Amigotechs Blackjack

Amigotechs is a software designer that provides virtual poker, casino, and sportsbetting products to their clients. Based in Panama, the company has created a decent range of titles that are often made available to the U.S. market.

Now for the bad news.

Amigotechs is one of those operations that smells fishy from a mile away. For starters, almost no information is available about the company on the Internet. Since their entire business takes place online, that's an immediate red flag. When you factor in that their official website is no longer available, alarm bells should be ringing inside your head right about now.

Need more evidence?

Consider the two cases where players have outright accused their software of being rigged. The first example occurred in 2011, when a customer played 922 hands of Jacks of Better video poker without getting a paying win. The situation was analyzed by Dr. Eliot Jacobsen with Certified Fair Gambling, and he concluded "it is more likely to win the United States Powerball lottery 14 times in a row, buying a single ticket, than that the results of this game happened purely by chance."

Four years later, a customer complained of playing 560 hands of 2 Ways Royal video poker and never getting anything better than two pair. This claim was verified via gaming logs, and the odds of such an event happening fairly were placed at 1 in 18,977,313,106,520,400,000,000,000,000.

The owner of Amigotechs eventually compensated the player, but the damage to the company's reputation had already been done (again).

Games Available

Amigotechs has an average selection of games, from just over 40 slot machines to casino classics such as roulette (American, European, and French versions), craps, and war. Before we move on to an in-depth discussion of their available blackjack games, let's pause for a moment to examine some of the overall positives and negatives associated with their virtual creations.

If you're looking for reasons to play at a casino powered by Amigotechs, you may have a tough time. There aren't many positives to be found, although they do stand out when it comes to offering games rarely found elsewhere.

The two most notable examples are Crazy Poker (also known as "Crazy 4 Poker") and 30-40 (also known as "Trente et Quarante"). The former carries a standard house edge of 3.42%, while the side bet gives the house a 4.52% advantage. In the case of the latter, the house edge is a desirable 0.90%, as long as the player chooses the maximum insurance wager.

Neither of these games are likely to be found anywhere else, so fans should be delighted by their inclusion at any casinos affiliated with Amigotechs.

There are plenty of reasons to outright avoid Amigotechs, and we've listed each of them below for your convenience.

• Potentially Rigged Software

  This item is reason enough to avoid any casino affiliated with the company. For those who haven't done so already, you can read more about the potentially rigged software from Amigotechs by checking out the first section of this article.

• Spotty Information

  If we visit the help files at a casino, we expect to find detailed information on all their games. That's the way it's supposed to work, at least, but the folks at Amigotechs obviously have other ideas. Their help files are inconsistent at best, and critical information and rules are often "accidentally" left out. This is completely unacceptable, and it's one of the surest indications that the company doesn't have the best interests of their customers in mind.

• Inconsistent Rules

  Even if you do manage to track down the complete rules for a game, you'll notice that the details can often be erratic. A perfect example involves their video poker machines, with the house edge ranging from a desirable 0.20% to an outrageous 13.19%.

• Loading Time

  In the modern era of online gambling, most games are available to the player within a matter of seconds. Amigotechs drops the ball once again, this time because their games are notoriously slow when it comes to loading. Internet users have become increasingly impatient, and this flaw isn't going to endear the software to anyone.

• Miserly Rules

  Most casino software developers try to strike a balance between loose and stingy rules, but Amigotechs usually gravitates to the latter. Most games have the worst possible house edge, which is sure to drive away any customer with the sense to notice.

• Outdated Appearance

  Most of their games look like they were designed back in the late 1990s. While that doesn't mean the games stink, it's not exactly going to draw in customers in droves. It also makes us wonder about the direction Amigotechs is headed in as a company, as well as the overall quality of their designers.

Now that we've covered the pros and cons of the company's software, let's take a look at the different types of blackjack. There are a total of six to choose from, although most follow the traditional rules rather closely.

• Single Deck (3 to 2)
• Single Deck (6 to 5 with surrender)
• Single Deck (6 to 5 no surrender)
• Six Decks (no surrender)
• Six Decks (with surrender)
• Blackjack Switch

A relatively straightforward version of the game, with the dealer hitting on a soft 17 and blackjack paying 1.5. The player may not double down after a split, although they can double down on a 10 or 11. Aces can't be re-split, and surrender is not an option (which sounds like a cheesy line from an action movie). The expected return to the player is 99.62%, which makes this a solid option for anyone brave enough to give Amigotechs blackjack a try.

Getting a blackjack pays an outrageous 6 to 5, which should be enough to cause some gamblers to immediately boycott this provider. The dealer stands on a soft 17, and the player is allowed to double after a split. Aces cannot be re-split, and the surrender option is in effect. With all these variable factored in, the expected return is 98.74%.

Yet another version of the awful 6 to 5 blackjack payout rules, although this time the player doesn't have the option of surrendering their hand. The rest of the rules are the same as the previous entry, and the return works out to 98.72%.

The dealer stands on a soft 17, and a player blackjack pays 1.5. Doubling can be performed on any pair, and doubling after the split is also allowed. Aces cannot be re-split, and the dealer always peeks for a blackjack (which is common in all version from Amigotechs). There's no option for surrendering, which lowers the expected return to 99.54%.

The only difference between this version and the previous entry is the ability for the player to surrender a hand. This improves the expected return slightly, raising it from 99.54% to 99.61%.

In this variant, the player makes two bets of equal size and is dealt two hands. Once the initial hands have been received, the player has the option of switching the second card in both hands. In most versions of this game, a player blackjack pushes against a dealer 22. In this case, however, any blackjack automatically wins, so this gives the player a nice advantage and reduces the house edge to just 0.18%. If you're going to play some manner of blackjack at Amigotechs, this is the version to choose (assuming the software hasn't been rigged).

Amigotechs Casinos

Given all the problems associated with Amigotechs, we can't in good conscience recommend any of the casinos that use their games. We will, however, provide a list of these clients, just so you can avoid them like the plague.

Some of the more notable names include the following:

This online casino and sportsbook accepts US players, although the exact jurisdiction they're licensed in is unknown (assuming they're licensed at all). In addition to Amigotechs software, games are also provided by GGL.

This site is licensed in Costa Rica, which immediately makes it somewhat questionable due to the lack of official oversight. Casinos games, lotteries, live dealers, and a racebook are all available, and additional software is provided by RDG and GGL.

And the rest:

• BetRoyal Sportsbook
• Betnow
• BetLion365
• Poker Host
• Bingo Fun House
• Horizon Sports

Strategy for Amigotechs Blackjack

In this section, we usually offer suggestions for the best way to succeed at one or more of the blackjack games offered by a game designer. While we've included one such strategy, we'd also like to offer another that's a little less conventional.

You heard right. We're suggesting that you avoid the company's games entirely. And since they might be mixed in with games from other designers, the smartest move is to sidestep any casino known to work with them. We wouldn't normally suggest such a bold move, but there are just too many suspicious reports floating around to take a chance.

We're sure there are those who'll disregard our advice. If you're one of these brave souls, then we suggest sticking with Blackjack Switch and its unusually friendly rules. The following is a basic strategy for this game, and it's often referred to as the "Cindy Liu Simple Switching Strategy."

The strategy is based on a list of hands, and they're ranked in order of strength. They include:

• 21
• 20
• 19
• AA
• 11
• 10
• 9
• 8 or 18
• 8, 8 with a 2 through 8 up

Now that these hands have been established, let's look at how to use them:

If the dealer is showing a 7 or 8, make your weaker hand as strong as possible by using the table listed above. If the dealer has any other card facing up, use the same table but concentrate on improving your strongest hand.

If you find yourself unable to create one of the above hands, see if you can make one of these (listed from strongest to weakest):

• 17 or 7
• Any hand that's meant to be split
• Any 12
• Any 13

There are, however, a few exceptions, and each of these involves a pair of aces in one of the player's hands.

• In the case of a pair of aces and a hand with a 3 and 8, be sure to retain the pair.
• In the case of a pair of aces and a hand with a 2 and 9, only keep the aces together if the dealer is showing a 2 through 6.
• In the case of a pair of aces and a hand with a 2 and 8, always retain the pair.

Summary

If you're looking for a rare casino game that can't be found anywhere else, then Amigotechs might just have it. Unfortunately, that's where the positive news ends, as their software looks dated, is slow to load, and employs stingy rules to increase the house edge. Even worse, there have been multiple credible claims of rigged software, which is reason alone to look elsewhere for your online gambling needs.