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Aqua Online resembles Microgaming software in many ways. The
selection of games, game rules, method of payment, and even account
numbers resemble those of Microgaming. Both real and fun modes
are available, although a separate account is required for each.
Methods of payment include credit card, PayPal, and ClearChex.
The game play is fast, clear, and user friendly. Following are
the specific game rules and some strategy tips. Withdrawal fees
can vary by casino.
Baccarat
One deck of cards is used. With one deck the house edge on the
banker is as follows according to the bet made:
- Banker: 1.01%
- Player: 1.29%
- Tie: 15.75%
Battle Royale
This is another name for Casino War. A single deck of cards is used.
The proper strategy is to go to war on ties, resulting in a house
edge of 2.42%.
Blackjack
Normally Aqua Online rules are the same as those of Microgaming,
but blackjack is an exception. Following are the Aqua Online rules
at the Geisha Lounge for the single hand game.
- Six decks
- Dealer stands on soft 17
- Double on 9 to 11 only (including soft 19 and 20)
- Double after split allowed
- No resplitting
- Player may not draw to split aces
- No surrender
- Dealer peeks for blackjack (full U.S. rule)
- Betting limits: $1-$500 in single hand game, $5-$500 per hand
in multi-hand game.
Following is the correct basic strategy for these rules.
The house edge under these rules is 0.56%.
There is also a multi-hand game in which the player may play up
to three hands. I believe the rules for the multi-hand game are
the same as the single hand game, except the dealer hits a soft
17. This results in a house edge of 0.78%. The mutli-hand game offers
a $1 progressive side bet. The paytable for the side bet is as follows.
| Hand |
Pays |
Probability |
Return |
| 4 red/black aces |
Progressive |
0.000003 |
? |
| 4 aces |
$2000 |
0.000025 |
0.049763 |
| 3 suited aces |
$1000 |
0.000015 |
0.014873 |
| 3 non-suited aces |
$200 |
0.000361 |
0.072283 |
| 2 suited aces |
$50 |
0.001149 |
0.057447 |
| 2 non-suited aces |
$15 |
0.004136 |
0.062043 |
| 1 ace |
$3 |
0.071234 |
0.213703 |
| Total |
|
1 |
0.470111+ |
|
The house edge on the side bet is 52.99% less 2.56% for each $10,000
in the progressive meter. If the meter ever exceeds $207,287.85
the odds will swing to the player's advantage. When I did this review
on December 15, 2001 the meter was at $5832 for a house edge of
51.50%.
Craps
The player may bet up to 2 times a line bet on the odds, including
on the don't side. If the player takes the maximum odds when he
can the combined house edge on the pass and come bets is 0.61%.
On the don't pass and don't come bets it is 0.58%. Winnings are
nicely rounded to the nearest penny. The minimum bet is $1.
Caribbean Poker
As you can probably guess this is the same thing as conventional
Caribbean Stud Poker. There are two versions available, with and
without a progressive $1 side bet. On both versions the rules and
paytable are the same as in Caribbean Stud Poker, for a house edge
of 5.22%. The betting limits are $1-$500.
The side bet pays $50 for a flush, $75 for a full house, and $100
for a four of a kind. The house edge is 76.96% less 2.92% for each
$10,000 in the progressive meter. For the odds to swing in the player's
favor the meter would need to pass $263,205. On December 15, 2001,
when I did this review the meter was at $66740 for a house edge
of 57.45%.
Keno
Aqua Online offers the same keno paytable as Microgaming, which
is one of the more generous keno paytables on the Internet. The
only difference is Aqua Online removed the pick 1 and pick 2, which
had the lowest two returns anyway. The best odds are on the pick
13. Following is the expected return according to the number of
picks.
| Aqua
Online Keno |
| Pick |
Return |
| 3 |
93.04% |
| 4 |
93.79% |
| 5 |
93.87% |
| 6 |
93.79% |
| 7 |
96.35% |
| 8 |
92.90% |
| 9 |
92.86% |
| 10 |
94.54% |
| 11 |
93.10% |
| 12 |
94.22% |
| 13 |
96.54% |
| 14 |
95.42% |
| 15 |
95.19% |
|
Red Dog
A single deck is used, which favors the dealer in this game. The
house edge is 3.16%.
Roulette
A single zero wheel is used. The house edge is 2.70%.
Scratch Cards
No information available.
Sic Bo
Aqua Online offers comparitively poor Sic Bo odds compared to most
of their competition. Of five brands studied Aqua Online came in
fourth. Especially unforgivable is paying only 8 to 1 on a double,
the usual payoff is 10 or 11 to 1. The following table shows the
payoff and house edge for all bets.
| Aqua
Online Sic Bo |
| Bet |
Pays |
Prob. Win |
House Edge |
| Small, Big |
1-1 |
48.61% |
2.78% |
| 4, 17 |
50-1 |
1.39% |
29.17% |
| 5, 16 |
30-1 |
2.78% |
13.89% |
| 6, 15 |
18-1 |
4.63% |
12.04% |
| 7, 14 |
12-1 |
6.94% |
9.72% |
| 8, 13 |
8-1 |
9.72% |
12.50% |
| 9, 12 |
6-1 |
11.57% |
18.98% |
| 10, 11 |
6-1 |
12.50% |
12.50% |
| Triple |
150-1 |
0.46% |
30.09% |
| Any triple |
24-1 |
2.78% |
30.56% |
| Double |
8-1 |
7.41% |
33.33% |
| Two die combination |
5-1 |
13.89% |
16.67% |
| Any number |
(1/2/3)-1 |
42.13% |
7.87% |
|
The lowest house edge bets are on big and small bets, at 2.78%.
Slots
No information available.
Video Poker
The games and paytables are the same as those of Microgaming, except
Aqua Online added a double joker game. The following table shows
the return of each game with optimal strategy.
| Aqua
Online Video Poker - Expected Return |
| Game |
Return |
| Jacks or better |
0.995440 |
| Aces and faces |
0.992556 |
| Tens or better |
0.991388 |
| Deuces and joker wild |
0.990677 |
| Joker poker |
0.985987 |
| Double joker |
0.981007 |
| Deuces wild |
0.967650 |
|
The following tables display the pertinent statistics for Aqua Online's
video poker games.
| Jacks
or Better - Aqua Online |
| Hand
| Payoff
| Number
| Probability
| Return |
| Royal flush
| 800
| 493512264
| 0.000025
| 0.019807 |
| Straight flush
| 50
| 2178883296
| 0.000109
| 0.005465 |
| 4 of a kind
| 25
| 47093167764
| 0.002363
| 0.059064 |
| Full house
| 9
| 229475482596
| 0.011512
| 0.103610 |
| Flush
| 6
| 219554786160
| 0.011015
| 0.066087 |
| Straight
| 4
| 223837565784
| 0.011229
| 0.044917 |
| 3 of a kind
| 3
| 1484003070324
| 0.074449
| 0.223346 |
| Two pair
| 2
| 2576946164148
| 0.129279
| 0.258558 |
| Jacks or better
| 1
| 4277372890968
| 0.214585
| 0.214585 |
| Nothing
| 0
| 10872274993896
| 0.545435
| 0.000000 |
| Total
|
| 19933230517200
| 1.000000
| 0.995439 |
|
| Deuces
Wild - Aqua Online |
| Hand |
Payoff |
Number |
Probability |
Return |
| Natural royal flush |
800 |
452009940 |
0.000023 |
0.018141 |
| 4 deuces |
200 |
3570521856 |
0.000179 |
0.035825 |
| Wild royal flush |
25 |
36624375216 |
0.001837 |
0.045934 |
| 5 of a kind |
16 |
62398218024 |
0.003130 |
0.050086 |
| Straight flush |
13 |
114654402804 |
0.005752 |
0.074775 |
| 4 of a kind |
4 |
1242075806484 |
0.062312 |
0.249247 |
| Full house |
3 |
418137265908 |
0.020977 |
0.062931 |
| Flush |
2 |
352258762272 |
0.017672 |
0.035344 |
| Straight |
2 |
1154033170176 |
0.057895 |
0.115790 |
| 3 of a kind |
1 |
5572718074608 |
0.279569 |
0.279569 |
| Nothing |
0 |
10976307909912 |
0.550654 |
0.000000 |
| Total |
|
19933230517200 |
1.000000 |
0.967641 |
|
| Joker
Wild - Aqua Online |
| Hand |
Payoff |
Probability |
Return |
| Natural Royal Flush
| 1000
| 0.000026
| 0.026063 |
| 5 of a kind
| 200
| 0.000093
| 0.018572 |
| Wild Royal Flush
| 100
| 0.000107
| 0.010733 |
| Straight Flush
| 50
| 0.000594
| 0.029694 |
| 4 of a Kind
| 17
| 0.008497
| 0.144445 |
| Full House
| 7
| 0.015604
| 0.109228 |
| Flush
| 5
| 0.015975
| 0.079873 |
| Straight
| 3
| 0.016877
| 0.050630 |
| 3 of a Kind
| 2
| 0.133124
| 0.266249 |
| 2 Pair
| 1
| 0.110483
| 0.110483 |
| Kings or Better
| 1
| 0.140017
| 0.140017 |
| Nothing
| 0
| 0.558604
| 0.000000 |
| Total Return
|
| 1.000000
| 0.985987 |
|
| Deuces
& Joker Wild - Aqua Online |
| Hand |
Pays |
Probability |
Return |
| Five Wilds |
2000 |
0.000008 |
0.015458 |
| Natural Royal Flush |
800 |
0.00002 |
0.015832 |
| Four Deuces |
25 |
0.000149 |
0.003728 |
| Natural Royal Flush |
12 |
0.002801 |
0.033607 |
| Five of a Kind |
9 |
0.005508 |
0.049568 |
| Straight |
6 |
0.00743 |
0.044578 |
| Four of a Kind |
3 |
0.081337 |
0.24401 |
| Flush/Full House |
3 |
0.055635 |
0.166904 |
| Straight |
2 |
0.066109 |
0.132218 |
| Three of a Kind |
1 |
0.284773 |
0.284773 |
| Nothing |
0 |
0.496232 |
0 |
| Total |
|
1 |
0.990677 |
|
| Aces
& Faces - Aqua Online |
| Hand |
Pays |
Probability |
Return |
| Royal Flush |
800 |
0.000025 |
0.019876 |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
0.000106 |
0.0053 |
| Four aces |
80 |
0.000196 |
0.015668 |
| Four Jack-King |
40 |
0.000587 |
0.023479 |
| Four 2-10 |
25 |
0.00158 |
0.039507 |
| Full House |
8 |
0.011515 |
0.09212 |
| Flush |
5 |
0.01086 |
0.054301 |
| Straight |
4 |
0.011212 |
0.044847 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
0.074474 |
0.223422 |
| Two Pair |
2 |
0.129318 |
0.258637 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
0.215399 |
0.215399 |
| Nothing |
0 |
0.544728 |
0 |
| Total |
|
1 |
0.992555 |
|
| Tens
or Better - Aqua Online |
| Hand |
Payoff |
Probability |
Return |
| Royal flush |
800 |
0.000026 |
0.020546 |
| Straight flush |
50 |
0.000103 |
0.005141 |
| Four of a Kind |
25 |
0.002358 |
0.058958 |
| Full house |
6 |
0.011497 |
0.068984 |
| Flush |
5 |
0.010654 |
0.053270 |
| Straight |
4 |
0.012357 |
0.049429 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
0.074265 |
0.222795 |
| Two Pair |
2 |
0.129007 |
0.258013 |
| Tens or Better |
1 |
0.254251 |
0.254251 |
| Nothing |
0 |
0.505482 |
0.000000 |
| Total |
|
1.000000 |
0.991388 |
|
| Double
Joker Poker - Aqua Online |
| Hand |
Payoff |
Probability |
Return |
| Royal Flush |
800 |
0.000022 |
0.017806 |
| Wild Royal |
100 |
0.000348 |
0.034774 |
| 5 of a Kind |
50 |
0.000415 |
0.020732 |
| Straight Flush |
25 |
0.001503 |
0.037571 |
| 4 of a Kind |
8 |
0.018649 |
0.149193 |
| Full House |
5 |
0.018374 |
0.091868 |
| Flush |
4 |
0.019289 |
0.077157 |
| Straight |
3 |
0.034920 |
0.104761 |
| 3 of a Kind |
2 |
0.177127 |
0.354253 |
| 2 Pair |
1 |
0.092890 |
0.092890 |
| Nothing |
0 |
0.636464 |
0.000000 |
| Total Return |
|
1.000000 |
0.981007 |
|
|
