Boss Media Blackjack

Boss Media blackjack games are among the oldest of all
real-money blackjack online. Boss Media is a Swedish-based
company that’s been producing online gambling software longer
than most other companies – unfortunately, that longevity hasn’t
been matched by innovation. That is to say that their games are
a bit dated.

Their software is known for having a realistic design – far
from the cartoonish animations of some software providers, these
games are meant to imitate a real blackjack table. Boss Media
provides a premium-style online game, quick to respond,
attractive enough to the eye, but without many updates over the
past decade to keep the game relevant.

We’ve provided a bit of background information on Boss Media
below. The rest of this page takes a look at the blackjack
variations available, the house edge for each, and ideal
strategy for Boss Media blackjack games.

About Boss Media

Boss Media was founded in 1996 as the software provider for
Gold Club Online Casino, which launched as one of the first
large-scale Web-capable gambling operations in the world in
1997. Soon after, Boss Media launched Casino.com, where they
published news and reviews related to the burgeoning online
gambling industry. Those two early ventures led the company to
offer their software as a white label venture for other people
interested in operating online casinos. That was the birth of
Boss Media as a provider of turnkey casino solutions.

By the time Boss Media sold all of its online casino
interests, in response to changes in the US market in the years
2004-2006, they were licensing three dozen online casinos,
providing them with all their gaming software as well as their
back-end software and support.

These days, you won’t see many Boss Media blackjack games,
because few casinos are licensing their games, and they’ve long
since closed down all the casinos they operated on their own. As
far as we can tell, only five casinos host any Boss Media
blackjack or other casino games, none of which are major players
in the world online gambling industry. None of the handful of
casinos offering Boss Media blackjack games accept US players.

The Boss Media Blackjack Time Limit

A curious feature of Boss Media software is the built-in time
limit feature. We’re pretty sure this is built in to most online
gambling software – but we notice it much more on Boss Media
games because the time limit seems to be extremely short.

The time limit kicks in once all the cards are dealt, and you
have a set number of seconds to make your first decision. If you
don’t make a decision, the software assumes that you want to
stand. We couldn’t find any information on the company’s website
about the specific length of time the player has to make a
decision – so our advice is that you pay attention.

Games Available

The best online game designers understand that variety is
important. Casinos don’t offer just one slot machine or one
blackjack table – not the good ones, anyway. Lots of gamblers
prefer to have a variety of titles to choose from. Boss Media
produces a variety of blackjack games, some with just a few
little differences between them. The goal is to swell the size
of their casino library, sure, but also to provide a variety of
games to suit the many and varied tastes of blackjack gamblers.

Here’s a list of the eleven blackjack games available via
Boss Media’s library of online gambling software:

• 3D Blackjack
• Black Jack Charlie 7
• Blackjack
• Bonus Pairs Blackjack
• European Blackjack Gold
• High-limit Blackjack
• Mini Blackjack
• Multi-Hand Blackjack
• Sidebet Blackjack
• Single-Deck Blackjack
• Slider Blackjack

3D Blackjack

This is a standard game of blackjack using Vegas rules. Boss
Media’s 3D Blackjack is only unique in that it runs in a
gimmicky 3D graphics environment. 3D graphics were big a few
years ago, but the fad never really caught on beyond a couple of
casinos.

Black Jack Charlie 7

This variant is a standard game of blackjack using Vegas
rules. Black Jack Charlie 7 includes a special winning hand. If
the player holds any hand of seven cards without busting, he
wins a 1:1 payout automatically, regardless of the dealer’s
hand.

Blackjack

Blackjack is the standard version of the game as played at
all Boss Media-powered casinos. The rules are identical to those
at a standard Las Vegas game, meaning insurance bets pay out
2:1, blackjack pays 3:2, no doubling after split aces, etc. All
Boss Media blackjack games based on standard Vegas rules give
the house an edge of 0.46%.

Bonus Pairs Blackjack

Another standard game of blackjack using Vegas rules. Bonus
Pairs Blackjack allows players to make a side bet that pays out
based on the combination of your first two dealt cards. To
compensate for the bonus bet payouts, Bonus Pairs Blackjack pays
out just 1.5:1 for a natural blackjack.

European Blackjack Gold

This blackjack variant that follows standard European rules.
The main difference between Boss Media’s standard blackjack game
and their European Blackjack Gold variant is that in the Euro
rules game the dealer must stand on all totals of 17, and also
checks for blackjack differently than with the standard Vegas
variant. The house edge on this game is a bit higher than on
variants based on Vegas blackjack – the house has a 0.66% edge
on all Euro versions of Boss Media blackjack.

High-limit Blackjack

High-limit Blackjack is a variant based on European rules
that allows for slightly-higher bets and requires a larger
minimum wager. Though Boss Media allows licensing casinos to set
their own wager limits, their High-limit game generally has a
minimum and maximum double that of the standard game.

Mini Blackjack

This is a hybrid of Euro and Vegas rules in a miniature
format. This game is the only variant by Boss Media that uses
eight decks, and it includes some other tough restrictions, like
limiting you to one split, and giving the dealer a hit on a soft
total of 17. Favored by mobile gamblers and those with limited
Internet capabilities for its sleek and quick design. Gives the
casino an edge of about 0.7%.

Multi-Hand Blackjack

Multi-Hand Blackjack is a standard Vegas edition of blackjack
that allows you to play up to five hands independently at one
time.

Sidebet Blackjack

This standard-rules Vegas style variant of blackjack includes
a series of five side bets which pay out from 5:1 up to 500:1.
Because of the impact of those hefty payouts, this is one of the
worst games produced by Boss Media in terms of odds. The
casino’s edge is well over 0.8%, or about double the edge they
hold over the player for the standard six-deck version of
blackjack.

Single-Deck Blackjack

Single-Deck Blackjack is available at just one Boss Media
casino as far as we could tell. It’s set up so that the house
edge isn’t just a crazy giveaway – for instance, there’s no 3:2
payout for a natural, and the split and doubling rules are
downright criminal. According to Wizard of Odds, if you play
this game using basic strategy, you actually have a slim edge
against the house. The trouble is finding it, and placing wagers
large enough to make a difference, since the max bet is a chilly
$5.

Slider Blackjack

This is a mobile-compatible and mobile-specific version of
Boss Media’s single-deck game.

Boss Media Cashback Rates

The following chart shows the cashback payment rate for all
the games and game categories in Boss Media’s library. Take note
that only the six-deck version of blackjack is eligible for the
software’s cashback program.

The software restricts access to the cashback program for
bets on single-deck blackjack to compensate for the reduced
house edge.

Strategies & Tactics for Boss Media Blackjack

The easiest strategy you can choose when you sit down to play
Boss Media blackjack games is picking the right game. We say
“the right game,” when really we mean “the game that has the
lowest house edge.” In blackjack the difference between the
house edges on any two games can be as small as a few tenths of
a percent. Over the long-haul, these tiny differences add up to
big differences in your bankroll.

We’ve already established that the game offering the best
odds is single-deck blackjack. Unfortunately, that game has all
but disappeared, probably because of the fact that it actually
gives the player using basic strategy a 0.11% edge against the
casino. Since you probably can’t find that game to play, you
should stick to one of the many variants based on the standard
Vegas blackjack rules, such as Blackjack, 3D Blackjack, or Black
Jack Charlie 7.

A blackjack strategy that’s always a winner, regardless of
what software you choose to play, is to set a win goal and a
loss limit. This will create a range inside of which you can
gamble comfortably without worrying about gambling away the rent
money or blowing your winnings before you cash out.

Having said that, setting a winning limit or a losing limit
won’t affect your real bottom line. The goal with money
management tactics isn’t to win more, or to win more often, but
to make sure that your time spent playing blackjack is purely
for entertainment, and not intended to chase losses or hit some
required winning point.

Here we share some basic strategy tips for Vegas-style
blackjack as produced by Boss Media:

Hard Hands

• You should always hit hard totals of 8 or less.
• You should always stand on hard totals of 17 or more.
• Hard totals of 9, 10, and 11 require that you make a
  decision. Will you take a hit or double down? Your decision
  should be based on the dealer’s total. This requires a
  little bit of practice and experience.
• A hard total of 12 means you should take a hit, assuming
  the dealer has a low total (below 4). The only time you
  should stand with a hard total of 12 is if the dealer is
  showing a 4, 5, or 6.

Soft Hands

• You should always hit soft totals of 17 or less.
• You should always hit with a soft total of 18, unless
  the dealer has a total of less than 9, in which case, you
  should stand.
• If you have a soft total of 19 or greater, you should
  always stand.

Pairs

• Strategy involving pairs is a bit more complex, since
  you have to decide whether or not to split. The list below
  covers the proper move for every pair in the game:
• Always split pairs of Aces or 8s.
• Never split pairs of 4s, 5s, or 10s. They should be
  played according to basic strategy, as though they were hard
  totals.
• Always split pairs of 2s if the dealer is showing a
  total of less than 8. Otherwise, you should always take a
  hit.
• Play a pair of 3s the same way you play a pair of 2s,
  except that you take a hit against a total of 3 instead of
  splitting.
• You should always split a pair of 6s if the dealer is
  showing less than 7.
• You should always split a pair of 7s if the dealer is
  showing less than 8.
• If you hold a pair of 7s, you should stand against a
  dealer 10. Against any other total, take a hit.
• You should stand with a pair of 9s, assuming the dealer
  is showing a 7, 10, or an Ace. Otherwise, split your 9s.

Summary

Boss Media blackjack is not among the best-reviewed online
blackjack software. This isn’t entirely Boss Media’s fault – the
company backed out of the casino business in 2004 when the legal
landscape got shaky, and these days they pretty much specialize
in back-end solutions for casino operators rather than building
and licensing the games themselves. Their blackjack games don’t
have a particularly stunning house edge. They look dated, having
not had a graphics or rules update in a few years. The games are
also difficult to find – we found just five online casinos
hosting any Boss Media blackjack titles.

If you’ve found a Boss Media-powered casino site offering
Boss Media blackjack titles, it’s important that you follow the
strategy information provided above. These aren’t the best
online blackjack games, but they’re not the worst either, and
all of the casinos hosting them have good reputations as
legitimate operators. Follow basic strategy, manage your
bankroll, and make sure your personal information is safe, and
Boss Media blackjack will function safely on your smart phone,
laptop, desktop, or tablet.