Nucleus Gaming is a casino game developer that broke onto the scene with an assortment of interesting looking 3D games. The games are relatively straightforward in terms of feature set, but the presentation is the real game changer. The intuitive 3D look and feel to the games is fantastic, making Nucleus’ titles look like something you’d find from Betsoft.
The games from Nucleus are a full of different themes, running from simplistic (Fruit Serenity) to cute (Kitty Cutie) to action-packed (Blades of the Abyss). No matter the game you play, you can rest assured that Nucleus has done a good job of making their library of games interesting to punters.
In addition to slots, there are table games and video poker games also designed by Nucleus. While these lack some of the “wow factor” that the slots have, they are still worthy of your time.
The table games have the same look and rules as those of Betsoft. The main difference seems to be that Betsoft tables have green felt and Nucleus uses a light brown.
Roulette
Common Draw Roulette
Zoom Roulette
American Roulette
Nucleus offers three versions of roulette, two single-zero and one double-zero. I recommend playing the single-zero wheels only.
Craps
Craps
Nucleus is one of the few providers to offer a craps game, which are not easy to make. They offer 3x odds, always based on the bet amount. Buy and Lay bets charge a 5% commission, nicely payable on wins only. The commission is based on the bet amount on Buy bets and on the win on Lay bets. The also offer the standard odds on place and place to lose bets.
Wins are rounded down to the nearest $0.25. The smallest chip you can bet is $1.
The following table compares the buy and place bets. As you can see, the house edge is lower on the buy bets for every number except the 6 and 8.
Buy and Place Bets
Point
Buy Pays
Place Pays
Buy House Edge
Place House Edge
4 or 10
1.950000
1.800000
0.016667
0.066667
5 or 9
1.450000
1.400000
0.020000
0.040000
6 or 8
1.150000
1.166667
0.022727
0.015152
The following table compares the lay and place to lose bets. Much like the buy and place bets, the house edge is lower on the lay bets for every number except the 6 and 8.
Lay and Place to Lose Bets
Point
Buy Pays
Place Pays
Buy House Edge
Place House Edge
4 or 10
0.475000
0.454545
0.016667
0.030303
5 or 9
0.633333
0.625000
0.020000
0.025000
6 or 8
0.791667
0.800000
0.022727
0.018182
Here are the increments you should make place, buy, don't place, and lay bets, to avoid getting rounded down.
Place: $5 on 4, 5, 9, and 10, $6 on 6 and 8.
Buy: $5 on all points.
Don't place: $11 on 4 and 10, $8 on 5 and 9, $5 on 6 and 8
Lay: $10 on 4 and 10, $15 on 5 and 9, $6 on 6 and 8.
The field has the liberal rules of paying 3 to 1 on the 12.
Beware the Big 6 and 8 bets, that pay even money only.
Pontoon
Pontoon
Pontoon was created by Real Time Gaming and in the usual tradition of keeping up with the competition, it has been adopted by other competitors, including Nucleus. This is not to be confused with Australian pontoon, which is the same thing as Spanish 21 in the US.
Nucleus follows the usual rules of allowing drawing to split aces and the dealer hitting a soft 17. Eight decks are used. This results in a house edge of 0.38%. The Sweet 16 side bet has a house edge of 2.52%.
Nucleus refers to their Three Card Poker game as Triple Edge Poker. The Ante Bonus follows the 1-4-5 pay table for a house edge of 3.37% on the Ante bet. The Pairplus pay table goes 1-4-6-30-40 for a house edge of 2.32%.
Three Card Rummy
Three Card Rummy
Three Card Rummy has a similar structure to Three Card Poker, but the hand scoring is much different. It is hard to describe briefly, so please see my page on Vegas Three Card Poker for more information.
Casino War
Top Card Trumps
Nucleus refers to Casino War as Top Card Trumps. They use six decks and follow the stingy "no bonus" rule for a tie after a tie. This results in a house edge of 2.88%.
Spanish 21
Pirate 21
Nucleus calls their Spanish 21 game (or what is called Pontoon in Australia) "Pirate 21 Blackjack."
The rules are the same as what you would find in the U.S. In particular, they use six decks, hit a soft 17, and do not allow re-doubling. This results in a house edge of 0.76%.
They also offer the Match the Dealer side bet, with the usual pays of 4 and 9, resulting in a house edge of 3.06%.
Draw Hi-Lo
Draw Hi Lo
This is a simple game of card prediction. As far as I know, it is available only to Betsoft and Nucleus. Rather than explain it all here, please see my page Draw Hi Lo for more information. The bottom line is a house edge of 3.93%.
Red Dog
Red Dog
The usual red dog rules are followed. Eight decks are used for a house edge of 2.75%.
Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker
Standard pai gow poker rules are followed. I always like it when online casinos have a house way button, or at least sort the cards, but Nucleus does neither. At least it is impossible to foul your hand.
The dealer is always the banker. Assuming the player follows a house way strategy, the house edge is 2.72%.
Baccarat
Baccarat
Nucleus offers a simple baccarat game with the three main bets — Player, Banker, and Tie.
21 Burn Blackjack
21 Burn Blackjack
21 Burn Blackjack is a blackjack variant where the player can burn his second card. However, the player has to make a very negative side bet, equal to half his original wager, on the replacement card to do so. All things considered, I get a house edge of 0.54%.
The following table shows the Blackjack games available in alphabetical order.
Nucleus Gaming Blackjack Alphabetic OrderExpand
Game
BJ Pays
Soft 17
Double After Split
Double
Splits Number
Re split aces
Draw to split aces
Peek
Surrender
Return
Total Decks
Live Game
Single Deck
1.5
Hit
Yes
10 or 11
1
No
No
Yes
No
99.62%
1
No
Super 7
1.5
Stand
Yes
Any 2
1
No
No
Yes
No
99.54%
6
No
Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.
Nucleus Gaming Blackjack Return OrderExpand
Game
BJ Pays
Soft 17
Double After Split
Double
Splits Number
Re split aces
Draw to split aces
Peek
Surrender
Return
Total Decks
Live Game
Single Deck
1.5
Hit
Yes
10 or 11
1
No
No
Yes
No
99.62%
1
No
Super 7
1.5
Stand
Yes
Any 2
1
No
No
Yes
No
99.54%
6
No
Caribbean Stud Poker
Caribbean Poker
Standard Caribbean Stud Poker rules are followed, except a royal flush pays 200 instead of 100. This lowers the house edge from the usual 5.22% by 0.01% to 5.21%.
Video Poker
Pyramid Poker
Split Way Royale
All American
Bonus Deuces
Deuces and Joker Poker
Double Bonus (multi-play)
Double Joker
Five Draw Poker
Jacks or Better (multi-play)
Joker Poker (multi-play)
Joker Poker
Double Up Feature
The following table shows the Video Poker games available in alphabetical order.
Nucleus Gaming Video Poker Alphabetic Order
Game
Power Poker
Multi-Play
Pay Table
Return
Live Game
All American (multi-play)
No
-
1-1-3-8-8-8-30-200-800
98.49%
No
All American (progressive)
Yes
-
1-1-3-8-8-8-25-100-?
?
No
Bonus
No
-
1-1-3-4-4-8-18-25-40-80-200-400-1000
98.15%
No
Bonus Deluxe (multi-play)
Yes
Yes
1-1-3-4-5-10-80-50-800
99.70%
No
Bonus Deuces
No
-
1-1-3-4-4-8-18-25-40-80-200-400-1000
98.15%
No
Bonus Poker
No
-
1-2-3-4-5-8-25-40-80-50-800
99.17%
No
Bonus Poker (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-1-3-5-8-10-25-40-80-50-800
94.18%
No
Deuces Wild
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-4-9-15-25-200-800
98.91%
No
Deuces Wild (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-4-8-15-25-200-800
98.45%
No
Deuces and Joker Poker
Yes
-
1-2-3-3-3-6-9-12-25-800-2000
99.07%
No
Double Bonus (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-1-3-4-5-8-50-80-160-50-800
94.19%
No
Double Jackpot (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-5-8-20-40-80-50-800
98.35%
No
Double Joker Poker
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-5-8-25-50-100-800
98.90%
No
Five Draw Poker (jacks or better 5-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-6-9-20-40-800
98.25%
No
Jacks or Better
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-6-9-20-40-800
98.25%
No
Jacks or Better (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-6-9-20-40-800
98.25%
No
Joker Poker
Yes
-
1-1-2-3-5-7-17-50-100-200-800
98.09%
No
Joker Poker (multi-play)
Yes
Yes
1-1-2-3-5-7-17-50-100-200-800
98.09%
No
Pyramid Poker -- Bonus Poker
No
-
See Pyramid Poker page
83.62%
No
Split Way Royale
No
-
1-2-3-4-5-6-40-50-800-800
99.80%
No
Tens or Better
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-5-6-25-50-800
99.14%
No
Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.
Nucleus Gaming Video Poker Return Order
Game
Power Poker
Multi-Play
Pay Table
Return
Live Game
All American (progressive)
Yes
-
1-1-3-8-8-8-25-100-?
?
No
Split Way Royale
No
-
1-2-3-4-5-6-40-50-800-800
99.80%
No
Bonus Deluxe (multi-play)
Yes
Yes
1-1-3-4-5-10-80-50-800
99.70%
No
Bonus Poker
No
-
1-2-3-4-5-8-25-40-80-50-800
99.17%
No
Tens or Better
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-5-6-25-50-800
99.14%
No
Deuces and Joker Poker
Yes
-
1-2-3-3-3-6-9-12-25-800-2000
99.07%
No
Deuces Wild
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-4-9-15-25-200-800
98.91%
No
Double Joker Poker
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-5-8-25-50-100-800
98.90%
No
All American (multi-play)
No
-
1-1-3-8-8-8-30-200-800
98.49%
No
Deuces Wild (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-4-8-15-25-200-800
98.45%
No
Double Jackpot (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-5-8-20-40-80-50-800
98.35%
No
Jacks or Better
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-6-9-20-40-800
98.25%
No
Jacks or Better (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-6-9-20-40-800
98.25%
No
Five Draw Poker (jacks or better 5-play)
Yes
-
1-2-3-4-6-9-20-40-800
98.25%
No
Bonus
No
-
1-1-3-4-4-8-18-25-40-80-200-400-1000
98.15%
No
Bonus Deuces
No
-
1-1-3-4-4-8-18-25-40-80-200-400-1000
98.15%
No
Joker Poker
Yes
-
1-1-2-3-5-7-17-50-100-200-800
98.09%
No
Joker Poker (multi-play)
Yes
Yes
1-1-2-3-5-7-17-50-100-200-800
98.09%
No
Double Bonus (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-1-3-4-5-8-50-80-160-50-800
94.19%
No
Bonus Poker (multi-play)
Yes
-
1-1-3-5-8-10-25-40-80-50-800
94.18%
No
Pyramid Poker -- Bonus Poker
No
-
See Pyramid Poker page
83.62%
No
Slots
Ruby Jade
Blades of the Abyss
High Noon
Mermaid's Treasure
Moguls
Moon Bitten
Savanna Safari
Sleight of Hand
There's Gold Yonder
Vegas Road Trip
Sands of Egypt
Nucleus slots are very nicely done in all ways -- graphics, sound, and game play. Most games convey a good sense of humor and are fun to play.