Live casinos have become the go-to for many casino enthusiasts over the last decade. As internet technology advanced, online operators introduced a new dynamic to the iGaming industry with a live twist.
In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about live casinos. From how they work to the best software providers in the business, you’re going to learn everything before you start playing.
1. What are Live Casinos?
Well, live casinos are exactly what they sound like. They are virtual casinos with a physical dealer, a physical table, and physical cards or chips. The catch here is that you and the dealer are not in the same location.
While you are sitting comfortably on your couch, the dealer might be thousands of miles away in a studio based in Malta or Curacao. And that’s the beauty of live casinos. It has taken the globalization of casino games to a whole new level.
The way to know if a live casino is legit or not is to check for the license. Just like the rest of the iGaming industry, live offerings must go through regulations from authorities. When you’re satisfied with the security features your favorite operator offers, you can go ahead and open an account. Casinos like 888 casino usually undergo very strict regulations in order to be able to function and stay on top. The more popular the casino is the more it needs to keep its reputation and a breach in security is definitely a blow it popularity.
2. How Does a Live Casino Work?
The technology that goes behind making live casinos a reality is very cutting-edge. In naked eyes, it just might seem like live streaming from the brightly lit studio. But there is much more than the eyes meet.
One of the technologies that have allowed live casinos to thrive is ‘Optical Character Recognition (OCR)’. It can translate the actions happening in front of the camera and translate them into data that you can see and interact with on your screen.
And that’s how you can interact with the dealer just like you would in a brick and mortar casino. Another great aspect of this technology is that it doesn’t rely on any Random Number Generators (RNG) for the outcome. Your decisions during the game are directly translated to how much you win or lose.
Now, let’s look at the scenario from the casinos’ perspective. As they are using the latest technologies, there is a hefty investment that goes into it. Then there are salaries for the dealers and staff that work on the system. It’s significantly more than what goes into online slots or computer-generated table games.
And that’s why you won’t find a very good live dealer games experience at all online casinos. Only the reputed ones that have been in business long enough can make a perfect live dealer session for the players.
3. Some of the Best Software Providers for Live Casinos
Most operators are only vessels for the software providers to offer their games. It’s a unique partnership where the operator, in this case, the online casino, creates a platform for the software providers to integrate the games.
The better the provider, the better the games tend to be. The game is entirely conducted from the software providers’ studio and they are responsible for the mechanics of the game.
Let’s look at some of the finest live games software providers in the current live dealer casino industry.
4. Evolution Gaming
When it comes to live games, there’s no other provider that comes close to Evolution Gaming. It has revolutionized the live dealer games by solely focusing on them. It’s very unlikely that you’ll come across an RNG game from Evolution.
The company has won multiple awards over the years for its effort to make the live casino industry thrive. The best live dealer titles like live Blackjack, live dealer Roulette, and Baccarat are from this innovative software provider.
5. NetEnt
NetEnt is one of the giants in the iGaming industry. It produces both RNG and live games for consumers like you. NetEnt has shown its capabilities in the RNG sector a long time ago. For the last few years, it has been showing noticeable competition in the live casino industry as well.
The dealers NetEnt appoints are some of the best in business. When you opt-in for a game from this provider, you’ll see how advanced the overall setup is. The dealers are professional and very knowledgeable in their respective fields. Live Beyond Live is the software suite responsible for all the wonderful games.
6. Microgaming
When talking about software providers, how can we ignore Microgaming? Microgaming is credited to be the forefather of online casinos. And it makes outstanding live casino games as well!
Up until 2015, Microgaming was one of the primary choices for live dealer game enthusiasts all over the world. But then, it sold everything to Evolution Gaming in the European region. But don’t worry about all that!
You can still enjoy top of the line games from this software provider from anywhere in the world, except Europe.
7. Playtech
Another iGaming industry giant. It’s probably the largest software provider in terms of the number of games offered. It came into the scene with equally compelling RNG and live casino games. Since then, Playtech has offered online gamers a unique platform to test both their luck and their table game skills.
Rather than offering the same games as other providers, Playtech tends to innovate new variants. The Age of Gods Roulette would be one of them. The game is inspired by Playtech’s signature slot series Age of the Gods.
8. Games You Can Play
Practically any game you could play at a brick and mortar casino, you can play them at live casinos. The technology has even allowed the operators to offer different variants of the same game which is next to impossible due to space limitations at physical casinos. The pg slot is one of the most suitable online casino games.
Blackjack, live Roulette, Baccarat, Monopoly, Casino Hold’em, Sic Bo, Caribbean Poker, Three Card Poker, and many other games are waiting for you to explore them. You can even get live casino bonuses on some of them!
9. Final Words
There’s no doubt that live casinos are injected with the surrealism that was missing in the online casino industry. Players have shifted to online casinos more than ever thanks to all of the best live online casinos. They are designed to entertain you and you should always be responsible with your money at a live casino.