Pirate Gold

About Pirate Gold

“That was the reason why we joined [online as well as land-based]. But we were a full brick-and-mortar company so it took us some time to prepare for that market. In the beginning, the market share was of course higher because you only had 10 operators and we had a very well-known brand name, but now the market is much bigger and you have operators more specialised in sports betting and things like that. We have dropped down a bit.”

The Netherlands has a government that may be a little heavy handed, a regulator that knows this, and a monopolistic operator that’s trying to do its best for the customer. The industry is an active participant in trying to erradicate the growing illegal market. This week, state-lottery operator Nederlandse Loterij took action against the offshore operator behind the brand Skyhills, ordering them to cease serving Dutch players.

What else can Netherlands gambling operators do to stop the flow of players offshore? Holland Casino is a member of online gambling trade association VNLOK which represents 90% of the licensed operators, and Petra answers simply: “If we knew the answer, we would try to reach it.

How to play Pirate Gold

There have been many uplifting elements to writing about poker through a global pandemic, as odd as those words must feel to read and certainly are to write. From inspirational quotes to motivate players who are just joining or continue to love the game to what could help players turn pro as an alternative to more difficult careers to sustain (they do exist!), it has genuinely been a job I have treasured and I hope you have enjoyed the content that I and the incredible Calvin Ayre content team have been able to bring you during the past 18 months or so.  

Bringing you series of articles such as Poker on Screen and Poker in Print has been a massive source of pride for myself and the team and I even got the chance to discuss poker in the movies and on television on the recent episode of the award-winning podcast, The Chip Race.  

As ever, I am indebted to too many people to mention, but Derek, Bill, Jasmine and every one of the Calvin Ayre team, as well as Calvin himself of course, have all shown a lot of faith in me to carry the torch and I hope I’ve done them all credit.  

What is Pirate Gold?

“Three dice, three main bets and a result players can read from across the pit make the game learnable in a single round—an on-ramp for younger guests and for the many players who walk past a craps table because they don’t want to learn it in public,” the company stated.

Its primary deviation from street Cee-lo is that it doesn’t treat 1-2-3 as an automatic loss, or trips or a pair-plus-six as strong wins.

In the casino version, each hand is structured as Bank versus Shooter, with a tie bet available. When the shooter lands 4-5-6, the table yells one word—Headcrack!—and a skull-and-dice display lights up.

50 Cent Headcrack will be offered to commercial casino operators in both traditional and automated dice technology formats.

As of press time, no casino has publicly committed. That conversation, in all likelihood, will take place at G2E, where the real dice will roll.