Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack By Playtech Review
The Game in Short
Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack plays like normal blackjack but also comes with an extra mega fire blaze bet that can be placed, which can result in a bonus round.
To trigger the bonus, at least five achievement points must be collected. The bonus becomes more lucrative the more you collect;
- Minor bonus: 5 points
- Mini bonus: 10 points
- Major bonus: 15 points
- Grand bonus: 20 points
- Mega bonus: 25 points
Achievement points are rewarded in the following ways during a game round:
- One player is dealt a card value of 14: 4 points
- Two players are dealt a card value of 14: 6 points
- The dealer gets an ace: 2 points
- The dealer gets an additional ace: 6 points
- The dealer is dealt a total of four cards: 1 point
- The dealer is dealt a total of five cards: 8 points
- The dealer is dealt a total of six cards: 13 points
In Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack, two hands are always being dealt, known as ‘player one’ and ‘player two’. These are shared between all participants in the game. You can decide to play one of them or both; it doesn’t matter in terms of the mega fire blaze bonus.
The Mega Fire Blaze Bonus
If at least 5 achievement points have been collected, the mega fire blaze bonus will begin immediately after the game round ends. This bonus plays similarly to a slot machine where multiplier symbols that are worth x1 – x10 your bet size will drop down on a grid.
The size of the grid and the multipliers that can appear will vary depending on the bonus that was triggered. The minor bonus has the smallest grid and the major one the largest.
Three spins are initially awarded in the bonus. However, these spins reset back to three whenever a multiplier symbol appears, allowing for tens of spins to be played.
If two adjacent rows get filled with multiplier symbols, an additional win multiplier of x10, x20, x50 or x100 can be rewarded. This will happen if the rows have a star icon above them, which is randomly determined.
Payouts
The payouts in Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack range from 1:1 to 999:1. In other words, from two times your bet amount up to a maximum of 1,000 times.
Here are the normal blackjack payouts which are the same in most blackjack games:
- Winning the hand: 1:1
- Getting blackjack: 3:2
- Insurance: 2:1
Here are the mega fire blaze bonus payouts that are unique to Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack:
- Minor bonus: 1 – 23:1
- Mini bonus: 2 – 119:1
- Major bonus: 5 – 399:1
- Grand bonus: 9 – 699:1
- Mega bonus: 19 – 999:1
At most, the minor bonus can pay 24x your bet, the mini bonus 120x, the major bonus 400x, the grand bonus 700x and the mega bonus 1,000x. These are massive potential payouts that are unmatched by other blackjack games.
In addition to the normal bet and mega fire blaze bet, Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack also comes with two types of side bets; player pair and 21 + 3. These are common side bets in blackjack that can pay 6:1 up to 100:1.
RTP
The RTP in Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack varies from 95.90% up to 99.55% at most. This means that you would be expected to win R18.90 – R19.61 for every R20 staked. The payout percentage depends on the type of bet you place as each bet comes with its own RTP:
- Main bet (normal blackjack): 99.55%
- Mega fire blaze bet: 97.47%
- 21 + 3 side bet: 96.30%
- Player pair side bet: 95.90%
The mega fire blaze bet has a substantially lower RTP than the main bet. This means that you would be expected to lose more money by placing this bet than if you just played normal blackjack (assuming you played perfectly).
I don’t think the lower RTP matters though as 97.47% is still a lot. The point of playing Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack is to have fun and have a chance of getting massive payouts which aren’t possible in normal blackjack. You don’t play the game to try and maximize profits.
Fun Factor
Having played Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack for quite a bit, I really enjoy it. The game offers a whole other level of excitement compared to normal blackjack. Not only are you looking to beat the dealer, but you have three additional things to hope for; being dealt 14, the dealer getting aces and the dealer being dealt many cards. All in order to collect achievement points to trigger the bonus.
I personally like live dealer games where a lot of things are happening, so I find it entertaining to have all of this to keep track of. However, as a bit of a downside, I must mention that big payouts are quite unlikely to occur even if the possibility of having them is great.
For instance, to trigger the best bonus, the dealer must be dealt six cards or more and hold two aces. One of the two player hands must also start with a hand value of 14. This happening, is very unlikely.
For the most part, only the minor bonus will be played, which has limited payout potential. And even if one of the better bonuses trigger, you still have to be lucky in the bonus to actually get a big win out of it.
But the game is well-designed and offers its own unique playstyle which makes it a fun addition to South Africas online casinos game library. I’m certain I will play Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack on a regular basis and I highly recommend you to try it.
Strategies
There are no strategies in Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack that can be applied to the mega fire blaze bet. The payout potential of this bet is fixed and cannot be changed.
However, on your normal blackjack bets, basic strategy can and is recommended to be used. This is a strategy that allows you to play perfectly in order to reach the game’s maximum RTP of 99.55%. This strategy is easy to apply by following a basic strategy chart.
In terms of strategy, I also want to highlight that side bets and taking insurance are playstyles that will cause you to lose more money than if you didn’t play them. Of course, if you want to spice things up and have a more action-packed experience in Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack, there is nothing wrong with playing them. Just know that they aren’t good decisions if you want to maximize profits.