Ezugi is a relatively young casino software company that specializes exclusively in the provision of live dealer games. The company focuses on crafting highly engaging live gambling solutions that serve as an alternative to playing at brick-and-mortar casinos.
It provides a highly customizable platform that each casino brand can tailor to its specific needs and goals. Players, on the other hand, will benefit from an intuitive user interface and seamless streaming experience across all mobile and desktop devices.
Ezugi has so far launched a number of classic live casino games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat but its portfolio also comprises several unique offerings no other live casino supplier provides. In this article, SuperCasinoSites unveils everything you need to know about Ezugi, its live dealer platform, and the available games.
Ezugi Studios and Regulatory Compliance
Ezugi continues to work tirelessly in order to supply gaming operators with the most engaging live dealer solutions on the market. The company has consolidated its global presence, operating as many as nine live studios across Eastern Europe, South America, and the Baltic region. We cover some of them briefly below.
Studio Locations
Licenses and Regulatory Compliance
Studio Locations
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- The Bucharest studio is located in the Romanian capital of the same name and started operations in November 2018. The studio is divided into three main sections, each one dedicated to a specific selection of live dealer games. Also included is a training center where all the newly recruited dealers are put through their paces before they join the live tables.
- In the summer of 2015, Ezugi launched its first European studio in Varna, one of the largest cities in Bulgaria. The studio is home to various live roulette, baccarat, and blackjack games that run around the clock. Due to the high demand, some of these are hosted in the Turkish language while the rest are available in English.
- For regulatory reasons, the company also had to introduce a dedicated studio in Belgium to legally service players from this market.
- Ezugi also launched a dedicated studio in Costa Rica. Located in the country’s capital San Jose, the building is home to various facilities including the company’s offices, a training center, an IT control room, and, of course, a streaming area with tables.
- The company has established a solid presence in Asia, following the launch of its Cambodia studio at the start of 2015. All live games are hosted by professionally trained personnel in the best Asian traditions. Some of the live tables are designated for special games that enjoy particular popularity in Asia.
- Ezugi further expanded its operations, becoming one of the very few operators to legally enter the young New Jersey market. The company streams from within Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget Casino and offers over a dozen live games to New Jersey residents, including American Roulette, Casino Hold’em, OTT Roulette, and American Blackjack.
Apart from this, Ezugi has studios and registered offices in Colombia, Malta, Spain, the UK, and Latvia. Its Maltese offering features a selection of OTT roulette games, streamed directly from the floors of the local Oracle Casino and the Portomaso. Live roulette is also broadcast from the brick-and-mortar Royal Casino in Latvia.
Licenses and Regulatory Compliance
US Entry
Ezugi is compliant with the regulatory frameworks of some of the biggest iGaming markets in the world. The company beats some of the other major software suppliers to the punch as it was one of the first providers to legally launch live casino games on the US market.
In 2016, Atlantic City saw the launch of live-streamed games from the floors of the Golden Nugget Casino, with software provided by no other than Ezugi. The company expanded its US operation further in May 2018 by partnering with the landbased gambling operator MGM Resorts International.
The latter introduced its live casino offering through its locally licensed sites PlayMGM.com and BorgataCasino.com. Ezugi’s Atlantic City services fall under the oversight of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Curacao License and Other Certifications
Apart from this, the company has obtained a license from the Curacao eGaming Licensing Authority. Its services have been verified by the Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling, the Australian RSG Eclipse (Responsible Service of Gambling), iTechLabs, and BMM. Just for the record, the latter is the world’s oldest independent testing facility for gaming.
MGA License
The year 2020 saw Ezugi further consolidating its position by entering some of Europe’s most important gambling markets. The live software provider acquired a license from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), which enables it to supply its products to Malta-licensed live casinos.
South Africa Entry
The company presently operates several regulated European markets, either through a direct license or a partnership, including Belgium, Hungary, and Romania. The provider also plans to enter the Spanish, Italian, Danish, and Swedish markets in 2020. Ezugi has also received a manufacturer license by the Gambling and Racing Board of the South African province of Western Cape.
Ezugi Live Casino Software Features
Although not as impressive in terms of interface and features as Evolution Gaming’s software, Ezugi’s platform still stands out where functionality and usability are concerned. Players have access to Ezugi’s live games at all times, from anywhere.
The platform is cross-compatible and works across all devices. The desktop version is built on the Flash technology whereas the mobile catalog relies on the newer HTML5. Either way, players can rely on a seamless experience regardless of what devices they are using. Let’s examine some of the key features up-close.
Player History
Multilingual
Player Chat
Statistics
Baccarat Roadmaps
Side Bets
Racetracks
Full Screen Mode
Unlimited Players
Player History
The Player History panel contains in-depth information about your hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly results along with the number of rounds you have played, your overall profits, and the total amount you have wagered. The Round ID can be used for future reference if players get disconnected or want to dispute the validity of a given round’s outcome.
Multilingual
The platform offers a decent selection of languages, catering to players from a variety of markets. The best part of the live games is hosted in English but you have the option to switch to 13 other languages, including Bulgarian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, French, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Danish, among several others.
Player Chat
The Player Chat feature is pretty much self-explanatory, enabling you to keep in touch with other players and the dealers. This is where you can post comments on the gameplay, congratulate winners, and discuss everything related to the respective live game. If socializing is not your cup of tea, you can hide other players’ chat from the Settings in the main menu.
Statistics
Statistics on previous rounds’ outcomes are available across all live games by Ezugi. The displayed information is naturally game-specific. Roulette tables show you statistics on the previous winning numbers and the percentages of winning outcomes from different categories like the three Dozens, Columns, Red/Black, Odd/Even, and High/Low. The panel also expands to display a graphical representation of the outcomes’ distribution. Hot and cold numbers are, of course, available
Baccarat Roadmaps
Baccarat tables feature roadmaps such as the Bead Road, showing you valuable information about the percentages of winning Tie, Player, and Banker bets. You can click or tap the charts to zoom in for a clearer view.
Side Bets
Side bets are offered at many of Ezugi’s blackjack and baccarat tables, including popular options like Perfect Pairs, 21+3, Big/Small, Either Pair, Player Pair, and Banker Pair.
Racetracks
Racetracks are featured at many of the roulette tables. This is the oval-shaped section of the layout where players can conveniently make exotic combination wagers like Tiers, Orphelins, Voisins, and Jeu Zero. Betting on as many as 9 Neighbors (your chosen number and the adjacent numbers to its left or right) is also possible via the racetrack.
Full Screen Mode
We recommend players to switch to Full Screen mode as otherwise one is hardly able to see the buttons, odds, and statistics. This was probably the only issue we took with Ezugi’s software. In fact, the platform itself prompts you to go full screen for optimal playing experience.
Unlimited Players
Some of Ezugi’s live tables have been optimized to support an unlimited number of players. This is the case in Unlimited Blackjack but the live roulette, poker, and baccarat tables also allow unlimited players to join the gameplay.
Ezugi Live Roulette
Although not as extensive as Evolution Gaming’s selection, Ezugi’s roulette catalog features a dozen or so tables. There are no restrictions on the number of players that can join in simultaneously. However, it is worth-mentioning each player has a limited time between rounds to place their bet(s).
Betting closes after the No More Bets notification appears (in 15 or 25 seconds, depending on the table). Once the time is up, you must wait until the ball comes to rest in the winning pocket before the table is open for betting again. Some tables feature three cameras rather than two for a highly immersive experience. Dealer tipping is also an option.
General House Rules and Theoretical Return
Recommended Live Roulette Tables
General House Rules and Theoretical Return
Ezugi’s live roulette games utilize the single-zero layout and play under standard European rules. This is to say you have a wheel with a total of 37 pockets and face a house advantage of 2.70%. Respectively, the average theoretical return stands at 97.30%. Players have a choice from various games including some that stream from landbased casinos like the Portomaso and the Oracle.
The standard set of inside and outside bets is supported, paying at their usual casino odds. With that said, the La Partage and En Prison rules are unavailable here, meaning that you lose your full outside wager whenever the ball lands on zero.
A racetrack is featured as well, showing you the sequence of numbers as it appears on the wheel. This is where exotic combination wagers like Voisins du Zero, Orphelins, Tiers du Cylindre, and Neighbors can be posted with a few mouse-clicks.
Recommended Live Roulette Tables
Ezugi streams live roulette around the clock from its dedicated studios in Bulgaria, Cambodia, New Jersey, and Costa Rica, among others. The company so far offers a choice from more than a dozen tables. In some cases, players can even request music on demand. SuperCasinoSites has handpicked three of the most appealing options roulette mavens will benefit from.
- Auto Roulette provides fans of the chance game with the opportunity to enjoy the action whenever they wish, for as long as they wish. One interesting thing here is the absence of a human dealer hosting the game. Instead, the table uses a fully automated roulette wheel and still offers a more realistic experience than that in RNG-based games. Players have around 30 seconds between rounds to place their wagers. Other than that, the functionalities coincide with those in other Ezugi live roulette games.
- Speed Roulette is a great choice for players looking for more dynamic gameplay. Here the betting window between rounds is reduced to 15 seconds. Another peculiarity is that the dealer tosses the ball onto the wheel shortly before the table closes for betting. This increased speed has its disadvantages as well because it causes you to play more rounds per hour and lose more money over the long term.
- OTT Roulette is broadcast via a multiple-camera live feed from the floors of various landbased casinos such as the Oracle and Portomaso in Malta and the Latvian Royal Casino. The high-definition cameras are installed directly over the tables, giving you a closer glimpse at the dealers and the landbased players. Online players cannot communicate with the dealers or the patrons seated at the landbased tables, though.
Live Dealer Roulette by Ezugi Gameplay
Ezugi Live Blackjack
Ezugi provides a range of table games but the company’s collection of live blackjack variations is most definitely a highlight. The blackjack action is hosted in Ezugi’s studio in Atlantic City as well as from South American and European locations. Each table’s felt has a unique color, corresponding to its location.
As for the table limits, these are quite diverse from one table to another. The available betting ranges include $1 – $1,000, $5 – $ 1,000, $20 – $2,000, $50 – $5,000, $40 – $40,000, and $100 – $100,000. The limits are customizable and may differ between casinos. It is obvious Ezugi provides options for those who like to play big as well as for people on a shoe-string budget.
General House Rules and Theoretical Return
Recommended Live Blackjack Games
General House Rules and Theoretical Return
The standard blackjack tables can seat up to seven people at a time although there are options that support unlimited players. The entire selection consists of shoe games that use eight 52-card decks that are shuffled manually by the dealers.
The dealer stands on soft 17 and players can double down on any two cards, including after they split a pair. Drawing to split aces is impossible and so is resplitting. You lose your entire bet against a dealer blackjack.
Speaking of blackjacks, these offer the standard casino odds of 3 to 2. Players can purchase insurance whenever the dealer exposes an ace. Some tables support late surrender against the dealer’s ace.
Perhaps more interesting is the fact Ezugi is one of the very few software providers out there to offer blackjack games with early surrender where you can forfeit a hand and get half of your bet back before the dealer checks for a blackjack.
Many of the blackjack tables feature additional side bets like Perfect Pairs and 21+3, which can earn you higher payouts of up to 25 to 1 and 100 to 1, respectively. The majority of the games play under US rules, meaning that the dealer receives one exposed and one hole card.
The house edge under the above-described playing conditions is 0.44% (with RTP of 99.56%) unless early surrender is in place, in which case the percentage drops to 0.11% with optimal basic strategy. The side bets have higher house edges, though. Perfect Pairs yields an overall casino advantage of 4.10% whereas the house edge for the 21+3 wagers increases even further to 6.29%.
Recommended Live Blackjack Games
Ezugi’s blackjack selection is richer than its baccarat or roulette catalogs, with players having a choice from around twenty different options. We find the three blackjack variants described below the most appealing.
- Unlimited Blackjack with Auto Split has no restrictions as to how many players can join the action. The game is available for play both on desktop and mobile devices. Another peculiarity here is that the dealer automatically splits the following player pairs – 2/2, 3/3, 6/6, 7/7, 8/8, and A/A. The player can decide whether to play one or two hands.
- Blackjack with Bet Behind supports up to seven betting spots but you have the chance to bet behind seated players whenever the table is full. In fact, this is possible even if you are already seated at the table.
- Hybrid Blackjack is streamed live from Ezugi’s Latin America studio, combining the live and virtual casino experience into one. This happens via an add-on that enables an unlimited number of participants to join players who have already taken their seats at the table. A Random Number Generator simulates the hands of such players simultaneously with those dealt by the live dealer.
Live Dealer Blackjack by Ezugi Gameplay
Ezugi Live Baccarat
Baccarat is always in demand and is particularly popular among Asian gamblers. Ezugi caters to their preferences with feature-rich live baccarat variations that support countless participants, several side bets, in-depth statistics, and roadmaps that enable you to keep track of trends based on the previous coups’ results.
General House Rules and Theoretical Return
Recommended Baccarat Variants by Ezugi
General House Rules and Theoretical Return
Ezugi’s baccarat offering follows the standard rules of the player-favorite casino classic. The rules appear rather complex at first glance but the game is very simple to play since the only decision you have to make is whether to bet on a Tie, the Player or the Banker hand. This is a highly dynamic game where the betting window between rounds is only 15 seconds.
Other than that, the main wagers in Ezugi’s baccarat return at their normal casino odds as follows: 1 to 1 for the Player hand (with a casino advantage of 1.24%), 0.95 to 1 for the Banker hand (with a lower house edge of 1.06%), and 8 to 1 for the Tie bet. Avoid betting on ties, though, since it will cost you roughly 14 cents per every dollar wagered in the long run.
Ezugi also provides baccarat lovers with several additional betting options. These are not obligatory and are settled independently of the main wagers. You can make side wagers without placing the main bet if you wish. Ezugi’s platform offers the following options to baccarat side bettors:
- The Player Pair wins at odds of 11 to 1 whenever the first two cards in the Player hand form a pair. The house edge is 10.36%.
- The Banker Pair wins at casino odds of 11 to 1 when the first two cards dealt to the Banker hand form a pair. This bet gives the house an advantage of 10.36%.
- The Big side wager is successful when the overall number of cards dealt to the Player and Banker hands is either 5 or 6. It pays 0.54 to 1 and has a house edge of 4.35%.
- You win a payout of 1.5 to 1 with the Small side bet when the overall number of cards in the Banker and the Player hand is 4. This bet yields a house edge of 5.27%.
- The Perfect Pair side wager wins whenever the first two cards dealt to the Player or the Banker hand are of the same rank and suit. The casino odds are 25 to 1 for a house edge of 13.03%.
- Finally, there is the Either Pair bet. It needs the first two cards in the Player or the Banker hand to pair to win. The payout is 5 to 1 whereas the house edge stands at 13.71%.
Recommended Baccarat Variants by Ezugi
Ezugi offers a nice set of options for baccarat fans and the great thing is they largely play under the uniform standard rules so you will face no difficulties when switching between tables. SuperCasinoSites recommends you start with the following three variants.
- In No Commission Baccarat, there is no 5% commission on winning Banker bets. Rather than paying at odds of 0.95 to 1 as is the case when the commission is deducted, the Banker hand pays even money.
- Baccarat Super 6 follows the standard rules but has a slightly different payout structure, which increases the house edge to 1.46%. Winning Banker hands pay even money rather than 0.95 to 1 unless their total is precisely 6, in which case the casino odds drop to 0.5 to 1. Another thing that makes this game stand out is the Super 6 side bet. It wins at odds of 12 to 1 whenever the cards in the Banker hand total 6. This is a bad bet with a house edge of 29.98%.
- Knockout Baccarat supports a host of side wagers, seven to be exact. To collect a payout, you must correctly guess the exact winning total for the Player or Banker hand. The casino odds are as follows: 7 to 1 for totals 1 through 4, 3 to 1 for a total of 5 or 6, 4 to 1 for a total of 7, 3 to 1 for a total of 8, and 2 to 1 for a total of 9. A natural win for the Player or Banker results in a payout of 4 to 1.
Live Dealer Dragon Tiger by Ezugi Gameplay
Live Dealer Dragon Tiger by Ezugi Gameplay
