Error on galacasino.co.uk

[arbster]

Just a word of warning when playing here.

Played a hand last night where I was dealt a pair of twos, dealer had a small card. I split and was dealt a 10 and a 9. Stood with the 12 and doubled the 11 to make 21. Dealer made 17 or something, thus causing me to win my doubled hand and lose the undoubled one. The casino balance showed an overall push for the hand, whereas I reckon I should have been one unit up.

Having checked it with CS they say the overall financial result was a DRAW, which is definitely wrong. I've asked them to show me the hand logs with exact cards, but I'm convinced they have a bug.

At least one other person on another forum has experienced the same issue. If you find yourself in a similar position, please pay extra attention to your balance and let me know what you see.

If I don't get a satisfactory response from them regarding this, should I Pitch a Bitch?

 

[jetset]

Last I heard, these guys were running a software unfamiliar to me called Carlton Interactive.

 

[schankwart]

Wow, I totally missed it when they left Boss.
How long have they been running this software now?

 

[arbster]

They "upgraded" recently, although "Gala International" is their Boss Media download casino. This is the Flash-based interface. Haven't confirmed whether you can have accounts at both because I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a spoon than play at a Boss Media casino.

 

[jetset]

Not sure whether Carlton Interactive preceded or followed the Boss stuff, I'm afraid.

 

[arbster]

Not sure whether Carlton Interactive preceded or followed the Boss stuff, I'm afraid.

Not sure either, but they have definitely just re-launched galacasino.co.uk with either new or "upgraded" software. The Boss has been there for a while on galainternational.com.

Regardless of software, such elementary mistakes as this are inexcusable in my book. Just thought others might want to know about it.

 

[arbster]

Oops!

 

[GrandMaster]

There are also two other errors in the software:

a) It is not possible to split 4s in any situation - all other pairs are
splittable.

b) Insurance is not offered when the dealer up card is an Ace, except where
the player has Blackjack already.

I dread to think what this is doing to the house edge.

Have you tried splitting 5s or 10s? Under standard UK rules, you cannot split 4s, 5s or 10s, or take insurance unless you have BJ. You should never split 5s, and if the cards are shuffled before every game, then you should not split 10s or take insurance, and you should only split 4s if the dealer has a 5 or a 6 showing (also a 4 in a single deck game). The effect on the house edge is tiny, abour 0.002%.

 

[arbster]

Have you tried splitting 5s or 10s? Under standard UK rules, you cannot split 4s, 5s or 10s, or take insurance unless you have BJ. You should never split 5s, and if the cards are shuffled before every game, then you should not split 10s or take insurance, and you should only split 4s if the dealer has a 5 or a 6 showing (also a 4 in a single deck game). The effect on the house edge is tiny, abour 0.002%.

Thanks for your informative reply GM - I removed my post prior to seeing your response as I'd just had the 4s/5s rule pointed out to me elsewhere. I removed the whole post as I never take insurance anyway.

The original error still stands and has a growing number of people hunting through their personal play logs.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Just for the record, Galacasino.co.uk is completely different to the Gala International that uses Boss software - you can have accounts with both.

However if you decide to play at .co.uk be prepared for the slowest game of blackjack you've ever experienced (makes Crockfords look superfast), as well as constant crashes.

It once took me over an hour to play 50 hands

 

[arbster]

However if you decide to play at .co.uk be prepared for the slowest game of blackjack you've ever experienced (makes Crockfords look superfast), as well as constant crashes.

It once took me over an hour to play 50 hands

Yep, it's painfully slow. Often when it gets really slow it's about to fall over, so worth getting out anyway. I'm sure they'll get the technical niggles ironed out in time, but it's hard to recommend it right now.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Well - they sent me an email a week or so ago cliaming that they'd had an upgrade and the software now runs 3x faster.

Played a bit in practice mode and it was still ridiculously slow - didn't see any improvement at all.

 

[arbster]

Having queried the error with them again today, the most recent CS agent tells me you can't double after splits. I quoted them this from their Game Rules:

Splitting Pairs
Two cards of the same count value (i.e. a pair), other than 4s, 5s and 10s, dealt to a player in the Initial Deal, may be split by the player concerned into two separate hands when his turn comes for the Subsequent Deal. The player automatically make a wager on the second hand so formed, this wager being an amount equal to that wagered on his first hand.
The Dealer shall then deal a second card to each of the split cards which will be treated as separate hands. He shall then complete the first hand before continuing with and completing the second hand. If the cards dealt to a split hand results in a further pair of cards of equal value, the resulting pair may not be split again.
When a second card dealt to either hand of a split pair (other than aces) gives the hand a count value of 9, 10 or 11, the player may double the wager on that hand in accordance with the rules for doubling below.
When a pair has been split in conformity with these Rules, the two hands so formed shall be completed in accordance with 'the subsequent deal'.
A court card or a 10 dealt to an ace after a split (count value of 21) shall not constitute a Blackjack.

They've sent logs to another player who experienced the problem which clearly showed his balance being debited by more than he wagered (he lost both the doubled and un-doubled hand) but now are claiming the log was wrong.

These guys should definitely be avoided.

 

[chuchu59]

Having queried the error with them again today, the most recent CS agent tells me you can't double after splits. I quoted them this from their Game Rules:



They've sent logs to another player who experienced the problem which clearly showed his balance being debited by more than he wagered (he lost both the doubled and un-doubled hand) but now are claiming the log was wrong.

These guys should definitely be avoided.

I dont get it. If the software allows you to double up after splitting,whatever the T&Cs say,they should accept the bets as they are and pay accordingly. Otherwise,they should alter the software not to allow doubling up after splitting. Is that simple,isnt it?