Casino Tropez Offers Superior Online Casino Experience

Casino Tropez is one of the top five online casinos in the world. It was launched in 2002 and despite being around a relatively short time, it has established itself as a popular destination for gambling online.  As I wanted to take a look at the top-of-the-line casinos, I chose Tropez as my second casino to review.

The reason for the popularity of this casino is evident once you download and take a look at what it offers its customers. Casino Tropez uses Playtech software which features over eighty-five games to suit all types of players. The casino has classic table and card games, multi-line and multi-spin slots, video poker and keno. There are also progressive bonus-stage jackpot games, Asian games, arcade games, live dealer games and exclusive to Playtech software, Blackjack Switch. When it comes to reliability, Playtech has a good reputation and is now a publicly-traded company.

Blackjack – Casino Tropez blackjack can be played in a number of different modes; single player, multi-player (with chat) and private tables. The single player mode also gives you the choice of 1, 3 or 5 betting hands. Playing five hands in practice mode is a great way to work on your blackjack basic strategy.

Casino Tropez blackjack uses 6 decks and dealer must hit on all 17s. Other rules are:

• After each round, used cards are returned to the deck and the deck is shuffled.
• The player may double down on any two cards.
• The player may double after splitting.
• The player may not split a split hand.
• The dealer will not check for Blackjack in any case.
• If the player doubles and the dealer's first card is of value 11 (ACE), and the dealer gets Blackjack, the player loses both his bets. If the dealer’s first card is of value 10, and the dealer gets Blackjack, the player gets the Double bet back.

The house edge under these rules is 0.52%. Casino Tropez also offers Blackjack Surrender which has the same or better rules as regular blackjack. When playing here, you should stick with the Blackjack Surrender game and learn the extra few basic strategy decisions that are necessary.

Blackjack Surrender – The surrender version comes in the same single hand, multi-hand configurations as regular blackjack. The rules are also identical with a couple notable exceptions: the dealer stands on soft 17 and always peeks for blackjack. With these rules in place the house edge 0.39%.

Blackjack Progressive – A blackjack table with a progressive jackpot based on the cards you are dealt. If you like jackpot games, give it a shot, but remember the progressive has to be over $200,000 to make it even close to being a good bet.

Blackjack Switch – This enjoyable game is exclusive to Playtech software, although it can also be played at some Las Vegas and Russian casinos. The central difference between it and regular blackjack is that the player gets two hands and has the option of switching the top card of each hand to make better hands. So if you are dealt 10/4 on one hand and 6/Jack on the other, you could switch the 4 and the Jack and wind up with 4/6 and 10/Jack, which you then play just like regular blackjack. There are number of other rules that come into play, but at the end of the day, the house edge is almost nil playing perfect strategy. The difficulty lies in determining the right plays. The Wizard of Odds, a well-known gambling probability expert, has produced a large strategy table for those who want to go the extra mile with this game. I would recommend Blackjack Switch for those who are bored with blackjack and want to add some spice to their life.

Pontoon – Supposedly a precursor to blackjack, Pontoon can be a head-scratcher. The rules are provided with the game, but be forewarned, this ain't blackjack. The house edge on this game is not bad for the player

Casino Tropez Craps

Casino Tropez' craps table gives you a summary of each bet won or lost displayed in a ticker above the table. When you have a lot of bets in action, this can be very helpful. The player may take up to 3 times odds on the pass and come bets. This is also the case for don't pass and don't come. The combined house edge is 0.47% on the pass and come and 0.46% on the don't pass and don't come. Buy and lay bets are allowed and the 5% commission is charged on the winnings.

Casino Tropez offers American Roulette and European Roulette. The difference between them consists of two zeros for American Roulette and one zero for European Roulette. Both versions include a history of numbers hit and a close-up of the wheel. The graphics and sounds are good. Of course, I recommend European Roulette because the house edge is half the size of American Roulette.

The baccarat table offers the standard rules, rake and odds for the game. The look and feel of the table is excellent and the player controls are intuitive.

Caribbean Stud Poker was a very popular game when it was first introduced in Nevada over ten years ago. Over time its popularity has waned. Playing poker hands against the house can be entertaining, but the house edge of 5.22% is a drawback. And if you are considering the side bet for the progressive, keep in mind that the meter would need to reach nearly $220,000 for the bet to be even.

This game is Casino Tropez' version of Let it Ride. The game has a house edge of about 3.5%.  There is also a side bet which has an edge of 13.8%, certainly not the worst for this type of bet, but still something you'll want to avoid.

The dealer is always the banker, resulting in a house edge of 2.8%. There is a house way button but if the player clicks it the hand will immediately be scored, not giving the player the option to accept or reject the house way.

This version of Three Card Poker follows full-pay rules making it one of the better deals on the Internet for this game.  The house edge is 2.3% on the Pair Plus bet and 3.4% on the Ante bet.

Casino Tropez' Casino Hold'em is a house-banked version of Texas Hold'em where the player competes heads up with the dealer. The betting includes an ante bet, a call bet, and a option side bet that pays of hands that can be made out of the player's initial two cards and the three card flop. The game is fun and not terribly expensive, about a 2% house edge. The side bet is so-so, with a house edge of 6.4%.

Safecracker Slot

Playtech offers a good selection of slot machines with over 30 classic and video slots, including seven progressive slots. Unlike other online gambling software packages, the slots and video poker don't need to be "fed" bills in order to start playing. All slots and games at Casino Tropez deduct and add to your cash balance making the coin conversions for you. This makes session bankroll management a bit more difficult, but is a great convenience when switching between machines.

The classic slots include 2, 3, and 5 coin-in games, some with multiple lines. The video slots include 3, 5, 8, and 9 coin-in games and often come with wild, scatter and bonus features. Fun slots include Safecracker, Goblin's Cave, Wall St. Fever and a new progressive Queen of the Pyramids.

Tropez offers a lot of variety in its video poker products. The single hand versions include 10s or Better, Jacks or Better, Aces & Faces, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker and Two Way Royals (1,2,3,4,5 or 10,J,Q,K,A of the same suit). Multi-hand games are 4 line Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and Aces & Faces, and 10 hand Jacks or Better, and 25 hand Aces & Faces.

Casino Tropez Multi-hand Video Poker

As you can see, 10 and 25 hand games make you pay a price for the excitement of the extra hands.

The casino also has a $.25 progressive video poker machine called Megajacks. This is a 9/6 machine. If the machine has a progressive jackpot of over $1,000, the odds become more favorable than the standard machines.

In addition to the casino table games and slots, Casino Tropez also has a good number of arcade games which mimic many of the simple gambling games including Heads or Tails, Pop Bingo, Rock-Paper-Scissors, Rollercoaster Dice.

It has been my experience that after you deposit money isn't the best time to learn about the bonus rules. There are cases where you just want to play and leave with your money, but bonuses make that difficult, particularly if they are tied to a certain amount of play on selected games. Tropez offers generous bonuses, but there are limits on which games you can play to meet the wagering requirements. Specifically, baccarat, blackjack and blackjack variants, video poker, roulette, Sic Bo and craps are excluded. I highly recommend you read the bonus rules and are comfortable with them before depositing. 

The casino also offers the option of not collecting bonuses so that you can deposit, play and withdraw without any restrictions. If this is the route you choose, just send them an e-mail or call them after you have first set up your account. Bonuses are mixed blessing, particularly for people with an impatient streak.

Casino Tropez offers twenty different options for depositing money. I chose NETeller to set up my account. Other common methods were credit cards, Epassporte, FirePay, and Click2Pay. Once the money has been credited to your account, you are ready to go.

Editor's Note: Casino Tropez is one of the best casinos online that uses Playtech software. To play for free or for real money, click here.