Betsoft Casinos
Betsoft are a well-known software provider based out of Cyprus, and while they have had their fair share of up-and-down during their career, today they are one of the oldest software providers in the world and boast an impressive gaming portfolio of over 400 different titles.
UK players may not be quite as familiar with Betsoft’s titles as players in the United States, or other parts of the world, and this is because they haven’t always held the relevant licenses needed to offer players in the UK their games. Today, however, they are an emerging force in the industry, and more and more online casinos are now featuring their games to satisfy player demand.
Best UK Betsoft Casinos & Bonuses
Slots
While Betsoft previously had coded their games to only be available using flash, today a large proportion of their game range is built using HTML5 technology. This means that you can enjoy the games in so-called instant play mode – that is, straight out of your Internet browser without the need to download any software, plug-ins, or applications.
The software provider used to offer a downloadable casino client, but today that appears to have been largely phased out with the instant play side of their business taking priority. It’s possible that some of the smaller casinos – particularly those based in the United States – may still offer players a downloadable Betsoft client, but for the most part, you’re going to find it’s just simply not needed in order to enjoy their games.
Betsoft have been making big changes in the development of their video slots. A new range of games, called slots3, is the company’s attempt at only developing games in HTML5 technology, leaving flash and older forms of computer technology behind.
Birds
This change in technology has been a success for the software provider with Birds perhaps being one of their most famous and well-received HTML5 games. Featuring a sort of cascading reels effect, Birds offers exciting gameplay and a potentially very rewarding bonus round. Although let it be known that it is a high variance slot game, so be prepared to wait quite some time before those wins begin to roll in.
Charms & Clovers
Charms and Clovers is another big hit for the software developer. If the name hasn't already given it away, this one is an Irish themed video slot, which centres around the life of a Leprechaun, a Rainbow and Gold Coins. While Charms and Clovers can feel a little bit similar to some of the Irish games we’ve seen come out of Microgaming and Playtech’s development labs, Betsoft managed to put a pretty unique spin on the game by incorporating a number of bonuses into one game. Again, like Birds, it’s quite a high variance game, so it’s perfect for the players who are searching for big wins and who are happy to wait however long it takes.
Great 88 & Fa Fa Twins
Oriental games are also worth mentioning as they have recently become a large part of Betsoft’s slot range and two of the more notable titles include Great 88 and Fa Fa Twins.
Both games use a beautifully designed backdrop with 3-D symbols and moving real animations and every spin. The musical soundtrack behind the games is extremely impressive too with Betsoft reportedly spending over £50,000 on Great 88’s soundtrack alone.
Other Notable Slots
That’s just a few of the slot games that make Betsoft the company they are today. Other notable titles include the Angular, Sin City Nights, Magic Shop, and the Slot Father parts one and two, as pictured here. Betsoft have also been making an active attempt to ensure that the majority of their games are playable on mobile devices, and while they still have a ways to go in terms of allowing cross-platform compatibility, the majority of their most popular titles can now be played from both Android and iOS devices.
Additionally some Blackberry, Windows, and other OS systems can run the games, but it’s all dependent on the game built. Going forwards, however, the software provider is now committed to only coding games in HTML5, which should open up mobile gaming to many more players.
Table Games
Betsoft are known primarily for their video slots, but their casino game range is fairly impressive and is available at the majority of online casinos that feature the video slots. While their casino table games may lack the sophistication of some of the newer, more popular games (from software providers like NetEntertainment and Microgaming), many players actually prefer Betsoft’s game-range, as they find the games more natural, and more authentic. Below, we’ll look at the various table game categories Betsoft currently offer.
Roulette
While you won't find an abundance of Roulette games in Betsoft’s game range, you will find a relatively healthy selection. Although the lack of creativity is fairly evident, the European Roulette and French Roulette titles are, in fairness, very well made, and prove popular with players thanks to the “quick spin” function that allows you to speed up the animation of the Roulette wheel, delivering a near instant game result.
Aside from the two Roulette variations we’ve just looked at, there's also a couple of other games that follow similar rules to European Roulette, and Common Draw Roulette is probably the most popular of these. It’s nearly identical to the stand-alone European Roulette game with the exception that staking options and betting limits are a little higher, giving players with a larger budget with more flexibility and freedom.
Blackjack
Betsoft offer somewhat more of an impressive Blackjack selection than they do Roulette. While the number of games on offer isn’t anything too impressive (around six titles), it’s the creativity behind the different games that really stands out and makes Betsoft shine. Of these you'll find European Blackjack and American Blackjack – the two most common versions of the game as you’d expect.
They have also come up with some unique game variants, such as 21 Burned Blackjack (as pictured above), and Pirate 21 Blackjack. Both of these titles offer unique side bets that allow you to win up to 705X your side bet wager, and it’s a fantastic way to enjoy both classical Blackjack experience with a heightened chance of winning big.
Betsoft also offer a Pontoon game, which is much the same as Blackjack with the main difference being that a five-card trick is paid as a win, alongside a couple of other small game tweaks.
Video Poker
Betsoft offer a fairly impressive selection of Video Poker titles, and their current game selection boasts over 27 different versions, which is far more than we typically see from the software provider these days. Now, many of these games are available in two versions with the first being a single hand version, which allows you to play one hand per round. The second version, is a multi-hand version, allowing you to play up to 50 hands at once. Of course, each has their pros and cons, and to play more hands you’re going to have to stake more money, which either lowers the amount you win or increases the amount staked per hand.
It’s interesting to see Betsoft take this approach, as most software providers offer just a couple of multi-hand variations. Specific games in Betsoft’s video poker range includes Jacks or Better Poker, Bonus Poker, Bonus Du Lux, Double Bonus Poker, Double Jackpot Poker, and Deuces Wild.
Poker Games
Betsoft offer three or four different poker table games – the number you’re able to play depends on where you’re located. The first of these is Awaited Poker, a relatively new type of table poker, but one that’s been seen far more commonly in recent years at online casinos, thanks to its popularity and its inclusion in a few land-based casinos in the UK.
Triple Hand Poker and Draw Hi Lo are two more poker themed games that Betsoft offer, and both offer the distinct advantage of having a minimum bet of just £1. This means that players on all types of budgets can enjoy the action, and no longer must you stake a minimum of £5 every time you want to play a hand. This is the case with most other software providers, and it just proves a bit too expensive for many players, meaning they rarely get a chance to actually enjoy the exciting thrills of these games.
About Betsoft
- Year Founded: 1999
- Publicly Traded: No
History
Betsoft was founded in 1999, and is still based in the same vicinity as its original offices; in Southern Cyprus. The software provider has had a long, turbulent lifespan, and has managed to overcome a number of scandals – most notably the rigging of certain progressive jackpot games to ensure that the jackpots could never be won. Despite this, however, the software provider have managed to gain players trust once again, and continue to develop their range of games with an eye on using new, state-of-the-art technologies.
They’re best well-known for their 3D technology inside some of their video slots. While today this looks a little dated when compared against some of the global gaming giants (like NetEntertainment, Playtech, and so on), it did set a precedent in the industry, and Betsoft are often credited with pioneering the advancements on video slots, particularly with their graphics.
Some of their most popular games include titles such as the Mad Scientist, Under the Bed, and 2 Million BC, and they’ve recently begun developing Bingo games to further compliment their game-range.
Unusually, while the casino table games and video slots are now programmed using HTML5 technology, Betsoft still opt to use Flash in their Bingo, and Instant-Win games. This means mobile players often experience issues playing the games.
While representatives from the company assure players all their games will soon be re-coded using HTML5 language, it is a bit of a setback to see such a famous, well-known software provider still using Flash in a large number of their games. The technology behind Flash has been found to be unsecure, and a number of exploits have been found in the technology, hence why it’s now being phased out and replaced in most cases by HTML5.
The Future for Betsoft
While Betsoft still face an uphill battle to convince some players that they’re worthy of their trust, they continue to build and develop games from their Cyprian headquarters. And, recently, they’ve played a big part in the emergent of Bitcoin Casinos. Whether Bitcoin will become mainstream, or whether it will fade away, gradually dying out remains to be seen. But Betsoft have taken a bold, and likely rewarding, move what with their partnership with the world’s Bitcoin Casinos. This is something many software providers have been unwilling to do, due to confusion on the legality of Bitcoin Gambling.
It’s also likely we’ll see the software provider grow their mobile operations, and as more games become transferred over to HTML5, mobile users will find more of Betsoft’s range available to them. This gives the company a huge potential market share to aim toward.