Fester’s Findings – May 2016
Ak Dievs…plenty of HD smooching and news from the Latvia studios this month. A new game launch, new UI, new lobbys, new game rules and more.
Double Ball Roulette arrives
Almost a year ago here at Livedealer.org we raised the prospect of a new roulette game from Evolution Gaming.
Our hunch became reality in 2016 when Evolution confirmed plans to launch Double Ball Roulette and in May Unibet players got the first look at the new game.
The table setting looks great and a payout of 1300:1 when both balls land on the same number is guaranteed to draw players in. But I’m less impressed with the male Blackjack Party dealers used on the table. Too many Party dealers give an impression of thinking they are ‘special’ and are susceptible of bringing that inflated cocky ego with them to the Double Ball table.
It’s not the first roulette table I’ve been put off by the atmosphere and it probably won’t be the last. I always found Evolution’s Immersive too gimmicky and artificial feeling. And not forgetting Playtech’s copycat Prestige table with the increased pressure on dealers to keep talking on an on about anything, whether or not players are responding.
At the end of the day it all boils down to personal preference what you do and don’t like.
Blackjack better looking and faster
During 2016 Evolution have been in the gradual process of switching their live tables to the new user interface.
This month it was the turn of blackjack tables to switch to the wide HD format.
The Blackjack Party table was first out of the starting blocks followed by the generic green, red, silver and other high limit tables. By the end of the month private tables including William Hill Macau switched to the new UI.
With the new user interface and less intrusive buttons comes a new centre stage DEAL NOW option when playing blackjack. Although depending on how busy the table is you may not see it all.
As its name suggests the new feature allows you to instruct the dealer to start dealing now, instead of waiting for the countdown timer to run down. But you only get the option to jolt your dealer into action when least expecting it if you are the sole seated player.
Evolution are not the first platform with such a ‘Deal Now’ feature. Notably, Playtech have had the feature since 2014 when Deal on Demand first appeared on private bookable blackjack tables.
Evolution HD Multi-Game Play
Now that the new UI has been implemented on all of Evolution’s games the Multi-Game Play feature has been updated to accommodate the wide display format. The upshot of which is you can now play any combination of blackjack, poker, baccarat or Immersive roulette tables which previously wasn’t possible.
I never wanted to play more than one table at once, especially 4 tables in tiny quarters of the screen. But ‘multiplay’ does seem popular with some players, and Evolution reported increased revenue when the featured was introduced. William Hill’s bonus hunting players certainly love the feature as they can have up to 4 blackjack tables open at once while waiting on a table visit from the Promotion Hosts with another cash giveaway.
Casino Hold’em rule change
Evolution have changed the Bonus bet rule for their Casino Hold’em poker tables.
If you’ve placed some of your casino chips on the BONUS side bet you don’t have to Call anymore to collect a payout on a Bonus bet. The rule change is most applicable from a player perspective with a pair of Aces in the first 5 cards combined with an otherwise weak looking player hand. In other words you can now Fold and still collect a bonus payout of 7:1 on a pair of Aces, and so on.
If you are an ardent supporter of the side bet, despite its lower theoretical return/RTP than the main game, it’s a significant rule change over rivals such as Playtech where you still need to Call to collect on the Bonus bet.
The new rule is applicable to the generic Hold’em table and private tables (eg. William Hill, PokerStars).
Blackjack or not
While thinking about the advantage of playing Hold’em at Evolution given the new sidebet rule my thoughts returned to another subtle game advantage for players at Evolution compared with other platforms such as Playtech.
When you are playing blackjack at Playtech, if the dealer draws an Ace on their first card players are offered insurance, then the round is played through (on both EU style and non EU deal tables) and only at the end you discover if the dealer has Blackjack. In contrast, at Evolution the round is immediately over after the offer of insurance if the dealer’s second card results in Blackjack.
A player following basic strategy at Playtech would split a pair of Aces or 8’s and so double their bet only to lose against a dealer Blackjack. Whereas at Evolution there’s no chance to lose anymore money on a split or more risky double down.
Baccarat war rages on
The battle between the big platforms for baccarat players was ratcheted up this month with No Commission tables and Egalite side bets launched at Playtech.
At the start of the year Evolution made a pitch to attract more players with the opening of the new baccarat tables including the squeeze view and Asian styling.
Prior to which Playtech having opened the Perseus VIP table at the beginning of 2015 in the Euro studio complete with card squeeze/peek. Then, more recently Playtech also made a simple change to the layout of tables with the removal of seat number 4 to appeal to Asian players.
The new No Commission baccarat game at Playtech looks enticing with its headline grabbing no commission/vigorish on Banker wins (except on 6). Or rather, it does until you go a bit deeper into the maths as a player once asked in the forums. After much head scratching, number crunching and research we confirmed a higher house edge of 1.46% vs. 1.06% for ‘normal’ 8 deck baccarat on this variant of baccarat (also known as Super/2000).
New lobby month
The latest battleline between Evolution and Playtech emerged in May with casinos from both launching new lobbys.
One of the selling points of Evolution’s new look live lobby is snapshots taken from the tables every 30 seconds. Unfortunately this comes at the cost of fitting less tables on screen at once.
Personally, I find it more hassle scrolling through all the tables. Especially so at casinos such as Unibet who have so many tables…including an impressive range of roulettes such as Double Ball, Dragonara (now with extended operating hours) plus several language tables including Greek, Turkish and Flemish which you won’t find at many casinos.
Here at Livedealer.org we love more tables, but I’m not convinced Evolution’s new lobby is the best place for them.
By the end of the month Playtech casino Betfair unveiled a totally new lobby design. The new look features large tables on screen that can be viewed live before joining the table.
It’s all very flash looking. But not the most convenient when you just want to glance over all the open tables (including Hi-Lo now playable at Betfair).
Sometimes KISS (keep it simple, stupid) really is the best design principle….be it new lobbys or table presentation.
London upgrade
Playtech have given their London roulette table a HD upgrade.
The table in the Riga studio is now presented in multiple camera angle format and uses the roulette interface introduced on the Prestige table. More observation players will notice the backdrop wall has also been tweaked from November’s makeover with the addition of blue lighting.
I’m all in favour of improved HD image quality and slicker, less intrusive interfaces but I don’t like all the switching camera angles being used on ever more studio tables. Given the option I always turn multiple camera angles off. Alas there’s no such option on the London or Prestige tables.
Rise of the machines
Notwithstanding the short lived shuffling machine sojourn on Casino Hold’em, Playtech have chosen to further trial shuffling machines currently on blackjack tables Hermes & Mars.
Playtech are using the same continuous shuffle type as they use on the Hi-Lo table in the Riga studio. Meanwhile a short distance down the road at Evolution you come across blackjack tables using those type that sound like a washing machine while batch shuffling a whole shoe of cards in readiness for a shoe change.
Okay, not quite the stuff of a Hollywood blockbuster yet then. But they are already using robot dealers in some parts of the world…be afraid, be very afraid.
iPad snippets
Playtech have introduced a new mobile method of placing multiple roulette bets on iPad Apps. Instead of clicking each individual chip placement all you have to do now is drag you finger across the screen.
Depending where you wish to place your casino chips you may find the new method useful, or in my experience somewhat erratic for exact placements. Anyway, if you just want to try letting luck take its course there’s nothing stopping you now from drawing a random path across the screen rather than the traditional finger tapping method which can become painful after a long roulette session.
Sticking with Playtech news, Ladbrokes have updated their iPad App with the addition of live Hi-Lo.
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