Lightning Blackjack

Lightning Blackjack LogoThis is a companion game to Evolution’s Lightning Roulette, in which random multipliers are awarded to hand values that can then be used by players when they play their next hand.

It’s a live game so each round is tightly controlled time wise, and the nature of the game means that normal basic strategy doesn’t apply in the same way here, so perhaps not one for people only just learning the ropes as it is quite specialist.

The game is played using 8 decks but these are not shuffled after each hand, bets are accepted between £1 and £1,000, and the maximum payout in the game is 25:1 with a multiplier in play.

How The Game Works

Lightning Blackjack Pre Game

Your first hand will be much the same as any other round of blackjack played live.

Bets are placed on a real table and the game is played with real cards, but the chips and the players hand will be represented digitally, since once the dealer draws and scans each card it is deposited through a hatch in the table. This is because thousands of people can play at the same time, each making a different decisions, so it wouldn’t be possible to display each player’s hand any other way.

The dealer’s hand remains on the table as physical cards though, as everyone is playing against the same dealer’s hand.

The one thing to note is that however much you bet will be doubled, so keep an eye on your balance. This is because there is a 100% ‘Lightning fee’ for this game, which is how they manage to pay out at multiplied odds. It’s effectively a side bet that you are obliged to place in order to play the game.

Once all bets have been placed the RNG that is built into this game will select a multiplier value for all the different possible hand values and these will be displayed behind the dealer.

Lightning Blackjack Multipliers

There are 6 different multiplier ranges as follows:

Multiplier Range Hand of 4-17 Hand of 18 Hand of 19 Hand of 20 Hand of 21 Blackjack
Range 1 2x 2x 3x 4x 5x 6x
Range 2 2x 3x 4x 5x 6x 8x
Range 3 2x 3x 4x 5x 8x 12x
Range 4 2x 4x 5x 6x 10x 15x
Range 5 2x 5x 6x 8x 12x 20x
Range 6 2x 5x 8x 12x 15x 25x

Remember, these multiplier values will not apply to your current hand.

The hand plays out as normal, with losing hands losing both their stake and the lighting fee, a push resulting in the stake being returned but not the lightning fee, and a win resulting in a regular payout of 1:1 or 3:2 for blackjack.

However, every winning hand will also gain the player the attached multiplier. So if you won with a hand of 19 and the multiplier range 4 had been awarded, then you would be carrying a 5x multiplier into your next hand.

How Lightning Multipliers Work

Lightning Blackjack FeeYou will still have to pay a Lightning fee when playing a hand with a multiplier attached from the previous game. This is because if you win again, you will be awarded a new multiplier for the next round.

However, if you win this hand you will be paid out at the multiplied rate from your last winning hand.

So if you won your last hand and were awarded a 5x multiplier, then placed a £10 bet on the next hand and won again, you would win £50 plus your stake (5:1), rather than the regular 1:1 for a winning hand. You would also be awarded another multiplier amount for your next game.

A few things to note:

  • Multipliers do not have to be used straight away. They last for 180 days and will be automatically applied the next time you make a bet. This means you can sit out a few rounds after a win if you want to.
  • If you increase your bet amount after a win, the multiplier will only apply to the amount staked when that multiplier was awarded. So if you were awarded a 5x multiplier on a winning hand with a £10 stake, then upped your stake to £20 on the next hand and won, only £10 of that £20 stake would be paid out at 5x. The rest would be paid out at the regular 1:1.

If you lose a hand with a multiplier attached to it then that multiplier is lost, and your next hand is effectively starting from the beginning again.

RTP

Although the game states a theoretical return to player percentage of 99.56%, this is only for your first hand so is not a true representation of the house edge.

The RTP for each hand afterwards completely depends on the multipliers awarded and the results.

However, it has been suggested by some blackjack experts that the true RTP for this game could actually be as low as 82.4% once every element has been considered, which is shockingly bad.