Habanero Systems Software & 103 Online Casinos Reviewed

Introduction

Habanero Systems is an online betting group that was founded in 2010 and has become known for their full assortment of casino software, which includes table games, video poker, and video slots. The developer provides its games to licensed and regulated online betting sites as well as land casinos, and has also put together a backend system to let casinos manage their software.

Habanero Systems Casinos

Baccarat

Habanero follows EZ Baccarat rules, where the Banker bet pays even money, except is a push on a three-card winning Banker total of seven. Otherwise, the rules are the same as conventional baccarat. There is no Dragon or Panda side bet. The house edge on the three main baccarat bets offered are:

• Banker: 1.02%
• Player: 1.24%
• Tie: 14.36%

Blackjack

I'd like to applaud Habanero for having just one blackjack game. No more checking all the rules to find the table with the best odds. The rules are:

• 5 decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• No hole card (player loses everything if dealer gets blackjack).
• Split once only.
• Double any first two cards.
• Double after a split allowed.
• Surrender not allowed.
• Player may play use to five hands.

Based on my blackjack house edge calculator, the house edge is 0.55%.

Casino Hold 'Em

Casino Hold 'Em follows the usual 1-2-3-10-20-100 pay table for a house edge of 2.16%.

Casino War

Habanero follows the usual rule of not paying a bonus for a tie after a tie. With the six decks that they use, this results in a house edge of 2.88%.

They do kindly pay 11 to 1 on the Tie bet, which lowers the house edge from the usual awful 18.65% to 11.25%. It's still an awful bet, but they deserve credit for giving the players a little relief.

Double Exposure

Following are the Double Exposure rules:

• 8 decks.
• Dealer hits on soft 17.
• Double 9-11 only (including soft).
• Split once only.
• No splitting unlike tens.
• Tied blackjack does not lose (The rules don't state whether it is a push or a win, however, I assume that by omission it is a push).
• Double after split allowed.
• Player may play use to five hands.

I get a house edge under these rules of 1.61%.

Dragon Tiger

Habanero follows the usual Dragon Tiger rules. Here is a summary of the house edge on each bet:

• Dragon, Tiger — 3.73%
• Tie — 32.77% (ouch!)
• Big, Small — 7.69%
• Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades — 7.69%

Caribbean Stud Poker

The Caribbean Stud Poker follows a 1-2-3-4-5-7-20-50-500 pay table. This differs from the conventional pay table only in the royal flush, which normally pays only 100 to 1. This increase in the royal flush decreases the house edge from 5.22% to 5.16%.

Roulette

Finally, a software company with just one roulette game. Why does there need to be more? They kindly make it French roulette too, which the most liberal kind. However, they incorrectly call it "European roulette." In the case of Habanero, there is only one zero on the wheel and the player loses half on even money bets if the ball lands in zero. The house edge is 1.35% on even money bets and 2.70% on all others.

A funny thing about this game is that it announces the number only when it is 36. I discovered this as I playing over and over, waiting for the ball to land in zero, to check what would happen to my bet on red.

Slots

By my count, Habanero has 37 slot machines. They are all five-reel video slots. All of them seem to feature animated reels and a good sound effects that correlate to the type of win the player has. All in all, much better than the average for an Internet casino.

I could find no information on the theoretical returns so you're on your own with that.

Video Poker

Each video poker game is available in 1-, 5-, 10-, 50-, and 100-play. The pay tables for any given game seem to be the same no matter how many hands are played.

Be warned that the auto-hold feature is sometimes incorrect, as evidenced by this hand in Jacks or Better:

Using my video poker hand analyzer, we can see that for a 5-coin bet, the correct play is to hold the ace and queen only. What may be happening is the strategy is correct for less than max coins bet. A-Q-5 would be the correct play for one to four coins bet. However, you can see that I bet five coins.

The following table shows the Video Poker games available in alphabetical order.

Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.

Conclusion

Habanero Systems has assembled a complete online gaming platform that offers odds in line with many other legitimate developers. The software library at Habanero may not be huge, but the games play well and should be considered playable if you come across them in an online casino.