Ninbank

Boss Media was launched in 1996 and the company’s original aim was to run an online casino named Gold Club Casino. This was launched in 1997 and shortly after they bought Casino.com and turned it into a casino news portal.

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.

Online Casino Boss Media Software Downloads

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.

Online Casino Boss Media Software Online

Introduction

Boss Media was purchased by GEMed and was rebranded to GTECH in 2008, and since then GTECH was purchased by IGT.

Disclaimer: Let it be known that I have served as a consultant to Boss Media. While this review was originally written before they engaged my services I do update it from time to time. This review attempts to be unbiased and mostly sticks to the game rules, odds, and strategy. While I feel comfortable there is no conflict of interest I think it is appropriate to disclose the relationship.

Boss Media, based in Sweden, is one of the largest and oldest software providers. Their software provides a realistic feel that comes about as close as you can get to a real casino. Both multi-player and private tables are available. An easy to access record is kept of every bet going back 30 days. There is also a transaction record that shows every deposit, bonus, and withdrawal, going back as far as you want. When you open an account a PIN will be sent in the postal mail that is required for withdrawals of over $500.

I don't know how they do it, but Boss Media picks its casino owners very well. All of them all solid organizations. As far as I know the number of Boss Media casinos that have gone bad is zero. If you are looking for a safe place put put your money you can't go wrong with a Boss casino.

Version 3 offers a cash back program. The following is the cash back rate according to the game.

• Single deck blackjack: 0.0%
• Craps, Baccarat, Blackjack (6 deck), Roulette, Casino War: 0.1%
• Pai Gow Poker: 0.2%
• Sic Bo, Video Poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, Gold Pirates Slots, Killer Whale Slots, 4 Reels Drive Slots, Jack In the Box Slots, Aladdin's Lamp Slots, Haunted House Slots, Bonus Madness Slots, Temple of Isis Slots: 0.3%
• Keno, Money Wheel: 0.5%

Following are the games offered in Version 3, the rules, strategy tips, and house edge.

Be careful to pay attention to the time limits when playing at Boss Media casinos. Once the cards are dealt in blackjack the player has so many seconds to make a decision. If no decision is made the dealer will assume the player wishes to stand. Once I had a total of seven on my first two cards, got distracted, and I was forced to stand on seven. The dealer ended up getting an 18 and I lost a $60 bet. The manager at Casino.Net kindly gave me half of it back.

Baccarat

Six deck are used. The house edge is 1.06% on the banker, 1.24% on the player, and 14.44% on the tie.

Blackjack

Following are the blackjack rules:

• Six decks
• Dealer stands on soft 17
• Player may double on any first two cards
• Player may double after a split
• Player may not resplit
• One card to split aces
• Dealer always peeks for blacjack (U.S. rule)

Yes, Boss Media finally did away with their European no-peek rule completely with version 3.

Following is the basic strategy for the six deck game.

Key to tables:

Buy and lay bets only charge the 5% commission only on winning bets and always based on the amount won. Place to win and proposition bets are offered according to the usual rules. The field bet pays 2:1 on both 2 and 12. Following is the house edge on some of the unique Boss Media bets:

• Buy on 4,10: 3.33%
• Buy on 5,9: 3.00%
• Buy on 6,8: 2.73%
• Lay on 4,10: 1.67%
• Lay on 5,9: 2.00%
• Lay on 6,8: 2.27%

Warning: When laying the odds after a don't pass or don't come bets, which should be in increments of $6, winnings are shortchanged 10 cents. This seems to be true regardless of the bet amount, as long as it is divisible by $6.

Keno

Version 3 has the same stingy pay table as version 2. The following table shows the expected return according to the number of marks.

Boss Media Keno

Pick	Return
2	68.04%
3	69.38%
4	67.39%
5	67.57%
6	70.64%
7	69.56%
8	67.47%
9	64.53%
10	69.61%

Killer Whale

Mathematically speaking this is the same game as 'Five Deck Frenzy' or what Starnet calls 'King of the Deck.' In this game there are 5 spinning reels, each with 52 stops, one for each card. The player may hold any given card on the first spin and then respin the discards. On the second spin the player can not get the same card back on the same reel. In other words it is the same thing as video poker with one deck for each card position. .

I do not know the return for this game.

Money Wheel

This is the same thing as Big Six, with the Vegas rules that pay 40-1 on the joker and logo. The following table shows the house edge on each bet.

Boss Media Money Wheel

Bet	Pays	Number on Wheel	House Edge
$1	1-1	24	11.11%
$2	2-1	15	16.67%
$5	5-1	7	22.22%
$10	10-1	4	18.52%
$20	20-1	2	22.22%
Joker	40-1	1	24.07%
Logo	40-1	1	24.07%

Not all version 3 casinos offer this game. As far as I know the only ones that offer the Money Wheel are Pharaoh's, Player's Club and Jamaica Bay.

Caribbean Poker

This is the same game as Caribbean Stud Poker, with the conventional pay table. The house edge under the standard rules is 5.22%. There is also a side bet with the following pay table.

Boss Media Caribbean Poker Side Bet

Hand	Pays
Royal flush	100% of meter
Straight flush	10% of meter
Four of a kind	$500
Full house	$100
Flush	$50

The house edge of the side bet is 63.76% less 2.92% for each $10,000 in the meter. When I checked on March 30, 2003, at Pharaoh's Casino the meter was at $110,795 for a house edge of 31.36%. For the side bet to have no house edge the meter would need to reach $218,047.

I get asked a lot about the possibility to collude with other players in multi-player mode by exchanging information about the cards held. According to Stanley Ko, in order to gain an advantage you need at least six total players. Boss Media as only five seats, so you colluders will be wasting your time at this game.

Pai Gow Poker

Boss Media is the only brand to feature player banking in a mutli-player game. The turn to be banker zig-zags between the players and the dealer, the dealer banking every other hand. If a player declines to bank or there is nobody in a seat the banker will revert to the dealer. There are five player positions at the table. So the player will have a chance to bank once every 10 hands. While not banking the house edge is 2.85%, and as banker in a one on one game the house edge is 0.08%. The more the other players the less the house edge as banker. In a one on one game the average house edge is 2.57%.

A nice feature is a house way button to arrange your hand, although once clicked the action is irreversible. The player does not have a chance to see the house way first before deciding to take it. A2345 is the second highest straight. The house way used is the strategy found in Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker by Stanford Wong.

Roulette

A single zero wheel is used for a house edge of 2.70% on all bets.

Sic Bo

Player's Club casino exclusively offers Sic Bo. The payoffs are better than some and worse than others. See my Sic Bo online section for a comparison to other software brands. Of special note is the 6-1 payoff on a 2-number combination, resulting in a house edge of 2.78%, much better than the usual 5-1 payoff with a 16.67% house edge.

The following table shows the payoff and house edge for all bets.

Online Casino Boss Media Software Download

Boss Media Sic Bo

Bet	Pays	Prob. Win	House Edge
Small, Big	1-1	48.61%	2.78%
4, 17	60-1	1.39%	15.28%
5, 16	30-1	2.78%	13.89%
6, 15	17-1	4.63%	16.67%
7, 14	12-1	6.94%	9.72%
8, 13	8-1	9.72%	12.50%
9, 12	6-1	11.57%	18.98%
10, 11	6-1	12.50%	12.50%
Triple	180-1	0.46%	16.20%
Any triple	30-1	2.78%	13.89%
Double	10-1	7.41%	18.52%
Two die combination	6-1	13.89%	2.78%
Any number	(1/2/3)-1	42.13%	7.87%

The lowest house edge bets are on big, small, and any two number combination, all at 2.78%.

Not all version 3 casinos offer this game. As far as I know the only ones that offer the Money Wheel are Pharaoh's, Player's Club and Jamaica Bay.

Slots

A nice variety is available. Boss Media features some wide area progressive games, meaning all the Boss Media casinos feed into the same progressive jackpot. This allows large jackpots to get built up faster.

Video Poker

At most casinos only Jacks or Better is offered with a 5/7/20 pay table. With optimal strategy the expected return is 95.48%. The following table shows the probability and return of each hand.

Jacks or Better

Hand	Payoff	Number	Probability	Return
Royal flush	1000	553693344	0.000028	0.027777
Straight flush	50	2181883836	0.000109	0.005473
4 of a kind	20	46927098840	0.002354	0.047084
Full house	7	228888423720	0.011483	0.080379
Flush	5	220234644540	0.011049	0.055243
Straight	4	226131938628	0.011344	0.045378
3 of a kind	3	1477703531280	0.074133	0.222398
Two pair	2	2569008096000	0.128881	0.257761
Jacks or better	1	4252431465432	0.213334	0.213334
Nothing	0	10909169741580	0.547286	0.000000
Total	19933230517200	1.000000	0.954828

Pharaoh's Casino has a nicer selection as follows and I'm told all Boss Media casinos will move to the following games by the end of 2004.

Jacks or Better

Hand	Payoff	Number	Probability	Return
Royal flush	800	493512264	0.000025	0.019807
Straight flush	50	2178883296	0.000109	0.005465
4 of a kind	25	47093167764	0.002363	0.059064
Full house	9	229475482596	0.011512	0.103610
Flush	6	219554786160	0.011015	0.066087
Straight	4	223837565784	0.011229	0.044917
3 of a kind	3	1484003070324	0.074449	0.223346
Two pair	2	2576946164148	0.129279	0.258558
Jacks or better	1	4277372890968	0.214585	0.214585
Nothing	0	10872274993896	0.545435	0.000000
Total	19933230517200	1.000000	0.995439

Online Casino Boss Media Software Free

Tens or Better

Hand	Payoff	Probability	Return
Royal flush	800	0.000026	0.020546
Straight flush	50	0.000103	0.005141
Four of a Kind	25	0.002358	0.058958
Full house	6	0.011497	0.068984
Flush	5	0.010654	0.053270
Straight	4	0.012357	0.049429
Three of a Kind	3	0.074265	0.222795
Two Pair	2	0.129007	0.258013
Tens or Better	1	0.254251	0.254251
Nothing	0	0.505482	0.000000
Total	1.000000	0.991388

Joker Wild

Hand	Payoff	Probability	Return
Natural Royal Flush	800	0.000025	0.019682
5 of a kind	200	0.000093	0.018644
Wild Royal Flush	100	0.000104	0.010418
Straight Flush	50	0.000581	0.029028
4 of a Kind	18	0.008538	0.153676
Full House	7	0.015656	0.109589
Flush	5	0.015663	0.078315
Straight	3	0.016805	0.050414
3 of a kind	2	0.133659	0.267317
2 Pair	1	0.110745	0.110745
Kings or better	1	0.141544	0.141544
Nothing	0	0.556589	0.000000
Total Return	1.000000	0.989372

Deuces Wild

Hand	Payoff	Number	Probability	Return
Natural royal flush	800	451963644	0.000023	0.018139
4 deuces	200	3745487652	0.000188	0.037580
Wild royal flush	20	35864159688	0.001799	0.035984
5 of a kind	15	62385447048	0.003130	0.046946
Straight flush	9	99367373148	0.004985	0.044865
4 of a kind	4	1225731582828	0.061492	0.245967
Full house	4	522145872600	0.026195	0.104779
Flush	3	408462003072	0.020492	0.061475
Straight	2	1152851681184	0.057836	0.115671
3 of a kind	1	5348224877136	0.268307	0.268307
Nothing	0	11074000069200	0.555555	0.000000
Total	19933230517200	1.000000	0.979714

Double Bonus Poker

Hand	Payoff	Number	Probability	Return
Royal flush	800	414973476	0.000021	0.016655
Straight flush	50	2255533176	0.000113	0.005658
4 aces	160	4364665980	0.000219	0.035034
4 2-4	80	10446064476	0.000524	0.041924
4 5-K	50	31969127784	0.001604	0.080191
Full house	9	211872080016	0.010629	0.095662
Flush	7	303428337828	0.015222	0.106556
Straight	5	299409572148	0.015021	0.075103
3 of a kind	3	1452555860172	0.072871	0.218613
Two pair	1	2370561008868	0.118925	0.118925
Jacks or better	1	3921754413384	0.196745	0.196745
Nothing	0	11324198879892	0.568107	0.000000
Total	19933230517200	1.000000	0.991065

Note: Pharaoh's Casino incorrectly calls the above game Bonus Poker.

Internal Links

• Boss Media appendix 1 has five basic strategy charts for the single-deck game according to the number of cards in the player's hand.

Signals And Slots Different Classes

Online Casino Boss Media Software