Fester’s Findings – April 2015

With glorious sunny days here in the UK, what Easter delights did I find this month to persuade me to stay online with my casino chips at the ready.

 

Easter

Easter kick started the month. If you were on an egg hunt, you should have been playing at a Playtech casino. Both the Euro and Asia studios had more than enough eggs to satisfy most players.

Bet365 had the nicest looking gold eggs drawing player attention to the fact they had joined the growing trend of inserting bonus cards into blackjack shoes. Although the likelihood of receiving a bonus card at Playtech is diminished because of the handling procedures in use at the Riga studio.

As with past years the Euro Playtech female dealers wore the obligatory Playboy ears. This year the shufflers somehow managed to outrun the pit bosses before they could glue ears onto them. Winner and Sky Casino dedicated areas also had dealers sans ears … probably they refused to pay extra for the carrots?

While I was busy searching for eggs, LD was busy updating the platform reviews.

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Diamond VIP blackjack

April saw the launch of a new candidate for the best looking blackjack table in Latvia. Albeit taking a seat at Evolution’s Diamond blackjack table comes with a somewhat higher VIP premium than most players wish to gamble.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford a solid gold iPad or mobile you will appreciate that the table is already playable on these devices (and less expensive versions).

The setting and colour scheme is a nice change from the traditional fireplaces and vases at Evolution. Certainly better thought through visually than another high limit table that had yellow graphics on an Ivory cream table … it still hurts my eyes just thinking about that table.

In the short time the table has been open it appears to be attracting enough casino chips to warrant its place in the table roster. I think the accolade for quietest table ever in Latvia remains with the old LiveDealerVIP table (what did LD do so wrong? :?).

While on the subject of attractive, less busy tables…

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Gala table gets another facelift

Not so much a facelift as a downgrade. This actually occurred last month, but I was holding back from posting in the vain hope it wasn’t a permanent change.

Gala Casino’s private blackjack table has changed location to where one of the Italian tables used to be in the studio. The table lost its swish blue backdrop wall and attractive table surface in the move and has been renamed VIP Exclusive blackjack. These changes can in part be explained by the fact the table is now available at sister casino Coral. From of outsider’s viewpoint it looks like Gala have opted for a cheaper table option from Playtech.

The old gala table was my favourite looking table. Well it was when it wasn’t looking pink for several months despite the incredulous denials of Playtech personnel. I never understood why they couldn’t just say something along the lines of “yes, we are aware of the colour issue. When our technicians have the time we will attempt to rectify the situation.” Although that would go against the studio philosophy of deny everything, reveal nothing.

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Unibet doesn’t get a facelift

One of the dedicated areas belonging to Unibet was closed for several days, fuelling speculation of a possible facelift. But when the Unibet Easter egg finally hatched players were gifted 2 more English private blackjack tables.

Those brown green padded walls and video screens still distract me. Especially given the frequent lack of female dealers on Unibet branded tables.

I had my fingers half crossed hoping for another major Unibet facelift. Obviously, Evolution staff were busy elsewhere preparing the Diamond VIP blackjack table and new 777 tables.

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Double Ball Roulette coming soon, possibly

How good does a roulette payout of 1300 to 1 sound. Too good to be true?

Well it moved a step closer to reality with the announcement from Full Tilt and PokerStars of their new multi-year deal with Games Marketing. They now have access to games from the company including Double Ball Roulette. As the name suggests two balls are used on a regular roulette table. Altered payouts include the headline figure of 1300 to 1 when both balls land in the same numbered slot.

Full Tilt & PokerStars Director of Casino Sam Hobcraft said:

Games Marketing has a proven track record of providing great table games and we’re very pleased to have them on board. We want to stand out from the crowd and will do so by offering strong content with fresh ideas that establish points of difference between us and our competitors, as well as entertaining our players.

It remains to be seen if we will soon be listening to the actual sound of 2 balls spinning around a Full Tilt/PokerStars private roulette wheel at Evolution Gaming. Time for more finger crossing I think!

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I’m off now to buy a new pair of running shoes for the Riga marathon. Lots of dealers to see.