Football Card Showdown is a live casino entertainment game about predicting which of two cards will have a higher rank. It was released by Playtech in 2023 and it’s set against a football-themed backdrop complete with football commentary.
The Football Card Showdown game boasts an RTP of 96.27% with a minimum bet of $1 and a $1,000 maximum wager. The game is available on both desktop and mobile.
This unique casino game is simple in both style and execution. It’s very similar to a Dragon Tiger table with a few minor differences. The focus seems to largely be on the football concept, even though that concept is only skin-deep. The Football Card Showdown review below will explain how it all fits together.
Game Specifications | |
---|---|
Game name | Football Card Showdown Live |
Game provider | Playtech |
Game type | Specialty Games |
Streaming from | Romania |
RTP | 96.27% |
Bet range | €1 - €1,000 |
Max win | 10:1 |
Side bets | Yes |
Supported platforms | |
Supported OS | |
Languages |
Bulgarian
Chinese
Danish
English
Finnish
French
+16
All supported languages
|
Playtech has been relentlessly releasing speciality casino products throughout 2022, and it seems it’s kicking off 2023 to a similar tune. Football Card Showdown is difficult to categorize, with simple and lightning-fast gameplay and a football theme.
It’s quite obvious that the game most closely resembles Evolution’s Football Studio. That particular title has seen a surge of interest in the months leading up to Playtech’s release(perhaps spurred on by the 2022 World Cup.) However, Evolution’s game focuses on things other than the cards themselves. It’s all about the live football feed and the presenters’ discussion.
Playtech Football Card Showdown, on the other hand, is all about a lightning-fast game consisting of only two cards per round. To be frank, the gameplay couldn’t be any simpler if it tried. Only a few seconds pass between each round, which leaves little time for any sort of discussion on the dealer’s end. There is no live score feed, either, so the whole football theme feels very shallow.
Not that Football Card Showdown doesn’t have its strengths though. We’ll discuss those throughout this review, starting with the basics of how the game works in the first place.
The rules of Football Card Showdown mostly remind us of Dragon Tiger or a simplified version of baccarat. Basically, the dealer draws two cards, and your job is to predict which one will be higher. We’ll walk you through the whole process step by step.
First of all, you have a very short betting period to place your wagers. It’s just over 6 seconds, so be quick!
You have three main betting options, which harken back to the game of football:
So, for instance, if you place a bet on Home, you win if the card on the left is higher. Conversely, if you bet Away, you win if the card on the right is higher. It’s as simple as that. Both options pay 1:1, so no side has an inherent advantage over the other (unlike in actual football.)
As you may have guessed, Draw wins if both cards are of the same value. Draw pays 10:1 but it’s the riskiest main bet. If you bet on Home or Away and the result is a Draw, you only lose 50% of your stake. The remaining half is returned to you.
Football Card Showdown uses a standard deck of 52 cards. Ace always counts as the smallest card, with Kings being the highest/strongest.
Additionally, there are 8 side bets in Football Card Showdown. All of them work quite similarly, though. You’ll see what we mean.
Essentially, both Home and Away come with 4 side bets – Big, Small, Odd, and Even. A single side bet only looks at one of the two sides. For instance, if you bet on a Home Odd, your bet wins if the Home card is an odd number. The Away card is irrelevant in this case.
Let’s explain how each wager works more clearly:
Note that all side bets always lose if the resulting card is a 7. This rule is there to ensure a house advantage exists.
Payouts in Football Card Showdown are pretty easy to remember. Every bet pays even money, except for the draw which pays 10:1. Here’s the complete paytable for the game to illustrate.
Bet | Payout | ||
---|---|---|---|
Football Card Showdown Paytable | |||
Home | 1:1 | ||
Away | 1:1 | ||
Draw | 10:1 | ||
All Side Bets | 1:1 |
Payouts in Football Card Showdown are pretty easy to remember. Every bet pays even money, except for the draw which pays 10:1. Here’s the complete paytable for the game to illustrate.
Football Card Showdown RTP varies depending on the bet you’re making.
Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live Dragon Tiger basics, read this article.
There aren’t many features in Football Card Showdown worth mentioning besides the side bets. Of course, the standard Playtech interface is great. It gives you access to various settings and options, a help screen, and a live chat window.
For better or worse, the football theme is almost entirely a visual one. Unlike its main competitor, Football Card Showdown is content to decorate the studio with football ornaments and call it a day. That seems like wasted potential to us, but it is what it is.