If you’ve taken a look at an online casino, but not gone much further than the homepage, you might have noticed that many of the top sites offer something known as ‘live dealer games’.
These are exactly as you’d expect; rather than a purely software-based gambling, live dealer games involve an actual person who’s in charge of the experience.
So how does this work, what are the benefits, and can it really hope to match the experience of visiting a land-based casino?
Virtually There: A Look at How Live Streaming Works with Online Table Games
As you might have guessed, live streaming is the key to making live dealer games work on modern casino sites. This technology allows players to access an actual casino environment right from their home.
The game takes place in a remote physical location, often with production values that are equivalent to a TV broadcast. The footage and audio are then streamed in real time over high-speed internet, allowing you to interact with the dealer and other players as if they were right there in front of you.
The casinos use high-quality video cameras and microphones so that everyone can clearly see the action on the tables and hear what’s being said.
Casinos also employ advanced encryption protocols for added security, ensuring your data is safe at all times during a gaming session. And thanks to this technology, you can enjoy a realistic gaming atmosphere without ever having to set foot inside an actual casino.
Ample Variety: Many Online Casinos Offer Live Dealer Games As Well As Slots
You might wonder why online casinos would bother with live dealer experiences when there are so many digital gambling platforms out there to appeal to modern gaming audiences.
The main reason that they remain relevant is variety; as explained in this BetPlay review, having slots, blackjack, poker and roulette available both as virtual games and live dealer games allows operators to cater to as wide an audience as possible.
Plus, it’s often not feasible for live dealer games to be run round the clock, meaning that they can draw the crowds in peak periods of site traffic, while pure software games are always available in the lulls.
Live and Up Close: Exploring the Appeal of Live Dealer Games
Live dealers offer something that no computer-generated game can – a human connection. As mentioned, you will be able to interact with the dealer and other players in real time through chat features or audio communication. This makes for a more immersive and entertaining experience, at least if this gels with your personal preferences.
This is also effectively a gateway to get people who are more familiar with land-based casinos into online play, without throwing them in at the deep end.
If you’ve grown up playing video games, there’s nothing intimidating about diving into casino software. But if you’re of an older generation, or you simply haven’t held a controller since childhood, games with flesh and blood dealers at the helm represent a happy medium.
There are other perks which come with gambling via a live streamed game rather than software. For instance, many casino sites allow players to customize their gaming experience by adjusting the audio and video settings during gameplay.
You can also choose between different camera angles so you can size up what’s happening from different positions in the room, just as you’d be able to do at a bricks and mortar venue.
With all these options, it’s easy to see why playing with a live dealer is becoming increasingly popular among online gamers.
Live and Up Close: Exploring the Appeal of Live Dealer Games
The explosion in the popularity of online casinos, in conjunction with the increased legalization and regulation of these sites worldwide, means that there’s plenty of demand for new games and gambling options. This in turn means that operators can justify investing in the expansion of their sites to include a wider range of live dealer games.
As live streaming technology improves, and connection speeds increase, the quality of live dealer games will grow. We’re also likely to see an increase in interactivity, and a reinforcing of that all-important human connection, which points to a bright future for this niche.
