It’s not an exaggeration to say live dealer casinos completely revolutionized the online casino experience. Live dealers combine the social interaction people love about real-life brick-and-mortar casinos with the convenience, security and game selection that make online gambling so attractive. Add to that huge leaps in video streaming technology in recent years and the best live dealer casinos on the internet today are offering an amazing service to players all over the world.
In this article we’ll explain exactly what live dealer casinos are and what makes them so special, as well as run through all the best online casinos offering live dealers r ight now. We’ll also explain the special bonuses and games you can play with live casino dealers on the internet.
Best Live Dealer Online Casinos
What are Live Dealer Casinos?
Live Casinos are exactly that, a casino that is live and real, as opposed to a virtual casino. In the past a lot of people stayed away from playing online casinos for various reasons. They didn’t like how there was no human face or interaction to the game or maybe they didn’t trust a virtual roulette table the same way they’d trust one in real life they can see with their own eyes. In response to those feelings, online casinos had an epiphany: combine real dealers and casino games with online casino websites.
At first it was challenging because streaming technology was undeveloped and super-fast internet was less common. As those technologies improved, however, online casinos were able to offer high-definition, lag-free live streams of real dealers using real casino tables and wheels.
What to Expect When Playing with Live Dealers
When you play on a live dealer casino it’s really similar to being in a real-life casino. There’s a real person dealing the cards or spinning the roulette wheel and you get to watch and interact with them in real time. And you don’t even have to leave your house to do it. Your chips and betting decisions are done using a digital interface that’s visually laid over the real gaming table, usually at the bottom of your screen. Just pick which denomination chips you want to bet and then click on the table to make bets or decisions like hitting and standing in blackjack.
Online casinos have built video studios in places like Eastern Europe and Asia and hired local dealers and croupiers to deal in front of webcams that are streamed to players like you. You can chat with them and see everything happening live as you play.
What are the Best Games for Live Dealers?
The most popular games to play online with live dealers are ones that use real cards, or in the case of roulette, a ball and a spinning wheel. That means roulette, blackjack, baccarat, three-card poker, Caribbean stud, Pai Gow, Texas Hold’em Bonus, Casino Hold’em and lots more games are all popular to play on the internet with live dealers.
It’s so much more exciting to bet on the next card or the spin of the roulette wheel when you can see it happening compared to a digital graphic on your screen. Gamblers who make decisions based on intuition and superstition usually much prefer seeing a real person using real cards instead of relying on random-number generating software. Unfortunately, craps has so far not been offered with live dealers online. Since the player is the one to roll the dice in craps, it’s unclear how the game would be adapted to an online version using live dealers.
Downsides to Live Dealer Casinos
Gambling for real money with live dealers online has a lot of advantages but there are some drawbacks you should be aware of. The biggest is the pace of play but this can actually be an upside for some people. In terms of hands or spins per hour, playing with a live dealer is far slower than playing a regular online casino game that moves really quickly. Since everyone is betting on the same hand or spin of the wheel when you’re playing with a live dealer, you have to wait for bets to be made and for the dealer to shuffle and deal cards or spin the roulette wheel.
For a lot of people, however, this isn’t a bad thing. Playing slower means your bankroll will last longer and you’ll get more play for your money and more chances to hit big wins. It also gives you time to properly think about your next move, or if you’re interested, you can chat or interact with the dealer or other players which isn’t as common in regular online casino games.
The other major downside is game selection. Live dealer casinos are still relatively new and like we mentioned before with craps, not every game has been adapted to using a live dealer yet. Given how popular live dealers have become, though, it’s likely we’ll see more and more new games and other innovations introduced as online casinos compete to offer the best live dealer casino experience available to players.
Which Online Casinos Have the Best Live Dealers?
Similar to slots and other online games, it’s often not the casino themselves who develop the game technology for live dealer casino games. It’s usually a third-party company that created the technology and then licenses it to various online casinos.
Here’s a look at the best live dealer platforms, what makes them great and some of the online casinos that use them:
- Evolution Gaming – One of the big players in online gambling games, Evolution Gaming has developed some of the slickest live dealer casino software available anywhere. A long list of big online casinos use this platform including 888casino, Unibet, Genting Casino, Betsafe and many more.One of the biggest selling points for Evolution Gaming’s live dealer games is the quality of the production and the smooth streaming. These games look amazing with high-def video, multiple cameras and they work well even if your internet connection isn’t blazing fast.
- Playtech – Another big player in online casino games, Playtech offers an extremely high-quality live dealer experience. With live dealer video studios in Latvia, Romania and the Philippines, Playtech offers tons of games and licenses its software to tons of big online casinos including William Hill, PaddyPower, Betfair, Ladbrokes and lots more.Playtech offers live dealer versions for all the major casino games and they also stream live games from within some European casinos, instead of doing all their production in a studio.
- Microgaming – Microgaming has been at the center of online gaming since the 1990s but they were a bit slow to develop their live dealer offerings. That’s all changed in recent years, however, and now microgaming has a solid suite of live dealer games.It’s also one of the most trusted game software providers in the world so they make up for a few less bells and whistles by bringing a huge reputation for safety and security to the live dealer casino market.
Live dealer casinos are the perfect way to enjoy the social aspect of brick and mortar casinos with the convenience of online gaming. Check out our comprehensive reviews to find the live dealer casino that’s right for you.
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