Online Casinos > Reviews > Offshore Action Casino

Positive

Offshore Action Casino has got a clean reputation, good customer services and basically gives you - the player - a very good probability to win compared to other online casinos. Offshore Action Casino is fully accredited to the Internet Commission’s Code of Conduct, which basically is a promise by Offshore Action Casino to treat players fair and stay ethically. Their single-deck Blackjack game is a fair game (very good chance to win) and one of the best Blackjack games you can find online. Their Slots Jackpots are shared among multiple casinos, so they build up faster. The bonuses you can receive are excellent. Most of the times Offshore Action Casino offers an Initial-Deposit- and an Every-Deposit Bonus. Offshore Action Casino even offers a sportsbook featuring straight- and combination bets (parlay- and teaser cards) in a simple, familiar format. All major sports and exotic wagering are represented. Special support for racing events, such as U.S. horse racing, is included. Since Offshore Action Casino is a JAVA casino you do not need to download any software and can play or bet from anywhere around the world when being online.

There may be negative features

We suggest that you also read this review of "Offshore Action Casino" from NoNuggets.com before playing.

Supported languages

•

English

Financial Info

Offshore Action Casino accepts VISA and Master Card, credit- and debit cards with Visa or Master Card connection, Fire Pay, Pay Pal, Western Union and Bank Wire. Personal identity and details of all members - including name, address, phone number, email address and wagering history - will remain completely confidential, and never given, reported or sold to any third party by Offshore Action Casino.
Deposit: VISA or Master Card - Min. deposit is $50. Max. deposit is $2,500 in total deposits per day / $10,000 in total deposits per month. PayPal - Min. deposit is $50. Bank Wire: Min. deposit is $1,000 and they add a 15% Bonus to all Bank Wire Deposits of $1,000 or more. Western Union - Min. deposit is $100 and they add a 15% Bonus to all Western Union deposits of $100 or more.
Withdrawals: You are entitled to one free withdrawal per 30 days. All accounts must have a correct valid contact phone number listed in their account information. Credit Card: Offshore Action Casino first credits back to your credit card the amounts equal to your original charges. Your additional winnings will be then mailed to you. It costs $20. FirePay: takes 10-15 business days and costs $15. PayPal: takes 1-2 days and costs $15. Bank Check: Registered Mail - takes two weeks or more and costs $10. Checks for amounts lower than $50 cost $25. FedEx/TNT - takes 2-4 days and costs $40. Bank Wire: takes 2-3 days and costs $45.

Software

Offshore Action Casino was developed by Unified Gaming. Offshore Action Casino is a Java-based casino, so no download is required. Therefore it doesn't have the rich graphics that a regular software-based casino usually offers but on the other hand you don't have to wait for a download and install their software either.

Licence

It is not known whether this casino is licenced or not. To have a gaming license means that a casino is able to 1) deposit enough money yearly as a financial backup for players (approximately US $50,000 up to US $100,000 per annum), 2) pay the taxes (of about 2,5% up to 5%), and hence 3) is subject to the control of the government that issued the gaming licence in case of any disputes.

Games

•	Baccarat [Mini]
•	Blackjack
•	Blackjack [Spanish 21]
•	Craps

•	Keno
•	Poker [Caribbean]
•	Poker [Pai Gow]

•	Roulette [American]
•	Slots
•	Video Poker

Baccarat (Mini)

Mini Baccarat Review

Game: In Baccarat you and the banker receive two to three cards to get a point value as close to nine as possible. You have to correctly guess whether you or the banker will win, or a tie will occur.

Odds: In baccarat the best bet is on the banker (bet that the banker will win) and the fewer the decks used the better the banker bet gets. Since Offshore Action Casino uses six decks, the house edge on a banker bet is 1.06% (it would be 1.01% if played with one deck). Dealt and played using "standard" rules, if you win by betting on the banker, the bank receives a 5% commission (Land-based casinos take 4%).

The single-deck house edge on a player bet is 1.24% (where the one deck house edge on a player bet is 1.29%). These differences in percentage do not seem large, but they do have a considerable impact on play in real life.

A winning bet on a tie pays 8:1 which results in an house edge of 14.44% on tie bets (15.75 when using one and 14.36% when using eight decks). Anyway, you should avoid betting on ties at Offshore Action Casino since there are online casinos offering 9:1 payouts on ties which lowers the house edge to 4.8% on tie bets.

Set: The table limits are set to $1-$500 which is standard (high betting limits are considered to be important when playing baccarat).

Summary: Offshore Action Casino offers a standard baccarat game. There are better online baccarat games in the Internet.

Blackjack (Spanish 21)

Spanish 21 Blackjack Review

Game: Spanish 21 is blackjack with all ten-spot cards being removed from the decks. To compensate for this off balance in the odds, the casinos have made the payouts more rewarding and offer excellent rules for the player.

Odds: Offshore Action Casino uses 6 decks (standard amount of decks for Spanish 21). The cards are shuffled at about 50% penetration level (after about 50% of the deck was played) which is good because it helps you to keep track of the cards more easily. Because Offshore Action Casino lets the dealer stand on soft 17 (Ace+6) the house edge is 0.48%. A Spanish 21 game where the Dealer hits soft 17 has a house edge of 0.76%. The payoffs are very tempting.

Set: The dealer stands on soft 17 (Ace & 6) which decreases the house edge: if he gets soft 17, that's it. But if he had to hit on soft 17 he'd get a second chance to draw closer to 21. And if he drew over 21, the Ace would count as 1 and he'd get a third chance to draw closer to 21. You can play up to 5 hands at once which is excellent. Doubling down is allowed on any card count and any number of cards which is far better than what land based casinos offer you. You even can double down after you split pairs which again is exceptionally good. Pairs may be split to 4 hands which is excellent and lots of fun. Even to split aces a second time is allowed. You can surrender after the dealer has looked at his second card (this is called "late surrender"). When the dealer has an 10 or an ace showing, the chance of losing is greater than 75%, which makes the late surrender a good option for you. Even a doubled hand can be surrendered, keeping the initial bet. !!!: A player's blackjack wins over a dealer's blackjack and pays 3:2. The player wins 21 ties. Both excellent rules. Betting Limits are $1-$25, $10-$50, $25-$100 and $100-$250 which is very good because you can bet as little as $1 up to as much as $250.

Summary: That's the best Spanish 21 game ever. We still consider Spanish 21 to hold to big a house edge.

Craps

Craps Review

Game: In Craps two dice are thrown by a player. If he rolls a 7 or 11, he wins. If he throws a 2, 3, or 12, he loses. If he throws any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) he continues throwing the dice and hopes that the same number will be thrown again before the 7 comes up. When the 7 comes up first, he loses. You can bet on the player or the house.

Odds: Offshore Action Casino offers 2x odds: if you bet on the pass-line (bet, that the player will win), you can increase your original bet after the dice have been thrown by 2x the amount you could win. This is called "wagering behind". So if you bet $10 you could win $20 and hence wager 2x $20 = $40 behind. And to wager behind is what a good craps player will do and a criteria of a good craps game is how many odds the casino offers you to wager behind. Because as the amount of allowed odds increases, the house edge decreases considerably. The house edge is 0.85% / 0.68% (pass-line / don't-pass-line bet) when offering 1x odds - as many online casinos do, 0.61% / 4.5% when offering 2x odds - as Offshore Action Casino does, and 0.47% / 0.34% already when offering 3x odds - as only little casinos do. (Land-based casinos sometimes offer up to 100x odds).

It's peculiar that Offshore Action Casino offers 2x odds exactly the way land based casinos do. Usually online casinos change their odds for the worse letting you increase your bet by only half as much.

A good strategy for craps is to always wager behind.

Set: There are 2 tables: $1-10 and $10-50. You may place as many bets as you like as long as you do not exceed the table limit for any individual bet. For example, if you were playing on the $10-$50 table, you could bet $50 on the Pass Line, plus 5 side bets of $50 each, for a total wager of $300. Your total wager is limited only by the amount of credits you have available.

Summary: Offshore Action Casino offers a unique craps table with good odds and good betting limits. You'll find similar and better online craps tables in our Best Craps List.

Keno

Keno Review

Game: There are 80 numbered balls. You pick some numbers. 20 balls are drawn. You win of course as more of your picks match the numbers that were drawn.

Odds: There are two types of keno: a) paying you good already when you match only a few picks (therefore decreasing the payouts for matching many picks) and b) paying you good only when you match many picks (therefore decreasing the payouts for matching only a few picks). You have to decide where you prefer to play. I'd play only the a) type. Offshore Action Casino is the a) type casino. The average payout here is nearly 95% (92.85% for all 15 picks and 94.12% when not counting the pick 1 which always pays 75% only). This payout ratio is excellent since both land-based and online casinos generally pay back about 70% - 75% on average.

The best bet is pick 5 offering a return of 94.79%.

Set: Denominations you wish to play are 25c, and $1. You can play up to 10 coins, so the maximum betting limit is $10. Some online casinos allow you to bet up to $100 which is far better.

Summary: Overall, Offshore Action Casino offers returns ranging from 92.02% to the high of 94.79%, except for the Pick 1, which always pays 3:1 for a return of 75%. This payout ratio is excellent. Betting limits are below average though.

Poker (Pai Gow)

Pai Gow Poker Review

Game: Pai Gow Poker is a card game based on poker where you and the dealer get seven cards and have to split them into five and two cards, each of them containing a better hand than the dealer's in order to win (your five card hand has to be better than your two card hand).

Odds: Here we finally have a casino offering you the option of being the banker in turn. Actually only a Pai Gow Poker game where the casino alternates the turn of the banker is good because in the event of an exact match between hands, called a "copy", the tie goes to the banker. It sets the house edge to 1.46%. (The probability that the two-card hands ("front hands") will copy is 2.55% and the probability that the five-card back hands ("back hands") will copy is 0.32%.) When it is your turn to be the banker the house has only an 0.08% edge over you. Because both the turn of the banker and the 0.08% edge alternate you end up with the aforesaid 1.46% house edge. At most other online casinos the dealer is always the banker which sets the basic house edge to 2.86%.

Set: The Joker may be used either as an Ace or to complete a straight, flush or straight flush. A winning hand is paid even money and charged a 5% commission (some casinos take a 2% commission only). Usually a progressive jackpot is paid out if any 5 cards of the 7 cards you are dealt make up a royal flush. Offshore Action Casino does not offer such a jackpot. Table Limits are $1-$25 and $10-$100.

Summary: You won't find a better Pai Gow Poker game in the internet (except you are looking for progressive jackpot Pai Gow games which Offshore Action Casino does not offer).

Roulette (American)

American Roulette Review

Game: A wheel with pockets numbered 0 to 36 is spun in one direction. A ball is spun around the wheel and as the ball slows, it drops into one of the pockets of the wheel. You bet on which pocket the ball will drop into.

Odds: This is an 'American' double-zero roulette (with two zeros on the wheel) which sets the basic house edge to 5.26%. Actually this house edge is too high to play here. No additional rules to decease this huge house edge are offered. For example the 'la partage' rule (also called the 'en prison rule' or 'Hamburg variation of the European half back rule'): if the zero comes up you lose only half your bet when betting on the 'outside' bets (the 'outside' bets are the bets that pay even money: high/low, red/black, odd/even). By losing only half your bet, the house edge on these ('outside') bets is cut down to 2.63% which is slightly better than the basic 2.7% house edge at an European Roulette table. Again, Offshore Action Casino does not offer such a rule.

Consider that inside bets offer far better payouts than outside bets, so bet the middle 12 once in a while. Generally the best idea is to bet on the streak that is running at the moment (e.g. if the last number was red, bet red). Avoid the five-number bet.

Set: The table limits are $1-$10 and $10-$100 which is a bit sparse.

Summary: Being a standard American roulette version this even is one of the worst games any casino has to offer. The betting limits are not good either. There are better roulette tables in our Best Roulette List. If you would like to bet big, go to Global-Player Casino. You can bet up to $6,000 on a spin there.

Slots

Slots Review

Game: Slots are machines with three to five wheels with symbols on them, spinning downwards when you pull a lever at their side or similar and coming to a stop after a few rounds of spinning. If the symbols align you win.

Odds: It is difficult to calculate the payout probabilities of slot machines without knowing how many times a certain symbol appears on each real. You could sit in front of the slot machine, pull the lever 1,000,000 times and write the results down or rely on the information that Offshore Action Casino gives you. They do not give information about their payouts.

I would advise you not to play anywhere unless the jackpots get big. And usually the jackpot at their 'Dazzler' machine gets quite big. The last time I took a look the meter was at US $160,000 (One Hundred Sixty Thousand US Dollar).

Set: There are nine slot machines available. Four of them hold progressive jackpots. The betting denominations are 25c, 50c, and $1, so the max betting limit is $5.

Summary: No wild symbols and no bonus screens but some progressives. You'll find much better slot machines in our Best Slots List.