Live casino is not something that is brand new. For almost 20 years it has been possible to play casino games on the internet and in the beginning, the games were not very exciting or developed. The development has been jerky, sometimes the game developers have settled and a new player with new ideas has come in and then the development has taken off again.
It is no exaggeration to say that the slots have evolved into more than just a game; they have become small gaming adventures with animated characters and videos that have enhanced the gaming experience. On the other hand, the development has not been fast for the table games until a few years ago when live casino started to become more popular. It was simply the players that demanded a more real-life experience when playing table games.
This is live casino
Live Casino can most easily be explained by the fact that it is table games played with a living person who is the dealer. They are in a studio where they run the game. What happens is that the dealer plays for real and the game is filmed. As a player, you get to see it through a real-time video stream on your computer or mobile / tablet. You get the feeling of being in a physical casino and in some cases, you can also communicate with the dealer through a chat function. If you play at a live casino, it is not a random generator that creates the outcome but a real roulette table or real card games. The most common games are roulette, blackjack, baccarat and poker.
How to start playing
If you have never played at a live casino before, it can seem a bit odd at first, but there is nothing strange about it. You may feel insecure and nervous to try it. Playing at a live casino isn’t any more difficult than playing at a regular online casino, but of course, you should know what the rules are for the different games. It’s not always easy when other players at the live casino have to wait for you to play. One tip is to practice at the same game you intend to play at the live casino on slot machines and outside the live casino.
Chat with dealers
You can chat with the dealer at most live casinos. The most common language is English, but there are also Swedish speaking dealers. You can also reach the support via chat if there are any problems that do not directly have to do with the game. Keep in mind not to spend time chatting with the dealer about questions that are not related to the game. If you have questions about your account, please contact the casino’s customer service
You can see the dealer throughout the game, what the dealer does and how he manages the game, but the dealer cannot see you. This means that you cannot make yourself understood by gestures or facial expressions. The dealer only sees actions on a screen about what the stakes are and who has placed them. Your posts in the chat show up on the dealer’s screen, but the dealer doesn’t have time to write so you get the answers verbally.
A good thing about live casinos is that they are modern games that can be played directly in the browser of your computer, mobile or tablet.
Can the dealer cheat?
A tricky question. The answer is no if the question is if the dealer is cheating, but theoretically, the dealer can cheat as, unlike the slot machines, the game is physically done with a real roulette wheel or real card games. All slot machines are certified and checked, and so are the machines that will read off the results in the live casino. There is always a casino manager on-site at live casino games and the studio is monitored around the clock with security cameras.
Should the internet connection be disconnected, you have a few seconds to make it work again. If the reconnection happens quickly, you can continue to play as if nothing happened. If you fail to reconnect, the winnings will be distributed, if there were such, before the connection was broken. Different casinos may have different rules, your bets may also get returned to you.
Common live games
It is the classic table games that primarily turn into live casino games. If you don’t have a lot of experience with casino games then you probably know games like blackjack, roulette and baccarat. You may think that there should be a few more games on live casino, but there are good reasons for that. One of the reasons is that it is expensive to produce a live casino. It requires large or several premises and a lot of staff is required, which makes it expensive for online casinos to deliver live games. The three most popular have a large audience both as live versions and as slot machines and therefore generate large revenue, which is why casinos want to offer them.
Another reason is that it is complicated to develop and deploy games like craps, which is a rather “messy” game.
Overall, it is probably not financially justifiable to increase the number of games, however, there are many variations on the three big one and more to come.
Roulette is the biggest table game at online casinos. The game as such is simple and easy to understand and lends itself well to a live casino. You play as usual and place your bet on the game table. The dealer then speeds up the roulette wheel. The game is filmed and digitized and shown to you in real-time.
Number two is blackjack and it is a game that most people know how to play. If you play it at a live casino you immediately get the feeling that you are actually there, you constantly see the dealer, the gaming table and the cards that are in play. Now you can actually count the cards if you have time.
How does it technically work?
At a live casino, there is, as previously stated, a live dealer. And it may seem that it is just the dealer running the game, but they have advanced equipment that will guarantee that everything is done correctly. The dealer sits at a real gaming table and you, as a player, can see the dealer over live video. You place your bets by using the computer in the usual way when you play table games at casinos or on slot machines. The dealer cannot see you, but you can easily communicate with them through a chat function.
When the dealer is working, this is where the game happens and not a random number generator that usually determines the outcome in slots and table games in slot machines. In order for the result to be determined with a spin of the roulette wheel or a hand in blackjack to be a win or a loss, the outcome is translated into digital facts by an optical reading of the gaming table. This means for the player that he/she can play the game in much the same way as when playing on a slot machine, with the difference being that the game takes place in reality and not through a random number generator.
Live casinos are much more expensive to operate for a casino in comparison to slot machines as they involve high costs for investing in technology and employees. A live casino usually has one or two cameramen, several dealers who handle the various games, an IT specialist who oversees the technical aspects and ensures that it works, and finally a manager of the casino who can enter into any disagreement between players and the dealer.
In most cases, a studio with at least three rooms is needed. A room that is the studio itself from which the live game is broadcasted, a room that is the server room and space for all computer equipment, and a room for analysis and monitoring. Of course, it is different between different casinos where some may have multiple gaming tables in the same room while other casinos have one room for each gaming table.
The operating costs of a live casino with live dealers is high and because of that, usually, only the most popular table games are offered as live casino, which we discussed before. Typical ones are roulette, blackjack, sic bo and baccarat. To make it all work financially, the same casino that has live casino offers a large department with hundreds of video slots that, compared to a live casino, is much cheaper to operate. This way, the slot machines can make a certain contribution to the live casino.
There are a few different techniques that casinos use to operate a live casino. There are those who broadcast the game on their own TV-channel while others have the live casino on their website. If the game is broadcasted on TV, the player can use a mobile phone or TV remote control to make bets instead of doing it on a computer, which is most common. :
Suppliers to live casino
There are some providers that stand out when it comes to developing and deploying live casino games. Let’s look at some of the best. The one at the top is strangely not focused on slot machines, but it is a new player that has almost completely specialized in gaming for live casinos.
Evolution Gaming
Evolution Gaming – When this company was launched in 2006, the live casino got a breakthrough. They had a large selection from the start and also offered features such as multi-table games where players could play games on several tables at the same time. They have a very special two-ball roulette table instead of a single ball. They can also offer different variants of roulette – European, French and American Roulette.
Evolution Gaming also offers games on a private table with its own dealer, they have over 800 dealers engaged. If you need a private dealer, you can ask to have a Swedish-speaking one. It definitely creates the feeling of sitting at a real casino. Evolution Gaming games are available for both computer and mobile games.
Ezugi Gaming
Ezugi Gaming – This is a company that has taken the live casino a step further. In 2014, they started their business and in 2015 they were able to offer a “real” live casino when they entered into an agreement with Gold Nugget Casino in Atlantic City. So you can sit at home in the living room and play at a table there. There are nearly 50 tables to choose from and their dealers speak English and in some cases Spanish.
NetEnt Live
NetEnt Live – NetEnt or Net Entertainment is a Swedish game developer that started in 1996 so you can say they have been around a long time compared to other game providers. They have made a name for themselves as one of the foremost game developers in the world and they have won several awards with their innovative games. NetEnt jumped on the trend with live casino in 2013 and today offers, among other things, blackjack and roulette.
Extreme Live Gaming
Extreme Live Gaming – They came out with their live casino games in 2013 and managed to appease the audience with their games. The three table games that are prominent are roulette, blackjack and baccarat. Since then they have developed a special form of roulette that they call Golden Ball. The player who after 20 rounds has the best result gets the chance to play Golden Ball. Here, the player should guess the correct number on which the ball ends and can then win a huge jackpot.
Microgaming
Microgaming – Microgaming is the pioneer of game developers. They managed to produce a live casino game as early as 2006. It was baccarat that came out first and after that, we have also seen blackjack, roulette and Casino Hold’em Poker from Microgaming. Microgaming can also offer games on several tables simultaneously, so-called multi-table games. You can play up to three different live casino games simultaneously. Microgaming has been involved with casino games from the beginning and is possibly one of the world’s largest game manufacturers.
Microgaming is currently developing games for Virtual Reality. The first game they will release is roulette and will be played with Oculus Rift glasses. The glasses make it possible to move anywhere within a virtual reality. With this technology you can play at any casino in the world – Las Vegas, Monte Carlo or Macao, it is up to you.