Introduction

Gamesys Group plc is an online betting software and operations group that was founded after JPJ (JackpotJoy) Group picked up the company. The company is publicly traded within the UK, and it runs both the Starspins Casino and Virgin Games brands. The Gamesys platform isn’t available on sites outside of the company’s own brands, and therefore you’re going to see games that are a bit more niche than some others. 

Admittedly, a lot of the titles on offer from Gamesys are dated looking, reminding me of something that came out from the early 2000s. The gameplay isn’t a ton better, as there’s a lack of pizzaz that you see from a lot of other modern online slot developers. 

On the plus side, Gamesys does have a number of different progressive jackpots that it offers, which regularly payout in the six-figure range. Slot payouts are relatively standard as well, falling generally between the 95-97% range for RTP. 

While it certainly seems that Gamesys Group is focusing on their betting sites more than game development, we’re always following what they’re putting out and will be updating this page as more releases are completed.

Video Poker

 

The following table shows the Video Poker games available in alphabetical order.

Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.

Three Card Baccarat

Gamesys is perhaps the only place to play 3 Card Baccarat online. For more information on the game, please click the link I just left.

Baccarat

Gamesys offers both punto banco and heads-up baccarat. Punto Banco and baccarat are pretty much the same game, just the language is different, so I will use my usual convention of titling games by their standard names.

To make matters more confusing, what they call "heads-up baccarat" is really Chemin de Fer. How is that different?, you might ask. Chemin de Fer is like baccarat, but allows free will in drawing cards as long as neither side has a natural 8 or 9. I feel that it is sufficiently different from baccarat to create a separate section for that game.

I would like to say "bravo!" to Gamesys for paying 9 to 1 on a tie in punto banco, which lowers the house edge from 14.44% to 4.84%.

There is, of course, a "zero house edge" punto banco game too. This features the following bets:

• Banco bet with 2.75% commission, for a house edge of 0.03%.
• Punto bet that pays 1.0282 to 1, for a player edge of 0.02%.
• Egalite bet that pays 9.48 to 1, for a house edge of 0.28%.

Pachinko

This is a nicely done game. All I can tell you is the player shoots 100 pearls and tries to get them into shells for a chance at opening a treasure chest. There is both a regular and a "no house edge" version of the game. I'll take Gamesys at their word about the "no house edge," but on the regular version I have no idea what the odds are.

Catch a Wave

Catch a Wave was played at the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut from 2001 to 2005. I thought it went the way of the dodo bird until I saw Gamesys decided to bring it back from the dead.

For the benefit of the old-timers like me, Catch a Wave is loosely based on the old TV game show Card Sharks. The object is to predict whether the next card in the shoe is higher or lower than the previous card, up to six times. The player also has the option to stand along the way, in which case the dealer has the chance to beat the player.

Gamesys follows the same rules, including eight decks, as Foxwoods did back in the day. If you follow my strategy, the house edge is 0.50%.

Casino War

Gamesys generously follows the liberal "bonus" rules of Casino War, where the player gets a bonus of three times his Ante bet in the event of a tie after a tie. I haven't seen a bonus that generous since Starnet software went out of business some 15 years ago. This bonus lowers the house edge from the usual 2.88% to 1.24%. Six decks are used.

Sic Bo

The pays in the Gamesys sic bo are pretty good, especially compared to other sic bo games. The following table shows the probability of winning and house edge on most of the bets. The "double" bet is the one that a particular number will occur at least twice. The "domino" bet is the one that two specific numbers will both occur.

I've looked at the zero-house-edge version of sic bo. The bets on a specific total don't have a zero house edge, but everything else seems to.

Dice

This is another game that has only a "zero house edge" version. For information, please see my page on Dice.

Stos

For information on this variation of faro, please see my stos page.

The following table shows the Stos games available in alphabetical order.

Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.

Big Six

Gamesys calls this game Wheel of Fortune, but I believe that Big Six is the more common term, so am titling it that. There is both a standard and "zero house edge" version. The following table shows the probability of winning and house edge under the standard version. As you can see, every bet has the same house edge of 1/49 or 2.04%.

Craps

Gamesys generously follows the Australian/UK odds in craps, which have more generous wins than the stingy American rules. Here is a summary:

• Pass and come bets are 2x odds.
• Don't pass and don't come are also 2x, relative to the amount bet.
• The field is the liberal version, paying 3 to 1 on the 12.
• The following table shows the odds of all the other bets.

 

Like many games, Gamesys has a "zero house edge" version of craps. It isn't zero on all the bets, but here are the ones they changed:

• Odds: The pass, come, don't pass, and don't come are all infinity x odds, subject to table limits. In the free version of the game, I couldn't bet more than $200 on the odds, so for a $1 line bet the odds would be effectively 200x. That would make the overall house edge 0.01%.
• Buy and Lay: No commission, paying fair odds.

Lunar Poker

As far as I know, Gamesys is the only place where you can play Lunar Poker. However, they call it by its other name, Russian Poker. The standard 1-1-2-3-4-5-7-20-50-100 pay table is used.

As far as I can tell, the rules are the same as what is on my Lunar Poker page, except Gamesys offers one extra benefit — If the player switches one card only, and doesn't like it, he can keep switching (and paying) as much as he wants.

In the standard version, if the player has a three of a kind or better, then he can insure against the dealer getting a non-qualifying hand. The size of the insurance bet may up to half the potential win. If the dealer does not qualify, then the insurance bet will pay even money. If the dealer qualifies and beats the player, then the insurance bet will be a push. Otherwise, it will lose.

The player may play up to four spots. However, there are rules in place to avoid the player taking too much advantage of the additional information.

They also have a side bet based on the player's first five cards. That pay table goes 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 for a house edge of 5.92%.

There is also a "zero house edge" version of the game. The only difference in the rules is that the player may insure up to the full value of a three of a kind or greater, instead of half.

For more information about this complicated game, please see the Bet Voyager rules for Russian Poker.

Oasis Poker

Oasis Poker is a variant of Caribbean Stud Poker, except that the player can exchange one or two cards, for a price. The standard 1-1-2-3-4-5-7-20-50-100 pay table is used.

As far as I can tell, the rules are the same as on my Oasis Poker page, except Gamesys charges only 1.5x the Ante to exchange two cards, as opposed to the usual 2x. All I can say about that is that the player should never switch two cards at a price of 2x. At a price of 1.5x, I just don't know. I hate to say this, but for now, you're on your own with that.

The player may play up to four spots. However, there are rules in place to avoid the player taking too much advantage of the additional information.

They also have a side bet based on the player's first five cards. That pay table goes 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 for a house edge of 5.92%.

There is also a "Zero House Edge" version of the game. The only changes were an increase in the pay for a full house from 7 to 8, and on a four of a kind from 20 to 26. According to my math, that lowers the house edge from 1.04% to 0.70%, assuming no strategy changes and not factoring in the lower priced fee to change two cards. Maybe those two adjustments would lower the house edge by 0.70%, but I doubt it. Remember that the player must pay a 10% commission on any net gambling session win.

Poker Switch

Poker Switch is based on the idea of Blackjack Switch. It is like playing two hands of Caribbean Stud Poker, except the player may switch the last card dealt to each hand for a price of Ante on both bets.

This is one of the few games I have not analyzed at all. I tip my hat to whatever mathematician tackled this one for Gamesys.

Just going off common sense, it would seem to me that a price of the Ante, on both bets, is a pretty steep price and would be likely rarely invoked under proper strategy. I'm sure there are exceptions, but the best use of the option would probably be to create a straight or higher in either hand.

There is also an Insurance feature, where the player can make a side bet with a three of a kind or better that the dealer will not qualify, to hedge against not getting paid on the Raise bet.

There is also the same 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 side bet that I've seen in their other poker games, which carries a house edge of 5.92%.

Finally, they have a Zero House Edge version of this game too. The only changes that I can see are increasing the win on a flush from 5 to 6 and on a full house from 7 to 8. You will have to take their word on it that this does lower the house edge to zero.

Caribbean Advanced Poker

Caribbean Advanced Poker is the same thing as Caribbean Stud Poker, except the player gets to see two dealer up cards instead of one. The standard 1-1-2-3-4-5-7-20-50-100 pay table is followed. With optimal strategy, the house edge is a low 0.62% and the Element of Risk is 0.26%.

Like many other poker-based games by Gamesys, there is a side bet on the player's first five cards, which follows a 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 pay table, for a house edge of 5.92%.

Finally, there is a Zero House Edge version of this game. The only difference is the pay on the full house is increased from 7 to 8 and on a four of a kind from 20 to 25.

For much more, please visit my page on Caribbean Advanced Poker.

2+4 Poker

2+4 Poker is based on Caribbean Stud Poker, with three major differences:

• The dealer gets six cards instead of five.
• The dealer exposes four cards instead of one.
• The player may buy a sixth card for the price of the Ante bet. This decision is made before the fold/raise decision.
• The usual 1-1-2-3-4-5-7-20-50-100 pay table is followed.

As for the odds, it isn't often that I say this, but I have no idea. My compliments to the mathematician who figured this game out.

Like many other poker-based games by GameSys, there is a side bet based on the player's first five cards. It follows a 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 pay table for a house edge of 5.92%.

The pay table in the Zero House Edge version is a little higher. The win for a four of a kind is increased from 20 to 25 and the win for a straight flush is increased from 50 to 57.

With no known strategy or analysis, play this one at your own risk.

Casino Hold 'Em

Gamesys follows the standard rules for Casino Hold 'Em as well as the most common 1-2-3-10-20-100 pay table that can be found in land casinos. This pay table results in a house edge of 2.16%.

There is also an AA+ side bet pay table, which I haven't seen before. It goes 7-7-8-10-20-30-40-50-100, for a house edge of 2.97%.

The "Zero House Edge" version of the game follows a 1-2-3-17-49-100 pay table for a house edge of 0.35%.

Bet Voyager Hold 'Em

Bet Voyager Hold 'Em is closely based on Casino Hold 'Em, with these rule changes:

• The pay table applies to the Call bet instead of the Ante.
• The pay table pays more.
• The dealer qualifies with a pair of twos instead of fours.
• If the dealer qualifies and the player wins, then the Ante will push.
• I created a whole page devoted to Bet Voyager Hold 'Em. The bottom lines is that the house edge in the standard version is 1.68%, assuming optimal strategy.

Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker is played by the conventional rules except with more liberal pay tables. The standard version has the following pay tables:

Ante Bonus: 9-8-1
Pairplus: 40-32-6-4-1

This results in a house edge of 1.56% on the Ante and 1.85% on the Pairplus.

The standard version has the following pay tables:

 

Ante Bonus: 12.5 - 10 - 1
Pairplus: 42-38-6-4-1

This results in a house edge of 0.33% on the Ante and exactly 0% on the Pairplus.

Q Poker

Q Poker is very similar to Three Card Poker except:

• Instead of having the option to make a Raise bet, the player may surrender half his Ante bet.
• There is no Ante bonus.
• There is a pay table for the Ante bet, with a straight or higher paying premium odds.
• Another way to look at it is that the player now must win to collect the premium odds on a straight or higher, but those odds apply to the total amount bet.

Gamesys improves upon the usual 3-2-1.5 pay table seen in Macau with one that goes 4-3-2. The following table shows the probability and return of all possible outcomes. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 1.34%.

The next table shows the probability and return of all events under the 2-7-7.5 "Zero House Edge" pay table.

Let it Ride

The Gamesys Let it Ride game plays like the one seen in land casinos, except the player makes one bet to start and has two opportunities to add to it, as opposed to making three bets to start and having two chances to pull them back. Mathematically, it is the same thing.

A more liberal pay table than the standard one in U.S. casinos is followed. To be specific, the pay table goes 1-2-3-5-10-15-50-100-500, for a house edge of 1.99%.

The "zero house edge" pay table goes 1-2-3-6-11-15-52-110-250 for a house edge of 0.83%.

There is also the ubiquitous side bet on the final five cards that goes 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 for a house edge of 5.92%.

For more information, please see my Let it Ride Appendix 3, which has the probability and return of both Gamesys Let it Ride pay tables, as well as lots of others.

6 Card Poker 1-2-5

6 Card Poker 1-2-5 is closely related to Lunar Poker. It is unique in that it is the only game in the Gamesys portfolio that is only in the "Zero House Edge" category. It doesn't have a standard version.

There is the usual Bonus bet, that follows a 25-40-50-70-200-500-1000 pay table for a house edge of 5.08%.

The player may play up to four spots, but the third and fourth must be played blind, with a forced raise.

For the full rules, please see my page on 6 Card Poker 1-2-5.

Roulette

I don't know why Internet casinos need to have so many different roulette games, but Gamesys is no exception. Following is a summary of the roulette games offered.

• American Roulette — This game is played on a dreaded double-zero wheel. There is some good news in that single-number bets pay 36 to 1, instead of the usual 35. They also kindly don't allow bets on the 0-00-1-2-3 combination, which carries a house edge of 7.89%.

   

  The house edge in this version of American Roulette is 2.63% on the single-number bets and 5.26% on all others.

• European Roulette — This game follows the standard rules and is played on a single-zero wheel. Sorry, no losing half if the ball lands in zero, which I call "French roulette." The house edge on all bets in European roulette is 2.70%.
• Multiball Roulette — This game is played on a single-zero wheel with one to three balls. If the player selects more than one ball, then whatever he bets is divided among the three balls. For example, if the player chooses three balls and bets $30 on red, then it will be like having three $10 bets on red, one for each ball. The bet amounts are conveniently evenly divisible by 2 or 3, depending on the number of balls. The odds are the same as in single-ball European roulette, with a house edge of 2.70% on every bet.

• Roulette Express — This game is similar to Multiball Roulette, except that the player may make parlay bets, called "Express Bets," based on the outcome of all three balls. For example, an Express Bet on red pays 8 to 1 and wins if all three balls land in red. Please note that each balls lands in a different number.

  I felt there was enough to say about this game that I devoted a page to Roulette Express, which you may refer to for more information.

• No-Zero Roulette (Zero House Edge) — The title pretty much says it all. The standard roulette pay table is followed. With no zero, there is no house edge.

  Please note that in all "Zero House Edge" games there is a 10% commission on the net gambling session win. Please see the top of this page for more details.

• American Roulette (Zero House Edge) — Single number bets pay 37 to 1. All others push on a zero or double zero. The house edge on every bet is exactly 0.00%.
• European Roulette (Zero House Edge) — Single number bets pay 36 to 1. All others push on a zero. The house edge on every bet is exactly 0.00%.

• Single-Zero Roulette Express (zero House Edge) — The single-ball bets follow the rules for Zero House Edge European roulette, for a zero house edge.

  The Express straight and neighbors bets pay 221 and 209 respectively, also for zero house edge. The other express bets carry a low house edge, but not quite zero. Please see my page on Roulette Express for more information.

• No-Zero Roulette Express — Zero House Edge — The single-ball bets follow the standard roulette pay table. With no zero, there is zero house edge.

  The column Express Bets pay 31.4 for no house edge. The other Express Bets carry a small house edge. Please see my page on Roulette Express for more information.

Blackjack and Variations

All due credit to Gamesys for creating some new blackjack games I've never seen before. The new ones incorporate some unusual rules that the rules table below doesn't support, so let me make special mention of them:

• Doublet Blackjack — The only unusual rule is Double Down Rescue. This means the player may surrender after doubling. This creates an interaction effect with its European no peek rule, which my normal model doesn't support, so I had to do a custom analysis of it. Since I did that, I created a whole page devoted to Doublet Blackjack.
• Diamond Blackjack — This game is similar to Super Fun 21. A major difference is that there is no hole card, making the rule allowing surrender at any time much more powerful. However, they don't allow some other things that Super Fun 21 does, evidently to compensate. Here are all the special rules the table below doesn't indicate:
  • Player blackjack is an automatic winner.
  • Player blackjack in diamonds pays 2 to 1. All other blackjacks pay 1 to 1.
  • Player may double at any time.
  • Player may surrender at any time, including after splitting.
  • I find the house edge on the standard version of Diamond Blackjack to be 1.24%. In the "Zero House Edge" version some blackjacks pay more, lowering the house edge to 0.39%.

  For more information, please see my page on Diamond Blackjack.

• Zero House Edge — Every blackjack game has a "zero house edge" version. They only rule changes are that blackjacks pay more. The additional blackjack win depends on the game, as follows:
  • American Blackjack: Ace-king blackjack in spades pays 4 to 1. This lowers the house edge by 0.19%, from 0.29% to 0.10%.
  • European Blackjack: Ace-king blackjack in spades pays 7 to 1. This lowers the house edge by 0.41%, from 0.45% to 0.04%.
  • Doublet Blackjack: Any blackjack in spades pays 2.5. This lowers the house edge by 0.30%, from 0.38% to 0.08%.
  • Diamond Blackjack: Ace-king in diamonds blackjack pays 7.5 and any other blackjack in diamonds pays 4. This lowers the house edge by 0.85%, from 1.24% to 0.39%. The following table shows the Blackjack and Variations games available in alphabetical order.

The following table shows the Blackjack and Variations games available in alphabetical order.

Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.

Blackjack Switch

Gamesys follows the usual Blackjack Switch rules, with these specifics:

• Six decks.
• Dealer stands on a soft 17.
• No dealer hole card. Player loses everything against a dealer blackjack after doubling or splitting.
• Switched blackjack counts as 21 points.
• No surrender.
• Double after split allowed.
• It goes without saying that the player may switch cards between hands and that a dealer total of 22 will result in a push instead of a win. Please see my Blackjack Switch page if you're not familiar the game.

Previously, the closest set of rules I've heard to these were found in Russia. They follow the same rules as Gamesys, except in Russia they allow surrender. The house edge under the Russian rules is 0.20%, according to the game owner.

I don't have a convenient way to determine the value of surrender in a no hole card game of Blackjack Switch. I do know that the value of early surrender in conventional blackjack is 0.63%. However, I assume that it would be less in Blackjack Switch because the player can often switch out of bad hands. I roughly guess the value of early surrender in Blackjack Switch to be about 0.27%. That would make the house edge under the Gamesys rules 0.20% + 0.27% = 0.47%.

In the "zero house edge" version an ace-king of spades blackjack pays 2 to 1. The probability of that is 0.07%, which is also how much it is worth to the player. Thus, the "zero house edge" house edge is 0.39%.

I want to stress that these figures should be considered rough, which is something I don't say very often. Blackjack Switch is a tough game to analyze and I've spent weeks on this software review as it is.

The Super Match bet follows the usual 5-8-40 pay table for a house edge of 2.55%.

The following table shows the Blackjack Switch games available in alphabetical order.

Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.

Double Exposure

Gamesys follows these double exposure rules:

• Six decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Tied blackjack is a push.
• Double on hard 9 to 11 only.
• Split three times, including aces.
• Double after split allowed.

According to my math, the house edge under these rules is 0.51%.

The "zero house edge" version pays 8 to 1 for a winning ace and king of spades. This lowers the house edge by 0.52% for a player advantage of 0.01%.

Chemin de Fer

Gamesys calls this game Heads Up Baccarat, but I'm big on titling games by their conventional names, which in this case is chemin de fer. Before going further, let me explain that when I write about baccarat and chemin de fer I refer to those playing the game in lower case and the bets in upper case, in an effort (probably a failed one) to avoid confusion.

That said, chemin de fer is the same as baccarat, with these changes:

• The game is player-banked.
• Apart from a natural 8 or 9 ending all further drawing, both the Player and Banker have free will in taking a third card. The Player must still act first and any third card is dealt face up.
• At Gamesys, the casino charges a 3% commission on Banker wins (I'm not sure what they do in Monte Carlo).
• The turn to bank alternates among the players.

The optimal strategy in this game is to randomize the following decisions:

Player total of 5.
Banker total of 6, if the player stood.
Banker total of 5, if the player hit and got a 4.
Banker total of 3, if the player hit and got a 9.

Assuming two perfect logicians played, well versed in game theory, the expected loss on the Player bet is 1.28% and on the Banker bet is 0.10%, after the 3% commission. You can find the optimal strategy in my Chemin de Fer page, which I updated thanks to Gamesys.

Slot machines

The slot machines by Gamesys are the standard three-reel and five-reel variety. They look like what you would have seen in a land casino around the turn of the century. In other words, nothing especially fancy, but simple and down to business.

dice 2

This game has a host of bets based on the roll of two dice, one red and one green. For example, the total between the two dice, even/odd, and the outcome of each individual die.

The pays all are statistically fair, meaning no house edge. However, there is a 10% commission, based on the net win, of every gambling "session."