Vivo Gaming Live Blackjack
Vivo Gaming is an Israeli company founded in 2010. They currently provide live casino technology for dozens of online casinos. They have offices and studios across the world, including London, Manila and Costa Rica.
Despite having an office in London, Vivo does not yet have a United Kingdom Gambling Commission licence and so their games are unavailable to UK players.
However, they are willing to supply games to US-facing online casinos. This opens up a whole new market, which is increasingly heading towards full legalisation. Their only licence is from the state of Curacao, which is hardly the most reputable licence in the game – but at least it is something.
Their blackjack tables are solid but do barely anything unique or innovative and in fact drop several features you might expect to find.
VIVO Blackjack Table Previews
VIVO Blackjack
Live Blackjack Features
The first you think you might notice about Vivo’s single variety of live blackjack, is that the studio is crammed into a rather small space. As you play you can literally see dozens of other tables operating around yours in the same room. This might be too busy for some, but we enjoyed the bustling atmosphere this created.
The tables here are all standard 7-seat classic blackjack, with a functional interface featuring big buttons and big cards that are easy to see. The stream quality was average, with a few dips throughout our review but nothing too major. In general, the stream was fairly sharp, and play was smooth.
However, the complete lack of any side-bets or a bet-behind option was an obvious detraction. Not that we would use side-bets anyway, as from a maximising returns potential they are a waste, but the option to use them should be there for players who do enjoy having a flutter on them.
Not being able to bet-behind was also a clear lack at Vivo. When you’re Evolution Gaming and you have 20+ live blackjack tables (plus unlimited versions) at any one casino, then we could understand not providing a bet-behind option. But Vivo only offered two or three tables at most at each casino we played them at – so not having an option for players who can’t get a seat is a real missed opportunity.
However, Vivo live blackjack tables do allow you to stay at the table as long as you want without betting. They won’t kick you out after five or more mins of activity, like most sites, which we guess goes some way to making up for this.
Strangely, instead of bet-behind, Vivo’s tables allow one player to play at up to three seats. Whilst great for pros who can handle juggling three separate hands, especially with splits and doubles involved, this can definitely be a hindrance for casual players as tables can fill up with just three players – rather than the usual seven.
Lastly, players can switch to the old school casino view where the betting interface takes up most of the screen and the live dealer is relegated to a small window. Although why you would want to play like this, unless you were already on a tiny screen, is a mystery to us.
