15%.
Slots
Espresso has some interesting themes for their slots. Who can resist at least trying Boobies & Booties? The graphics and animation were several years out of date. The bonuses were pretty simple, usually picking one of a few items to determine your prize. The bonus frequency was too high and the average wins too low. However, there is still a kind of originality to these slots in the way the play.
I do give all due credit for disclosing the returns of their games. They vary a lot, so be careful what which game you play. Below is just a sampling:
- Mermaid — 96.49%
- Boobies & Booties — 97.34%
- Good & Evil — 91.52%
- Escape from Mars — 92.15%
Video Poker
The Espresso video poker games are rather slow and dated. With a house edge ranging from 1.58% to 2.92%, the odds are rather lousy for video poker too.
The auto-hold feature in all games is TERRIBLE. With advice such as holding three to a flush, you would be well advised to ignore it.
The only positive remark I can make is on the creativity of their game Color Champion. This is a rather bizarre game that I assumed is their own creation. The rules are too involved to explain here. At a high house edge of 2.92%, I won't pay too much attention to it. However, players looking for something different in the video poker world should have a look.
The following table shows the Video Poker games available in alphabetical order.
Espresso Games Video Poker Alphabetic Order
| Game review | Return | Power Poker | Pay Table | Live Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All American | 97.39% | Yes | 1-2-3-7-8-9-35-90-800 | No |
| Color Champion | 97.08% | Yes | 1-2-2-4-4-7-10-20-200-800 | No |
| Deuces Wild | 97.97% | Yes | 1-2-3-4-4-9-15-20-200-800 | No |
| Jacks or Better | 98.42% | Yes | 1-2-3-5-6-8-20-40-800 | No |
| Joker Poker (kings or better) | 97.95% | Yes | 1-1-2-3-5-8-15-50-100-200-800 | No |
Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.
Espresso Games Video Poker Return Order
| Game review | Return | Power Poker | Pay Table | Live Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacks or Better | 98.42% | Yes | 1-2-3-5-6-8-20-40-800 | No |
| Deuces Wild | 97.97% | Yes | 1-2-3-4-4-9-15-20-200-800 | No |
| Joker Poker (kings or better) | 97.95% | Yes | 1-1-2-3-5-8-15-50-100-200-800 | No |
| All American | 97.39% | Yes | 1-2-3-7-8-9-35-90-800 | No |
| Color Champion | 97.08% | Yes | 1-2-2-4-4-7-10-20-200-800 | No |
Roulette
 12 Number Roulette |
 American Roulette |
 European Roulette |
Espresso offers three roulette games -- European, American, and "12 Number." Here are more details on each:
- European Roulette — This is what I call "French Roulette," where even money bets lose half when the ball lands in zero. This results in a house edge of 1.35% on even money bets and 2.70% on all others. Roulette doesn't get better than this and Espresso is one of the few places to offer these liberal rules.
- American Roulette — The wheel has two zeros and even money bets lose half when the ball lands in zero. This is what I call "Atlantic City Roulette." The house edge is 2.63%, 7.89% on the "five number" bet (0-00-1-2-3), and 5.26% on all others.
- 12 Number Roulette — This game actually has 13 numbers, 0 to 12. Bets would pay fair odds if there were no zero. Even money bets lose half if the ball lands in zero. House edge is 3.85% on even money bets and 7.69% on all others.
As you can see, the house edge ranges from 1.35% to 7.69%. My advice is to play the European roulette only and stick to even money bets.
Powerballs
 Powerballs |
Power Balls is a keno/lottery kind of game. Six out of 38 balls are numbered (1 to 36, 0, and 00). There are 12 each of red, blue, and yellow balls, and two green ones. There are a host of ways to bet on the outcome. I've analyzed similar games before, so forgive me if I don't analyze every single bet. To get an idea of the return, I looked only at the bets where the player picks a color (red, blue, or yellow) and how many balls of that color will appear. The following table shows what each bet pays, probability of winning, and expected return. As you can see they all pay very close to 95%, except for all six balls matching the chosen color.
Power Balls
| Match | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 11.39 | 230230 | 0.08339609 | 0.94988146 |
| 1 | 3.32 | 789360 | 0.28592945 | 0.949285774 |
| 2 | 2.65 | 986700 | 0.357411813 | 0.947141303 |
| 3 | 4.58 | 572000 | 0.207195254 | 0.948954262 |
| 4 | 16.3 | 160875 | 0.058273665 | 0.949860741 |
| 5 | 127.36 | 20592 | 0.007459029 | 0.94998195 |
| 6 | 2128.77 | 924 | 0.0003347 | 0.712499372 |
| Total | 0 | 2760681 | 1.000000 |
Blackjack
 Blackjack |
 Single Deck Blackjack |
 Lucky 7 Blackjack |
 Six Card Charlie |
All three blackjack games have the same layout, in which the player may bet one to three hands. All three warn the player upon mistakes, based on the basic strategy shown in the "guide" help file. Surprisingly, for an Internet casino, the advice given is actually correct. In fact, the strategy even takes under advisement the number of cards in the player hand in playing a 16 vs. 10 (an extremely borderline play, where the odds favor hitting with two cards and standing with three or more).
According to my house edge calculator, the single deck has a nice low house edge of 0.15%. The help file claims it's 0.14%, so close enough.
On just "blackjack" and Lucky 7 Blackjack, where the rules are the same, I get a house edge of 0.49%, while the help file indicates 0.43%. You'll have to decide yourself who to believe.
The Lucky 7 game offers a side bet based on the consecutive number of sevens the player gets. The rules aren't clear, but I assume if the player splits sevens, the next card counts towards getting three consecutive sevens. I also assume if the player has two sevens and the dealer has a blackjack, then the player is not given an opportunity at a third seven. All that said, my return table below shows a house edge of 7.83%. The help file indicates it is 6.75%. Again, you'll have to decide who to believe (I suggest me).
Lucky 7 Side Bet
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7-7-7 suited | 3000 | 108,839,808 | 0.000018 | 0.053697 |
| 7-7-7 unsuited | 500 | 2,301,184,512 | 0.000378 | 0.189218 |
| 7-7 suited | 150 | 7,345,594,368 | 0.001208 | 0.181200 |
| 7-7 suited | 50 | 25,184,894,976 | 0.004142 | 0.207086 |
| 7 | 3 | 432,811,524,096 | 0.071177 | 0.213531 |
| Loser | -1 | 5,613,024,453,120 | 0.923077 | -0.923077 |
| Total | 6,080,776,490,880 | 1.000000 | -0.078344 |
Finally, Six Card Charlie Blackjack offers a rule I've never seen before, where a non-busted player hand of six cards automatically wins and pays 3 to 2. I've seen the automatic win rule lots of times, but paying 3 to 2 is a new one. I had to do some analysis to find the effect of this one, for which I get a reduction in house edge of 0.31%, with proper strategy. Without this rule, the house edge would be 0.70%, so with the 0.31% reduction, I get a house edge of 0.39%.
Following are some strategy adjustments to make in the Six Card Charlie game:
With four cards:- Always hit hard 12
- Hit hard 13 against a 2 to 4.
- Hit any soft 18.
- Hit soft 19 against a 9, 10, or ace.
- Hit any hard 16 or less.
- Hit hard 17 against an 8, 9, 10, or ace.
- Hit any soft total.
The following table shows the Blackjack games available in alphabetical order.
Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.
Baccarat
 Baccarat |
The baccarat game is very standard with the three major bets only.
Texas Hold 'Em Bonus
 Texas Hold 'Em |
Espresso refers to their Texas Hold 'Em Bonus game as just "Texas Hold 'Em. They kindly follow the liberal Las Vegas rules, where wins on the Ante start at a straight. The element of risk of this game, defined as the ratio of expected loss to total amount bet, is a low 0.53%.
External Links
Corporate web site: www.espressogames.com.
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