Pala Interactive Blackjack Software

Based just about an hour to the north of San Diego,
the Pala Band of Mission Indians is a
small group of nearly 1,000 enrolled members occupying a 12,273-acre
reservation.

In April of 2001 the tribe opened its own brick and mortar casino venue,
the Pala Casino Resort and Spa, which
holds more than 10,000 square feet of gaming space. Having grown Pala Casino
into one of California’s most popular gambling destinations, the tribe set its
sights on the online sphere in 2013.

That year, Pala Interactive LLC
was founded to provide the tribe with a full-fledged online casino presence. The
company’s Mission Statement page lists “anticipation of burgeoning social and
real money gaming opportunity in the United States” as the primary impetus for
Pala Interactive.

At the time, states like Nevada and New Jersey were becoming the first to
pass online gambling legislation, creating a regulatory framework and inviting
major companies to compete within statewide industries. The Pala tribe’s
creation of an online gambling entity was undoubtedly planned to take advantage
of such legislation in California, where the issue has been hotly debated over
the last decade.

But with California lawmakers locked in a prolonged stalemate with a
coalition of hardline tribal groups, online gambling bills there have languished
with little progress over the years.

By late 2013, when New Jersey officially joined the online gambling fray,
Pala Interactive apparently decided to expand beyond California’s borders.

One year after New Jersey’s online gambling industry launched, Pala
Interactive secured a licensing partnership with the Borgata Hotel Casino and
Spa, the state’s major brick and mortar venue. Under the recently approved law,
New Jersey casino operators are free to partner with third party software
providers like Pala Interactive.

Even though Borgata had a wider partnership with software provider bWin.Party
– parent company of the Party Poker online poker room – the property elected to
expand its internet presence by aligning with Pala Interactive.

Pala Casino NJ soon joined the Borgata Casino, Borgata Poker, and Party Poker
NJ platforms under Borgata’s licensee umbrella.

Today, the site ranks among the smaller of New Jersey’s online casinos, but
its very presence alone is a testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of the
Pala people. While other California tribes continue to bicker over intricacies
within their existing gaming compacts, leaving online gambling to wither on the
proverbial vine, the Pala tribe took initiative and struck out on their own.

Jim Ryan, who serves as chief executive officer for Pala Interactive, praised
the platform’s entry into New Jersey’s fully regulated online gambling market:

“We are fortunate to partner with Borgata, Atlantic City’s premier hotel,
casino and spa destination, to introduce our offering to the New Jersey market.

Our partnership with Borgata and the issuance of the Transactional Waiver
represent significant milestones for Pala Interactive in the execution of our
strategy to secure a meaningful position in the U.S. regulated online gaming
market.

With the launch of PalaCasino.com, we believe we are breaking into the
New Jersey market at the perfect time.”

Tom Ballance, the president and chief operating officer for the Borgata,
echoed those sentiments:

“As New Jersey’s market leading resort destination, Borgata is committed
to enhancing our online and land based gaming experiences through new and
innovative partnerships.

Under the leadership and experience of its CEO, Jim Ryan, Pala
Interactive will be a welcome addition to our online network, and another
positive for New Jersey online gaming.”

Most industry insiders view Pala Interactive’s expansion to New Jersey as a
testing phase, giving the tribe a chance to try its software platform out in
advance of any California legislation. But even tabbed as a “third wheel” to
Borgata’s bigger licensees, the site’s focus on casino and bingo (Pala’s poker
product has not been rolled out in New Jersey) has positioned itself as one of
the state’s stronger mid major performers.

Currently, the Pala Interactive platform is affiliated with a collection of
industry leading software providers, including Amaya, Aristocrat Leisure,
International Game Technology (IGT), and NYX Gaming Group. These companies
design the various casino table games, virtual slot machines, poker tables, and
bingo offerings which make up Pala Interactive’s online casino menu.

This page written to serve blackjack enthusiasts, so you’ll find a full
rundown on Pala Interactive’s basic blackjack games and related variants. We’ll
lead you on a detailed walkthrough of the platforms ins and outs, including
sites which utilize the company’s software, every blackjack offering on tap,
descriptions of the gameplay and graphics, and foundational elements like the
house rules and the house edge.

If you’re interested in playing blackjack online through Pala Interactive,
look no further.

Affiliated Online Casinos

Just as the Pala Band of Mission Indians operates the lone land based casino,
the tribe’s Pala Interactive enterprise is affiliated with just one online
platform:

• Pala Casino NJ

Fully approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE),
PalaCasino.com has performed without a hitch over the last two and a half years.

In fact, while the Borgata’s larger licensees have seen their revenues
decline dramatically over the last year, Pala Casino continues to perform at a
steady pace. Most observers attribute this to the site’s focus on casino games
and bingo, as online poker has fallen off in popularity.

Unfortunately for the bulk of readers, this limits Pala Interactive blackjack
games to players physically located within New Jersey’s borders. You don’t need
to be a resident of the state, so visitors to Atlantic City can combine their
traditional gambling excursion with a little online blackjack play on the side.
Anybody in the state can sign up and play on Pala Casino, and your account will
remain active (for a predetermined period) even when you return home.

As for the chances of Pala Interactive expanding to other states, only Nevada
and Delaware stand as viable options at this time. Delaware, however, is bound
by an exclusivity agreement with 888 Holdings, while Nevada’s licensing
procedures make affiliation with a Pala Interactive unlikely.

The company will be a shoo in to launch a comprehensive online casino, bingo,
and poker platform if California ever gets its legislative act together. But
despite a series of fits and starts, passage of an online gambling bill there
remains far on the horizon.

If you’re looking to enjoy online blackjack powered by Pala Interactive,
booking a flight to New Jersey is your only bet.

List of Basic Blackjack Games

With 161 casino games on the menu, Pala Interactive clearly specializes in
virtual slots and bingo, as just four titles are built around blackjack:

• Blackjack
• European Blackjack
• Multi Player Blackjack
• Side Bet Blackjack

Each of these games is exactly what it sounds like.

Blackjack offers a traditional Las Vegas style rules set up and classic
gameplay.

European Blackjack is twenty one outfitted with stricter rules preferred by
casinos in Europe and abroad.

Multi Player Blackjack is the base blackjack game, but with an additional
feature allowing multiple human players to participate at the same virtual
table.

Side Bet Blackjack takes the usual blackjack gameplay and spices things up by
adding no less than five distinct side bets to choose from.

We’ll provide a complete review of each version’s House Rules and gameplay
procedures further down the page. But first, let’s take a tour of the visual
displays and control interface you’ll be using when you fire up a Pala
Interactive blackjack table.

Graphics and Animations

The first thing you’ll notice upon loading a blackjack game from Pala
Interactive is the sight of an NYX Gaming Group logo.

This company is one of the software providers contracted by Pala Interactive
to host its various online casino offerings. And while the virtual slots are
left to IGT, the blackjack menu is powered by NYX Gaming Group.

That’s a good thing for players, because the resulting blackjack table layout
is cleanly designed and highly functional.

The virtual felt is a rich green shade, with variations in the color as if an
unseen spotlight is hanging overhead. You’ll also see key rules about the 3 to 2
payout on blackjacks, and Insurance bet procedures, splashed across the felt in
semi circular banners.

Behind that the dealer’s box is well defined, with a chip tray carrying
stacks of multicolored chips, and even a toke box for stashing away tips. The
dealer’s area of the table is completed with a multiple deck shoe and a discard
pile.

One cool graphic to keep an eye out for is the little placard reading “Table
Limits & Payouts,” which can be found on the dealer’s side of the table in the
upper right hand corner.

By hovering your mouse over this placard, you can see the current minimum and
maximum betting limits, along with other essential house rules, and the payouts
for making blackjack or winning an Insurance bet.

Your side of the table isn’t as cluttered, so you’ll simply see three betting
circles lined out on the felt. These circles are labeled “BET” and you’ll be
placing your wagering chips here ahead of each hand (more to come in the next
section).

We also enjoyed the rich black leather finish of the table railing, as it
boasts a detailed design scheme that seems to pop off the screen.

The first impression is strong, but when the cards get going, Pala
Interactive and NYX Gaming Group’s designers lose their steam.

The graphics used to denote card backs are actually quite nice, featuring the
red and white patterning used by major playing card companies like Bicycle. It’s
when the cards are flipped face up, however, that Pala Interactive’s software
shows its weaknesses.

The card faces are utterly generic, with nothing more than barebones numbers
and suit symbols to show players what they’re holding. Face cards don’t show the
usual royal images, just blocky J, Q, and K lettering.

Even worse, the “pips” – or individual suit symbols used to denote card rank
– are left out entirely. Normally, a playing card (live or online) contains a
collection of pips to match its rank. Thus, the 10 of hearts would show 10
separate heart symbols in the middle (arranged in a 5 5 pattern), while the 2 of
diamonds would show a pair of offsetting diamond symbols.

The cards found on Pala Interactive blackjack games show just one pip apiece,
which can make a screen filled with several live hands a muddled mess.

Pips are helpful for players trying to scan the board quickly while
calculating running totals. But leaving utility aside, they’re just a basic
element of card graphic design, so we take points off whenever a software firm
fails to pay attention to these small details.

As for the animations used to move cards and chips around the screen, Pala
Interactive and NYX Gaming Group succeeded in that regard. The animations are
seamless and efficient, so you won’t suffer any of the lags or freezes that
plague inferior online casino software servicers.

The cards appear to flip over from back to front as they’re dealt out of the
shoe. Chips are paid out or collected immediately upon the end of each hand, but
not so quickly that players are left wondering which chips went where.

Finally, the game control buttons described in the next section are all well
designed, featuring customized images to clarify their purpose.

All in all, Pala Interactive blackjack games are designed with enough visual
flair to set them apart from the competition, but not so much so that players
are distracted by unnecessary bells and whistles.

Gameplay Interface

The controls you’ll be operating during a session of Pala Interactive
blackjack perfectly match the company’s overall vibe.

That means everything you need will work perfectly, while additional features
you don’t are left behind.

When you first fire up the game, the NYX Gaming Group logo will be
accompanied by three onscreen prompts under the Minimum Bet and Maximum Bet
headings:

• $1.00 $100.00
• $5.00 $250.00
• $15.00 $500.00

These are obviously the controls for your preferred table stakes, giving you
the option to toggle between low , medium and high roller betting limits.

Once you’ve clicked on a table stakes range, the game screen will load and a
feminine voice will announce “Place your bets!”

From there, you’ll look to the lower right hand corner of the screen to find
an array of casino chip graphics.

These betting chips come in the following denominations and color schemes:

• $1 – Blue with white stripes
• $5 – Red with white stripes
• $25 – Green with white stripes
• $100 – Black with white stripes
• $500 – Purple with white stripes

Choose one of these chips by clicking on it (they aren’t draggable, so no
need to click and hold), and you’ll see a green arrow appear underneath it. From
there, look to the middle of the table felt for the trio of white circle
outlines labeled “BET.”

You can click on one of these betting circles to place your chosen chip
there. A second click in the same betting circle will add another chip to the
wager, or you can head back to the chip tray to grab another denomination while
tailoring your bet size.

You can also click on more than one betting circle – Pala Interactive offers
three spots per table on each of its blackjack games – to play more than one
hand per deal. Experienced players tend to enjoy playing multiple spots, as it
gives each deal an added dimension with several possible outcomes.

After clicking through to add your chosen bet(s), you’ll see a button labeled
“UNDO” appear along the black leather felt. This button – which shows an image
of chips with an arrow pointing backward – can be clicked just like the “BACK”
button in your web browser, reversing your previous action and returning that
chip to your rack.

To the left of the “UNDO” button you’ll see a second button labeled “DEAL,”
which features a nice A 10 of spades image. If you like the look of your bet
sizing, clicking this will send the virtual dealer into motion.

When your cards, and those held by the dealer, are in place, the game
controls will expand to include the following player actions:

1. Hit
2. Stand
3. Double
4. Split

You’ll only see the Split control when holding a paired starting hand, as it
will be hidden otherwise.

These player action buttons are similarly well designed, with the Hit button
showing a large black spade, the Stand button a big X, the Double button reading
2x, and the Split button depicting two arrows pointing in opposite directions.

You can use these buttons to input your decisions for each hand, which will
show your current total near the cards. If your total exceeds 21, the dealer
will announce “bust” as your cards are swept into the muck.

After making your final decision, the dealer’s hole card will be revealed, or
dealt out in the case of European Blackjack. The dealer will also announce
“bust” when they go over a 21 total.

From there, the software is set to run through the settling procedure rather
quickly, with verbal announcements accompanying each payout or collection.
You’ll hear the dealer declare “player wins,” “push,” or “player loses”
depending on a hand’s outcome.

Other dealer announcements are given when the Insurance bet option becomes
available, or when they’re peeking for blackjack.

When the hand(s) ends, look toward the bottom of the screen for a black bar
which displays the following information:

• Wagered
• Won
• Lost
• Net

These counters reflect the results of your previous hand(s), and they provide
a helpful reference for assessing your bankroll given the speed of the bet
settlement animations.

Upon the conclusion of a round, the control panel will show a single button
labeled “New Game.” Clicking this will re shuffle the decks and begin a new
round of dealing.

If you’d like to keep the same betting pattern in place from the previous
hand, simply click the “SAME BET” button, or you can click on the chip graphics
to count out a new wager.

Rules and Gameplay Conditions

With four separate games on the menu, Pala Interactive has assembled a set of
House Rules for each one.

These rules govern player and dealer actions, payouts, and deck construction,
and we’ve assembled complete listings of the House Rules for each variant below:

Blackjack House Rules

• Dealer must hit and draw an additionalcard when holding a soft 17 total
• Dealer must “peek” at hole card and check for blackjack whenever their
  up card is an ace or 10 value card (10, J, Q, K)
• Dealer blackjack ends the hand immediately (unless player shows
  blackjack as well)
• When player shows blackjack against possible dealer blackjack, game
  offers choice between an immediate even money payout or possible loss
• Players have no Surrender option available
• Players can only double down on the first two cards of a hand
• Players can double down on any two cards
• Players can double down after splitting
• Players can only split an exact pair
• After splitting, and receiving another paired hand, no additional “re
  splits” are permitted
• Players can split two aces, but subsequent hands receive only one card
  each
• After splitting two aces, any blackjacks made on the next card are
  deemed to be regular 21s, and thus will lose to dealer blackjack and push to
  dealer 21
• Players are offered “Insurance” whenever dealer’s up card is an ace
• Insurance costs one half of the current bet for each live hand
• When dealer turns over blackjack on an Insurance hand, player’s side bet
  is paid out at 2 to 1
• All blackjacks are paid out at 3 to 2

Blackjack Deck Construction

• The game uses an eight deck shoe
• That shoe shall be re shuffled after each hand and each round

European Blackjack House Rules

• Dealer must standand draw no further cards when holding a soft 17 total
• Dealer receives a single up card, with no hole card dealt until all
  player actions are completed
• Players have no Surrender option available
• Players can only double down on the first two cards of a hand
• Players can double down on any two cards
• Players cannot double down after splitting
• Players can only split an exact pair
• After splitting, and receiving another paired hand, up to three
  additional “re splits” are permitted
• Players can split two aces, and re split them when warranted, but
  subsequent hands receive only one card each
• After splitting two aces, any blackjacks made on the next card are
  deemed to be regular 21s, and thus will lose to dealer blackjack and push to
  dealer 21
• Players are offered “Insurance” whenever dealer’s up card is an ace
• Insurance costs one half of the current bet for each live hand
• When dealer turns over blackjack on an Insurance hand, player’s side bet
  is paid out at 2 to 1
• All blackjacks are paid out at 3 to 2

European Deck Construction

• The game uses a single deck
• That deck shall be re shuffled after each hand and each round

Multi Player Blackjack House Rules

• Dealer must hit and draw an additional card when holding a soft 17 total
• Dealer must “peek” at hole card and check for blackjack whenever their
  up card is an ace or 10 value card (10, J, Q, K)
• Dealer blackjack ends the hand immediately (unless player shows
  blackjack as well)
• When player shows blackjack against possible dealer blackjack, game
  offers choice between an immediate even money payout or possible loss
• Players have no Surrender option available
• Players can only double down on the first two cards of a hand
• Players can double down on any two cards
• Players can double down after splitting
• Players can only split an exact pair
• After splitting, and receiving another paired hand, no additional “re
  splits” are permitted
• Players can split two aces, but subsequent hands receive only one card
  each
• After splitting two aces, any blackjacks made on the next card are
  deemed to be regular 21s, and thus will lose to dealer blackjack and push to
  dealer 21
• Players are offered “Insurance” whenever dealer’s up card is an ace
• Insurance costs one half of the current bet for each live hand
• When dealer turns over blackjack on an Insurance hand, player’s side bet
  is paid out at 2 to 1
• All blackjacks are paid out at 3 to 2

Multi Player Blackjack Deck Construction

• The game uses an eight deck shoe
• That shoe shall be re shuffled after each hand and each round

Side Bet Blackjack House Rules

• Dealer must hit and draw an additional card when holding a soft 17 total
• Dealer must “peek” at hole card and check for blackjack whenever their
  up card is an ace or 10 value card (10, J, Q, K)
• Dealer blackjack ends the hand immediately (unless player shows
  blackjack as well)
• When player shows blackjack against possible dealer blackjack, game
  offers choice between an immediate even money payout or possible loss
• Players have no Surrender option available
• Players can only double down on the first two cards of a hand
• Players can double down on any two cards
• Players can double down after splitting
• Players can only split an exact pair
• After splitting, and receiving another paired hand, no additional “re
  splits” are permitted
• Players can split two aces, but subsequent hands receive only one card
  each
• After splitting two aces, any blackjacks made on the next card are
  deemed to be regular 21s, and thus will lose to dealer blackjack and push to
  dealer 21
• Players are offered “Insurance” whenever dealer’s up card is an ace
• Insurance costs one half of the current bet for each live hand
• When dealer turns over blackjack on an Insurance hand, player’s side bet
  is paid out at 2 to 1
• All blackjacks are paid out at 3 to 2

Side Bet Blackjack Deck Construction

• The game uses a six deck shoe
• That shoe shall be re shuffled after each hand and each round

These rule descriptions contain several common elements, but a closer
examination reveals several subtle differences. Be sure to review the House
Rules for your game of choice before diving into a Pala Interactive blackjack
session, because even the most minor adjustments can change the house edge.

You’ll learn all about that essential casino game metric, and its application
to Pala Interactive blackjack software, in the upcoming section. But for now,
take a moment to acquaint yourself with the rules of the road for each of the
company’s four blackjack variants.

House Edge Rate

By relying on traditional blackjack rules and gameplay, Pala Interactive has
managed to fit its four takes on the game neatly within normal parameters for
house edge.

Before going any further, we’ll run through a quick crash course on this
crucial gambling game metric.

Simply put, the house edge rate defines the expected return enjoyed by the
house on any wager or game. In other words, house edge measures exactly how
favorable or unfavorable a bet is over the long run.

Imagine betting hands of blackjack in $100 increments until the end of time.
With an average house edge of 0.50 percent on the game – assuming you’re playing
with basic strategy – you’d expect to lose $0.50 for every $100 wagered.

That may sound like a drag, what with a guaranteed loss of two quarters for
every $100 you put up, but all casino games are designed to guarantee the house
an inherent advantage. And compared to a game like American style double zero
roulette, with its 5.26 percent house edge, blackjack is basically 10 times the
better bet.

Casino gamblers in the know use house edge comparisons to avoid “sucker”
games, while putting their money behind the most favorable probabilities only.
Within the blackjack world, house edge comparisons are the best way to judge
games offering different rules and gameplay structures, because not all
blackjack tables are alike.

Finally, some of you may have heard the term “expected return” used in place
of house edge when evaluating casino games. This concept is just the reverse of
house edge – judging the expected return enjoyed by the player, not the house.
Thus, any house edge number can be subtracted from 100 to arrive at the
corresponding expected return (100 – 0.50 = 99.50 percent expected return for
average blackjack game using basic strategy).

When it comes to Pala Interactive’s suite of blackjack variants, all four
fall within a house edge range of 0.46 percent and 0.61 percent, as you can see
in the table below:

GAME	HOUSE EDGE	EXPECTED RETURN
Blackjack	0.61 percent	99.39 percent
European Blackjack	0.52 percent	99.48 percent
Multi Player Blackjack	0.61 percent	99.39 percent
Side Bet Blackjack	0.46 percent	99.54 percent*

*On base game wagers only

This obviously tilts a bit toward the higher side of the spectrum, with an
average house edge of 0.55 percent across the board, but only barely. We feel
comfortable recommending Pala Interactive blackjack on the merits of house edge,
as the games clearly aren’t designed to goose the odds against players.

We’ve bolded and italicized it for clarity, but the best bet on the board is
the Pala Interactive variant known as Side Bet Blackjack with a house edge of
0.46 percent.

Of course, as the asterisk above notes, you’ll only face these favorable odds
when betting on the base game in Side Bet Blackjack. That is to say, each of the
game’s five side bets carries its own house edge rate – and a much higher one to
boot.

We’ll cover the various side bets, along with their payouts and house edge
figures, in the next section.

Blackjack Variants and Hybrids

Pala Interactive doesn’t really offer any true blackjack variants, like Super
Fun 21, Double Exposure, or other hybrids table games.

Instead, the company spiced its blackjack menu up by including five separate
exotic wagers within its Side Bet blackjack concept:

• Blackjack Attack
• Cash Queens
• Crazy Sevens
• Mega Match
• Pair Play

Most blackjack games come with a single optional side bet, or perhaps two,
but packing five of them into one title is a bold move.

Generally speaking, side bets in blackjack – or any casino game for that
matter – are not favorable to the player in any respect. Boasting jackpot
payouts, along with the expected longshot odds, these side bets are designed to
counter blackjack’s inherently low house edge by inviting players to take
reckless gambles.

That maxim holds true with the wagers found in Side Bet Blackjack too, don’t
get us wrong there, but when you strip them away, the base game rules actually
offer Pala Interactive’s lowest house edge. With that being said, the best
strategy for playing this particular side bet centric variant is to avoid them
altogether, while sticking to the base game wagers instead.

Even so, we’ll provide a detailed description of each side bet – complete
with rules, pay tables, and house edge rates – for you to keep handy:

Blackjack Attack

This side bet is simple and straightforward: make a blackjack with the bet in
place, and you’ll earn 18 to 1 on your money.

The odds of landing a blackjack on any given hand are 4.75 percent – or
roughly 1 in 21 – so that 18 to 1 payout is a little low. As a result, the house
edge on this longshot wager stands at 9.84 percent.

Cash Queens

Despite its name, the Cash Queens side bet isn’t premised solely on landing
the lucky ladies.

Instead, your goal is to grab any two card starting hand that totals exactly
20. Various combinations of 20 will produce different payouts, based on the pay
table below:

HAND	PAYS
Pair of Qs with dealer BJ	500 to 1
Pair of Qs	50 to 1
Ranked 20 (10 10, J J, K K)	10 to 1
Suited 20	5 to 1
Any 20	2 to 1
All Other	Loss

The escalating pay table provides this wager’s big draw, as making a pair of
queens while the dealer lands blackjack will trigger a 500 to 1 jackpot payout.

When playing this side bet, soft 20 totals (or those using an Ace) also count
as winners.

Your odds of landing any 20 total stand at 6.22 percent, while the odds of
finding a suited 20 are just 2.07 percent. A ranked 20 total offers just a 1.73
percent chance of hitting, and from there, the other 20 combinations come in
less than 1 percent of the time.

As such, the house edge on the Cash Queens side bet is 8.40 percent.

Crazy Sevens

This side bet is Pala Interactive’s take on the popular Super Sevens wager,
only using a modified pay table.

The objective here is to land a 7 as your first card, along with additional
7s – preferably in the same suit – to earn escalating payouts. The action
begins, and ends, with the first card – so unless you catch a 7 to begin a hand,
the Crazy Sevens side bet is toast.

But when you do land a single 7, the payouts begin at 5 to 1, before
escalating according to the following pay table:

HAND	PAYS
7 7 7 suited	2000 to 1
7 7 7	500 to 1
7 7 suited	150 to 1
7 7	25 to 1
7	5 to 1

The holy grail for Crazy Sevens bettors is the elusive 7 7 7 combination, all
in the same suit. Given an eight deck shoe, you’ll only have eight 7s in each
suit to work with, so finding three of them in a row on a single deal is
obviously quite difficult.

How difficult? Try a 0.0016 percent probability on for size.

Overall, 92 percent of hands will produce a loss on this side bet, while just
over 7 percent will turn a single 7 winner.

That equates to a sizable house edge of 10.29 percent.

Mega Match

A reboot of the popular blackjack side bet known as Royal Match, the Mega
Match concept by Pala Interactive rewards players for landing suited starting
cards.

If you land a suited K Q exactly, that’s known as a “Mega Match,” and it pays
much higher. If you can score a Mega Match hand while the dealer does the same,
that “Dealer Match” triggers the bet’s jackpot payout.

Check below to review the Mega Match pay table:

HAND	PAYS
Dealer Match	5,000 to 1
Mega Match	50 to 1
Any Suited Cards	2 to 1
Any Other	Loss

That jackpot pay of 5,000 to 1 sure does look juicy, and it wouldn’t seem
like landing an identically suited K Q to the dealer would be all that
difficult.

It is though, to the tune of a 0.0008 percent probability.

Conversely, you’ll lose roughly 75 percent of Mega Match hands, while just
under 24 percent will produce the lowest payout of 2 to 1 for landing suited
cards. Hitting a Mega Match without the dealer happens just 0.29 percent of the
time.

The house edge on Mega Match side bets, the lowest in Side Bet Blackjack,
stands at 7.40 percent.

Pair Play

When making the Pair Play side bet, your goal is simple: land a paired
starting hand.

If you do, the payout will be 11 to 1 on your money.

If you don’t, that money is claimed by the house.

You’ll manage to make a pair on just over 7 percent of hands, while the other
93 percent will produce a loss.

That equates to a house edge of 10.36 percent – the highest found on Side Bet
Blackjack.

Overall, the Side Bet Blackjack concept is convenient for players who love to
gamble it up with some longshot chasing action. That demographic doesn’t cover
too many blackjack players though, as we tend to chase the lowest house edges
possible – not the highest.

Even so, Pala Interactive is hoping to cater to as many customers as
possible, so including all five of its side bet concepts on a single game was a
novel choice.

Mobile Compatibility

For players who enjoy taking their online casino games on the go, Pala
Interactive maintains a full suite of mobile apps.

You can find the Pala Casino mobile app available for download via the Apple
and Android app stores. The platform is compatible with all iOS or Android
powered smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

When Pala Interactive updated its iOS mobile offerings in September of 2015,
CEO Jim Ryan issued a statement outlining the new app’s improved capabilities:

“The idea is, as you’re sitting there taking a train across New Jersey,
you’ll get an invitation to go enjoy our product through your mobile device.

There are offerings that are smaller, but what we wanted to have was
something that was rich.

We didn’t give up any of the user experience . . . I’m obviously biased,
but in taking a look at our (user) experience versus that of the competition, I
think we can go toe to toe with anyone out there in terms of having a compelling
experience.”

We’ve tracked down the four major Pala Casino apps, which you can find below:

• iOS for Mobile:
  
  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/palacasino.com mobile
  casino/id1019272378?mt=8
• Android for Mobile: https://playcasino.palacasino.com/how
  to play/mobile app/

Conclusion

Overall, Pala Interactive presents players in New Jersey with a perfectly
acceptable online blackjack experience. The site’s blackjack software, provided
by NYX Gaming Group, offers a streamlined interface and enjoyable visuals, along
with tried and true twenty one game play.

The company’s status as a California tribal enterprise serving the New Jersey
marketplace is interesting, in and of itself, but it doesn’t define Pala
Interactive’s operation by any means. Instead, California’s loss has been New
Jersey’s gain, with Pala Casino developing into a fully functional platform
favored by slot specialists and table game enthusiasts.