The Greatest Cards Show is a live casino game show released by Playtech in 2022. Its gameplay revolves around a large horizontal money wheel and multiple exciting bonus rounds, all of which are presented in a colorful studio made to look like a travelling carnival. With an above-average RTP rate for a game show and a unique set of bets, The Greatest Cards Show is one of the most interesting additions to Playtech’s game show lineup.
In this review, we’ll cover all of the core elements of The Greatest Cards Show. We’ll explain how the bets, bonuses, and extra features work and how they all compare to other live casino game shows. We’ll also highlight the pros and cons of this title and whether it’s worth your time and money.
Game Specifications | |
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Game name | The Greatest Cards Show Live |
Game provider | Playtech |
Game type | Game Shows |
Streaming from | Latvia |
RTP | 96.67% |
Bet range | €1 - €500 |
Max win | 5,000x |
Side bets | No |
Supported platforms |
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Supported OS |
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Languages |
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Playtech’s collection of live casino game shows is easily one of the most impressive in the industry, and they’ve showcased a lot of fun ideas over the years. The Greatest Cards Show is one of the best examples of this creativity, seeing how different it is compared to many other Money Wheel-based games.
Strangely enough, The Greatest Cards Show is not a game about cards. In fact, almost no actual playing cards are involved. Instead, the game uses a big Wheel of Fortune-type wheel to determine the outcome of the bets. The unique thing about this wheel is that it’s horizontal, like in roulette. Also, the wheel segments are all styled after playing cards – hence the game’s name.
The really interesting part is that you can cover parts of the wheel using different bets, sort of like different types of bets cover different sections of the betting table in roulette. To be clear, every wager in The Greatest Cards Show technically only covers a single segment. However, players are almost expected to mix and match different bets to increase their chances of winning.
Naturally, the game also features a trio of bonus rounds, which add a bit of variety and volatility.
Like many other game shows, the game’s presentation focuses on entertainment value, offering a wholly unique experience. It’s a visual spectacle in the same way as Adventures Beyond Wonderland or even Evolution’s acclaimed Crazy Time.
This Playtech title competes directly against other notable game shows. If you’re already familiar with Wheel of Fortune-style games, we can use that as an easy reference point.
Here is how The Greatest Cards Show compares to other popular games such as Evolution’s Crazy Time and Playtech’s own Adventures Beyond Wonderland.
Feature | Greatest Cards Show | Crazy Time | Adventures Beyond Wonderland |
Game Type | Horizontal wheel game show with limited RNG | Wheel-based game show with RNG elements | Wheel-based game show with limited RNG |
Betting Options | 1 type of bet: single card covering a single segment | 4 numbers (1, 2, 5, 10) + 4 bonus bets | 4 numbers (1, 2, 5, 10) + 4 bonus bets |
Bonus Features | 3 bonus rounds that can be accessed through any bet | 4 bonus rounds, triggered by bonus bets | 4 bonus rounds triggered by bonus bets + Mystery Bonus feature |
Max Payout | 5,000x | 20,000x | Capped at $500,000 |
RTP | 96.67% for all bets | 94.33 – 96.08% | 96.11 – 96.70% |
Volatility | Lower than in most game shows | Very high | Medium (by game show standards) |
Visuals & Theme | Carnival theme, advanced camerawork and special effects | Bright, colorful, game-show-style animations | Themed around Alice in Wonderland with multiple wheels and CGI elements |
Unique Appeal | Blends classic game show excitement with betting inspired by roulette | Multiple engaging bonus games with possibly impressive payouts | More frequent bonuses with lower payouts + fun, themed graphics |
The goal of The Greatest Cards Show Live is to predict which segment of the wheel the pointer will land after the presenter spins it. Of course, things can get a lot more complicated once you factor in bonus rounds and other extra features.
The main wheel is split into 54 segments. 52 of these are playing cards, including all ranks in Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs. The remaining two are Jokers, which are used to trigger one of the bonus rounds.
The game basically only offers one type of bet: predicting a specific card/segment. If you get it right, you win a 40x payout. If not, the bet loses. Click on any of the cards on the interface to bet that the pointer will land on the corresponding wheel segment.
However, the idea is for players to cover entire sections of the wheel by predicting multiple cards in every round. You can only bet on one card at a time, of course, but targeting entire suits or ranks substantially increases your chances of winning.
That’s why the betting interface allows you to easily place multiple bets with a single click or tap. For example, you can bet on Queens of every suit as a one-tap combined bet, or cover all cards of a specific suit.
If you accurately predict the resulting wheel segment, you win 40 times your stake. Note that this refers to the stake used for that specific, not the total amount. If you’re betting on 12 numbers, you’re technically making 12 separate bets with identical stakes on all of them. They don’t all roll into one as they would in roulette.
In every round, up to 12 cards are randomly selected and marked with silver and gold outlines. If you have an active bet on one of these cards and the bet wins, you participate in the bonus round.
The Joker Bonus round is the only exception to this – it’s triggered by one of two Joker segments of the wheel.
The Spotlight round is triggered if you win a bet on a card marked by a silver outline. Silver cards tend to be more common than gold cards, but the Spotlight bonus tends to pay less than the other bonus rounds.
All players with a bet on the winning card participate in the bonus. You don’t have to do anything, though – just sit back and let it play out.
Your winning card will appear on the screen as an anthropomorphised character. It will then walk towards one of three spotlights marked by different multipliers. These multipliers range from 50x to 2,000x.
Wherever the card stops in one of the spotlights, all qualified players receive the displayed amount as their payout.
If you win a bet on a card marked by a gold outline, you participate in the Light Show bonus round.
The first time it kicks off, you get to pick between three colored light bulbs. There’s no real logic as to which one you should pick, so it doesn’t really matter. All the rewards are random anyway, so just go with your gut.
A 5×4 grid with 20 spots will appear on the screen. A random multiplier between 50x and 5,000x will be assigned to each of these spots. Then, a colored spot will bounce between them in a random pattern. Whichever multiplier your chosen color lands on is your payout for the round.
Whenever the wheel lands on the Joker, you get a chance to participate in the Joker bonus round. However, having an active bet does not mean that you immediately qualify.
Instead, the wheel will spin again to determine which players will take part. If this second spin of the wheel lands on a card you bet on, then you get to take part.
If the wheel lands on the Joker multiple times in a row, all payouts from the Joker bonus rounds are increased. Two Jokers in a row multiply all payouts by 2x, three Jokers multiply winnings by 4x, a third Joker multiplies everything by 8x, and so on.
The mini-game itself is a sort of battle between the four card suits. Once it kicks off, each suit is randomly assigned a multiplier of up to 1,000x. Your job is to pick one of the suits. Again, there’s no real way to know which option is best – it’s down to luck.
The four cards then face off against each other in a juggling contest, and the winners are determined by RNG. Whichever card manages to keep juggling longer wins.
The four card suits are then ranked into three places based on their performance in the duels. One type of card wins first place, another wins second, and third place is shared between the remaining two.
All players participating in the Joker Bonus in The Greatest Cards Show win the multiplier assigned to the card they picked at the beginning. To be clear, merely getting to this bonus game guarantees some sort of profit. The card you picked will determine the size of the payout, though.
It should come as no surprise that the Greatest Cards Show is almost entirely based on luck. There is no real way to predict which segment the flapper will land on, and all of them have a roughly 1.85% chance to win in any given round.
Similarly, the interactive elements of the bonus mini-games don’t offer meaningful decisions. The choices are all made blindly, so the results still completely rely on luck.
With all that in mind, it doesn’t really matter which cards you choose to bet on. All of them have an equal shot to win or secure a bonus.
However, how many cards you choose to cover with bets matters a lot. The more bets you make, the higher your chances of winning or hitting a bonus.
However, a 40:1 payout for a 1-in-54 chance to win offers very poor expected value. In other words, making too many bets will quickly drain your bankroll unless you get really lucky with bonuses.
As such, we recommend covering a decent part of the wheel without going overboard. 20 cards per round is a good ‘sweet spot’ for beginners. It covers more than a third of the wheel and doubles your total stake with a simple, unmultiplied win.
We don’t recommend ever betting on more than 40 cards because you wouldn’t be able to turn a profit without a bonus round. Though not exceedingly rare, the bonus rounds are still not a common as one might think.
Also, remember that the segments of the wheel are all arranged in order based on card rank and suit. This makes it much easier to target specific parts of the wheel.
We’ll also go through a few common mistakes newbies make while playing The Greatest Cards Show.
Pros |
Cons |
✅ Unique blend of game shows and live roulette ✅ Flexible betting that offers a lot of freedom in deciding which parts of the wheel you want to cover ✅ Relatively high RTP across the board ✅ Multiple bonus rounds that any bet can qualify for ✅ All bonus rounds offer some interactivity |
❌ The bonus rounds themselves are not particularly exciting ❌ Placing many bets at once can be difficult during the limited betting phase ❌ The main bet’s payout of 40x actually has a massive house edge – bonuses are practically required to get good value |
The payout structure in The Greatest Cards Show is simple but quite volatile. Thankfully, there’s not a lot you have to keep track of. Basic wins always pay 40x, and the bonus rounds do a good job of telling you how much you stand to win.
Technically, the Joker Bonus Game does not have a maximum payout. If the Joker segment wins multiple times in a row, all payouts from the final min-game are multiplied. This can happen many times over, though the chances are very slim.
The table below displays all possible payouts in The Greatest Cards Show by Playtech.
Result | Payout | ||
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The Greatest Cards Show Paytable | |||
Base game win | 40x | ||
Spotlight Bonus Game | 50-2,000x | ||
Light Show Bonus Game | 50-5,000x | ||
Joker Bonus Game | 100-1,000x (can be multiplied up to 8 times) |
In most casinos, The Greatest Cards Show has a relatively limited betting range between $0.1 and $500, or the equivalent in other currencies.
However, these limits may vary from casino to casino. Make sure to check the limits before playing. You can find them in the upper left corner of the game window at all times.
That said, remember that you will likely be placing dozens of bets per round, often even more. This means that you’ll need to consider your budget before playing – a single round of the game often costs quite a lot, relative to other entertainment game shows.
The RTP of the one and only bet in The Greatest Cards Show is 96.67%. This return-to-player rate is consistent, no matter which card you bet on or how many bets you make per round.
This is a fairly low house edge compared to most other game shows. For reference, the RTP of Crazy Time bets ranges from 94.33% to 96.08%.
While this isn’t the strongest payout rate you’ll find in a live casino game, it’s certainly very good for this type of experience.
As is common with many casino games, players frequently ask whether Adventures Beyond Wonderland is rigged.
In short – no, it is not. The game simply has a house edge, which means the casino is always at a statistical advantage of 3.33%.
Playtech, a well-regarded provider of live casino software, boasts an outstanding reputation and a long-standing history in the gaming industry. All of their releases undergo rigorous testing by various national gambling authorities and independent organizations dedicated to ensuring fairness in gaming.
These evaluations assess both the random number generator (RNG) components of the game and its stated statistics, including the return to player (RTP) rate.
Remember that LiveCasinos.com isn’t here just for live casino game reviews. We also handle guides and strategies, helping you get the best start possible. You can find some money wheel game strategies here.
The interface is rather typical for a Playtech product, featuring all of the usual elements like settings, the lobby, a live chat window, and so on. Most of these can be found on a big side panel to the left.
As for the betting positions, they’re quite easy to understand. Clicking or tapping on a card will place a bet, valued based on the currently selected stake level. However, the interface also allows you to place multiple bets at once based on card colors, ranks, or suits.
The only other notable UI elements are the results and statistics in the bottom right corner. These display the results of the previous 45 rounds. They also note any multipliers or bonuses awarded during this time.
It’s a simple and functional interface, all things considered. However, we would have liked to see more ways to place bulk bets. For example, it would be great to have a racetrack view like in roulette that would allow players to target specific sections of the wheel.
The game is streamed 24/7 in full HD from a special studio that was purpose-made for The Greatest Cards Show. Besides the all-important wheel, it features colorful backdrops lit up by neon lights and decorations in line with the Carnival theme.
There are only two cameras as far as we can tell: a main overview and a top-down view focused on the wheel. This setup reminds us of live roulette, but is not particularly impressive compared to similar high-budget game shows.
In our experience, the stream and video quality are all quite stable and consistent. We haven’t encountered any stuttering or technical issues on any type of device, which is to be expected from Playtech.
As an entertainment-style game show, The Greatest Cards Game puts a lot of emphasis on its presentation. The studio, dealers, and overall looks of the game all conform to its Carnival theme.
Moreover, the dealers tend to be very energetic and upbeat. On top of operating the physical wheel, their job is to engage the audience and make the gameplay feel like a TV game show. They’re quite good at it, too, providing a premier live casino experience that many game show fans will enjoy. However, the game is presented exclusively in English with no localized alternatives.
That said, the camerawork is not particularly intricate, and the studio is relatively simple compared to bigger titles like Adventures Beyond Wonderland. While the game runs well and looks pretty good, we can’t say that it’s the best Playtech has to offer in terms of visuals.
Unsurprisingly, the game is compatible with most modern devices, including phones and tablets. It works on both Android and iOS devices and can be played directly from most browsers with no download requirements.
The Greatest Cards Show on mobile works the same way as on desktop, with no changes to the rules, gameplay, or features. However, the interface is somewhat different in order to accommodate the smaller screens and touchscreen controls of phones and tablets. It’s still very responsive and intuitive, so mobile gamers should have no concerns regarding this Playtech release.
Our game reviews and ratings are based on a strict set of standards. These standards were developed over many years of playing and analyzing live dealer games of all sorts. Here are some of the key factors we consider before giving our recommendation:
The Greatest Cards Show is a unique game in many ways, but remember that it’s still a gambling game.
Always remember to play responsibly. Control your bankroll, don’t go over the budget you set up at the beginning of the game, and take regular breaks so as not to damage your health.
Check out this page to find more information about responsible gambling and useful tips on how to avoid problem gambling and control your spending. If you suspect you may be developing symptoms of problem gambling, we recommend contacting organizations such as: