Ash Gaming Casinos

Ash Gaming is a London based software provider that was first founded in 2002, and at its peak it employed more than 40 staff, helping the company provide a number of games to casinos in the UK.

Today, the software provider is owned by Playtech – but a unique acquisition agreement allows Ash Gaming to continue to develop slots under the Ash Gaming name, and in this post we’re going to look at some of the main games offered by the company, alongside a brief history of the development, which can be found at the end of this article.

Best UK Ash Gaming Casinos & Bonuses

Slots

Ash Gaming may not be one of the largest names in the gambling software world, and while their games and casino platforms will appear somewhat unrecognisable to some players, it’s important to note that the company place a strong emphasis on quality inside their games, and they definitely live by a “quality over quantity” ethos.

While the majority of their titles were initially developed in Flash, since the acquisition by Playtech in 2011, most of their games have now been adapted using HTML5 technology. Many have also indeed been integrated with Playtech’s gaming platform, allowing Ash Gaming’s titles to reach some of the world’s biggest casinos, such as Paddy Power, Unibet, and Sky Casino.

Amazon Wild

Video slots are by far the area that Ash Gaming are best well-known for, and some of their games have achieved global player bases, with Amazon Wild being perhaps their most popular release.

The reason behind this is often attributed to the stellar gameplay players experience, but it should also be noted that it’s a game that features a fixed RTP, which means that no matter which casino the game is played at, the return to player percentage will remain the same.

Britain's Got Talent

Another well-known release from the software provider is Britain’s Got Talent, which is, of course, based upon the televised talent show which has gone on to see variations in over 48 different countries, making it one of the world’s most successful television programmes in history.

Other notable releases include Ace Adventurer, Adventures in Wonderland, Chests of Plenty, Gold Rush Showdown, King Arthur, and Leprechaun’s Luck – the latter of which inspired many of Playtech’s Irish themed games.

Fairground Fortunes Ghost Train

Another game worth mentioning is Fairground Fortunes Ghost Train, which is one of the newest games to come from the software provider. In fact, alongside Full Moon Fortunes, and Heart of the Jungle, Fairground Fortunes Ghost Train became a well-known title thanks to its inclusion in many of the Coral bookmakers betting shop machines, which allows players throughout the UK to enjoy the games without needing to create an online casino account.

Ash Gaming continued to develop unique and intuitive releases, and is very rarely see a cloned game come from the software provider, as they place a strong emphasis on originality.

Winnings of Oz

While we’ve already looked at the Britain’s Got Talent slot from Ash Gaming, it’s also worth pointing out a few more titles, largely ones that focus either around popular television programmes, films or books. One of the most popular of these games is the Winnings of Oz, which is of course, themed after the Wizard of Oz. This exciting game features a number of randomly triggering features, as well as the main bonus round consisting of three parts – land the three scatter symbols required to trigger the bonus, and you get to pick one of three bonuses. The first is a free spins round, benefits from random wilds, and with up to 50 free spins available, this game can go huge if you had at the right time. The other two bonuses are a mystery coin win, and the Emerald city, which is essentially a pick me bonus.

Little Britain is yet another of Ash Gaming’s popular television/branded slots, and here we see Matt Lucas and David Williams make an appearance with some other TV shows most popular characters, such as Vicky Pollard who provides the vocals used in the game.

Finally, there’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and while this game is unfortunately seen a steep dip in popularity, largely due to its age and poor graphics, it’s still a game worth mentioning as it was one of Ash Gaming is first branded games, and indeed one of the games that got the company noticed.

Table Games

It’s fair to say that Ash Gaming aren’t overly well-known for their table games, and while they have released over 20 different games in their lifespan, it’s unlikely that as a player you’d recognise any of them by name alone. Having said that, Ash Gaming have developed a relatively impressive range of casino table games, and below we will look at some of the main categories and games offered by the London based company.

Roulette

While rarely seen at online casinos today – largely due to the fact the company was brought out by Playtech, with Playtech choosing to use their own titles, instead, Ash Gaming have actually created a number of Roulette variations.

European Roulette

While they may not offer the same levels of creativity that you might find from some of the more modernised software providers, they offer a fairly reliable yet standard gaming experience. Perhaps their most popular variation is European Roulette, which offers three different betting limits to players – low, mid and high three.

The design within this game is strong, and it’s clear that the software provider and a diameter when it comes to graphics and animation.

Multiwheel Roulette

Multiwheel Roulette gold is another of ash gaming is more well-known Roulette variations, and as the name suggests, in this game, players enjoy the classic game of European Roulette using three wheels, instead of the conventional one. This is quite an interesting way to play, as it gives you essentially three chances to hit numbers, instead of just the one. Of course, the caviar is that you need to stake 300 times as much in order to receive the same returns that you were to play just one wheel, but it can be a great game to play if you’re looking to minimise your exposure to risk, and maximise your chances of getting a return – even if it’s not the biggest in the world.

Those two games make up the core of the companies Roulette selection, they do offer a couple of other games like American Roulette and French Roulette, although it is worth noting these are commonly found in online casinos, and may not be available to UK players.

Blackjack

There Blackjack selection is a little more impressive than their Roulette one, and they offer between 13 and 15 different titles, depending on whether you count licensed games to Playtech. Their most popular Blackjack game is Blackjack Classic Low Limit, which allows players to stake from just 50p per hand. This is ideal for those on a budget for those wanting to limit their exposure to risk while playing the classic card game.

Another popular game from is Atlantic City Blackjack Gold Series, which offers improved graphics, as well as slightly different game setting options. It’s worth noting that all their Blackjack titles follow the standardised European rules, which sees dealers standing on all 17’s with Blackjack paying 3:2.

21+3 Blackjack

In terms of side bets, Ash Gaming offer a couple of different side bet games with the first being 21+3 Blackjack. This game variant uses poker hand rankings as it’s core function, and by placing a small side bet in every hand, you are in with the chance of winning 9 to 1 your money.

To win, your first two cards and the dealers first card, must make a poker hand, from one of the following: three-of-a-kind, flush, straight, straight flush, or Royal flush. It’s worth noting that the 9:1 payout doesn’t change, regardless of what handwriting you manage to make, but it’s generally one of the preferred sidebet Blackjack games due to its low house edge and continual excitement.

Perfect Pairs Blackjack

Ash Gaming also offer a Perfect Pairs Blackjack variant, which is one of the most common around today. This game, like the 21+3 game, allows you to place a separate side bet alongside your main Blackjack bet, and if your first two cards are the same value, you’ll win a prize. It's not the most exciting game in the world, but once again, it’s pretty fun to play. If your first two cards dealt are of the same value, but different colours, you get paid on your side bet at 5:1. If your first two cards are the same value and the same colour (but different suits), you get paid at 10:1, and if your first two cards dealt are the same value, and the same suit (i.e. a Perfect Pair) you get paid 35:1!

Live Dealer Games

Ash Gaming don’t themselves offer any live dealer games, although their parent company – Playtech – do. That being said, we are not going to list any of the games here, as they’re developed under the Playtech brand, and while the games may appear together, Ash Gaming themselves don’t play any part in the development or maintenance of them.

Video Poker

While Ash Gaming used to offer a number of video poker titles, it appears that today – at least in the UK market – they no longer offer such games, and again, this is likely due to their acquisition by Playtech, with Video Poker titles created by the latter.

About Ash Gaming

• Year Founded: 2000
• Owner: Playtech
• Publicly Traded: No

History

Ash Gaming was founded in 2000 in London and the company started out by producing a number of slots and table games online casinos. While their initial success as a company wasn’t anything too notable, they did have a number of hit games, some of which we covered earlier, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Little Britain.

It was 2011, however, that saw Ash Gaming get the recognition they deserve, when one of the worlds largest software providers – Playtech – acquired the company for a reported £23 million. This acquisition included a number of relatively rare and unique terms, including Playtech giving Ash Gaming the ability to continue manufacturing slot games under the Ash Gaming brand name, even after the acquisition.

Another clause in the purchase agreement saw Playtech agreeing to pay Ash Gaming a further £7.5 million at a later date, although details on when – if ever – this payment was made, remain unknown at present.

Fast forward to today, and while Ash Gaming may not be at the forefront of online gaming, their 40+ team continue to manufacture and distribute a number of high-quality video slots – all of which are published and distributed by Playtech around the world.

The Future for Ash Gaming

It’s unclear what the future holds the Ash Gaming, but with their parent company Playtech looking at ways to streamline mobile gambling experiences, it’s very likely that we will see both companies continuing to ensure that their slots are both mobile friendly and accessible to players on the move.

One core component of this will be ensuring that all games are built in HTML 5, as opposed to flash (the format Ash Gaming have used until recently), and the benefit of HTML5 is that players don’t need any plug-ins or apps downloaded on their device to play the games. HTML5 also offers enhanced security, as flash – its predecessor – was found to contain numerous security flaws just last year.