Playtech bills itself as the world's largest supplier of software and services to the gaming industry. I have no reason to dispute this claim. In business for more than 15 years and now listed on the London Stock Exchange, this Isle of Man-based company provides a breadth of software and services for a depth of online gaming environments, including not only the virtual casino, but also the virtual sportsbook, the virtual bingo hall, and much more.
Brief History
Founded in 1999 by billionaire businessman Teddy Sagi and a group of investors, the company launched its flagship casino in 2001 and established itself as a major player in the booming online gaming industry. It was a time of great innovation.
They went public in 2006 and successfully floated on London's AIM at a valuation of $950 million. While this was a successful venture, the adoption of America's UIGEA in the same year caused a dramatic 40% drop in share price and a major withdrawal from the important US market.
In 2012, Playtech moved to the main market of the London Stock Exchange and was soon included in the prestigious FTSE 250 Index (which lists the 101st to 350th most important companies in this country). The company is growing rapidly. Recent acquisitions include Aristocrat Lotteries and YoYo Games (a maker of computer games for mobile devices). These acquisitions are proving to be quite effective.
Available Games
Playtech casinos offer an extensive collection of games, which is hardly surprising given that they are one of the oldest gaming studio names in the business. You can find several formatted versions of casino mainstays like roulette and blackjack, and all of their games can be accessed and played for either fun or real money. If slots are more your thing, you can choose from over 100 different options, most of which have a return to player (RTP) of between 93% and 97%.
Playtech Jackpots
As with most online casinos, the biggest jackpots at Playtech casinos are the progressive ones. These games, which are usually slot machines, take a small amount from each bet and add it to the ever-growing progressive total. When a player finally gets the required combination of symbols, the entire amount is paid out. The jackpot is then reset at a certain level and starts growing again.
If you are curious about the magnitude of Playtech's progressives, here are their all-time biggest payouts:
- Beach Life - Paid out $8,211,861 in February 2012;
- Jackpot Giant - Paid out $6,420,011 in January 2016: $6,420,011
- Gold Rally - Paid out $6,347,118 in November 2013;
- Beach Life - Remunerado en $5,917,782 en julio de 2015;
- Life at the Beach - A payment of $4,801,527 was made in July 2007;
Beach Life is the game to play if you want a staggering, life-changing payout. Just be sure to keep your expectations in check, because what we call "record-setting" amounts don't happen with any regularity. The average win at Beach Life is $2,791,834.62, but the average payout is only once every 176 days. Still, even if you wait that long, you're doing it in the hopes of becoming a multi-millionaire. And in the case of Beach Life, those hopes seem to have a reasonable chance of coming true.
Playtech online casinos have a fantastic variety of other slot machines with jackpots of varying sizes. Take a look at their three different Streak of Luck titles. Each one pays out about once every three days, with the average prize being just over $8,000.
Some of the jackpots they offer are much smaller. Both Marvel Super Power and Marvel Extra Powers are what we call progressive machines, meaning their jackpots get bigger the longer you play. But there's also a non-progressive machine called Marvel Power that pays jackpots of just over $400. Which it does about every half an hour. If you play it.
If you're looking for a truly massive jackpot, it's worth reading the fine print at Playtech casinos. Not universal by any means, but still surprisingly common, many Playtech affiliates put a pretty hard cap on the amount they're willing to pay out each month. That number? Roughly $11,000. While some of us may feel that this amount is already quite substantial for an online casino, it starts to seem pretty paltry when you consider the possibility that someone has just hit a massive progressive jackpot. In the above situation where the person won $1 million, our hypothetical Casinopooch is forced by the monthly cap to wait more than seven years to see the rest of that payout.
Slots RTP for Playtech
RTP stands for "return to player" and is the average amount of money that is returned to players. For example, if a game has an RTP of 98%, a player can expect to receive $0.98 back for every $1 invested over the long term.
For Playtech slots with the best RTP, I recommend playing one or more of the following: Ugga Bugga (99.1%); Ocean Princess (99.1%); Goblin's Cave (99.3%); Tropic Reels (98.9%); and Triple Profits (98.7%).
When it comes to slots that pay the least, you probably shouldn't play them: - Alien Hunter (90.9%) - White King (90.1%) - The Mummy (92%) Licensed Marvel Comics slots are also among the tightest you can find: - Thor (91.9%) - The Incredible Hulk (91%) - Fantastic Four (92%) - Blade (92%)
It's worth noting that RTP values for Playtech slots can vary from casino to casino. The software allows customers to adjust the house edge to their liking and this can turn what should be a money making slot into a loser. Take Alien Hunter for example. It pays a dismal 90.9% RTP in some venues, while in others the slot coughs up a not too shabby 97.7% RTP.
Finally
One of the biggest names in the online gaming world, Playtech produces games with a huge variety of bonuses and flashy themes. The only real downside to the company are the few clients that seem to unnecessarily delay customer payouts, but players can avoid this problem by reading the fine print before setting up an account.