Martin Reiner, the CEO of live dealer provider Visionary i-Gaming and a former MIT card counter, developed the multihand Live Blackjack Early Payout game, and this week celebrated the launch on his company’s tables of the latest version.
“We believe that Visionary iGaming’s….dealers will offer the most entertaining live blackjack game on the internet,” Reiner said this week. “But by far the greatest benefit that our clients derive from Live Blackjack Early Payout Version 2.0 are the economies of scale that the game offers. The game allows all of Visionary iGaming’s clients to offer live blackjack to their entire player base without having to open dedicated live tables.”
Traditional live online blackjack is one of most popular live dealer table games but is limited to players by the number of seats available at any given time.
Online players must compete for seats resulting in the operator’s need to open dedicated tables or raise table limits. Opening dedicated tables is costly and raising table limits reduces the number of players that the game appeals to, Reiner explained.
Visionary iGaming’s offering is able to accommodate an infinite number of online players across various table limits because it was designed with two unique twists. The game automatically deals basic strategy blackjack and at every stage of the hand the player is offered a choice to continue with Basic Strategy or accept an Early Payout. Version 2.0 allows players to elect other choices as well, making game play closer to that of standard blackjack.
By dealing basic strategy the game sticks to a pre-defined set of actions for each hand, enabling operators to seat an unlimited number of players at a single table. In addition, basic strategy offers the highest probability of winning to the player, a keen selling point to new and veteran players alike. Version 2.0 of the game presents the player with more in-game options such as the ability to Stand or Double on virtually every hand. Two new side bets, Pairs and Rummy, have also been added to spice up the betting options.
Early Payout is an amount offered at every stage of the hand, allowing the player to exit the hand early at a fair price. It is similar to Surrender, but the Early Payout amount can be greater than or less than the original wager depending on the hand’s strength against the dealer’s ‘up card’.
If the player has a 16 against the dealer’s ‘up card’ of 10 and wishes not to take the hit per basic strategy, then he can accept an Early Payout, exit the hand early, and limit a potential loss. Conversely, if a player has a 20 against the dealer’s ‘up card’ of 10 then an Early Payout amount greater than the original bet is offered allowing the player to lock in a profit before the hand finishes. In the end, each hand will be dealt to completion per basic strategy so the player can see whether their decision was the correct action.