When the NJ online casino industry first launched in 2013, one of the primary benefits of playing on desktop over mobile was the disparity in-game library size. Put simply, desktop clients featured many more casino games.
Since, the gap has shrunk considerably, with today’s best NJ casino apps offering up to two-thirds of the games available on desktop. Not only that, but an argument can also be made that the overall quality of mobile libraries has surpassed that of PC and Mac clients — at least with regard to select formats.
Here’s a quick glance at the most popular game formats found on NJ mobile casinos.
NJ slots apps
As is the case on desktop, the overwhelming majority of NJ casino app game libraries are comprised of slot titles.
Slots are something of a natural fit on smartphones and tablets, as the games don’t require advanced controls and are about the purest form of pickup-and-go gambling.
Also, with slots there are no complex strategies involved, rendering them more attractive in environments where distractions are present, such as a bus or crowded city street.
These days, there are a number of NJ casino apps that feature well over 100 slot titles, Caesars Casino, Pala Casino, and Betfair Casino to name a few. The Golden Nugget casino app boasts more than 200 slot titles.
What’s more, is that the overall quality of the titles is generally of a higher stock than what’s found on the desktop, as operators tend to preference ports of their better performing games.
That, and since NJ mobile apps have become popularized, several sites have either launched or transitioned to the NYX Open Platform System, which “opens” up a slew of options for mobile casino operators.
Below find a shortlist of popular games found on multiple NJ casino apps:
- Divine Fortune (progressive)
- Cleopatra Plus
- 88 Fortunes
- Merlin’s Millions
- Guns N’ Roses
- Starburst
- Gorilla Go Wild
- Cash Spin
Video poker
The second most popular NJ casino app format — at least in terms of the number of available games — is video poker.
Playing video poker on mobile is nearly as pleasurable as on desktop, the main differences being that on smaller smartphones touch accuracy becomes a minor issue, and there is no keyboard option to “hold” cards.
The average NJ casino app has a rather comprehensive selection of single line Game King titles, including Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, and Double Double Bonus Poker. Some offer alternative versions of these titles, but they’re generally not worth investing time in, as the payout tables aren’t as favorable.
There are no multi-line video poker variants just yet, and it’s difficult to see them ever coming to smartphones, due to size restraints. Still, it’s difficult to fault an NJ casino app that offers no less than four games with returns that meet or exceed 99 percent.
Table games
Here’s one area where NJ mobile casinos fall a little bit flat. Almost without exception, the only table games offered by NJ mobile casinos are blackjack and roulette.
And even then, most apps feature just the most basic versions of the games. Granted, the rules are generally favorable, and for blackjack, some sites have optimized the games for mobile, but we couldn’t help but feel just a little bit shortchanged overall.
What would be nice is if sites launched just a couple more popular table games, like Three Card Poker and Let it Ride. Even alternative roulette variants, like Double Bonus Spin Roulette, would fit in nicely.
As is Pala Casino is the only provider to offer an alternative table format on its NJ casino app: Craps.
Live Dealer
Golden Nugget Casino was the first NJ online casino to offer Live Dealer games, and also the first to go live with them on mobile.
For the uninitiated, Live Dealer is effectively a cross between online and live. The games are streamed from a live studio (in real-time) from the Golden Nugget AC. Physical playing devices are used, such as cards and roulette wheels, but all betting and payout calculations are handled digitally.
Currently, Golden Nugget Casino offers Live Dealer Blackjack, Roulette, and Baccarat. Games run from 3 p.m. – 3 a.m. daily.
Somewhat surprisingly, the format is only available on Android and iOS-enabled smartphones. In time, we do expect Live Dealer to make its way to tablets — which feel like a more appropriate fit for the format.
We also expect Golden Nugget’s partner Betfair to roll out its own Live Dealer games, although it’s been indicated that Betfair will share a studio and partial liquidity with Golden Nugget.