What Is a Live Casino (And Why Should I Try One?)

Casinos. They continually evolve with more and more options for bettors to use online platforms with just the click of a button. 

In 2020, the online gambling market was worth $66.7 billion. That number is only expected to go up, with there being an expectation that the industry is worth about $93 billion by the end of 2023. 

One way that online casinos are trying to increase the revenue produced from online gambling is by introducing the concept of a live casino. 

What are live casinos? This is everything that you need to know. 

What Is a Live Casino?

A live casino is an online site that allows you to play casino games from your mobile device with a live dealer controlling the game. This means that you do not have to physically be at the casino, but the dealer is, and you get a video feed of all of the action. 

This concept combines the best of both worlds when it comes to the convenience of playing casino games from home and having the actual game take place at the casino. You get the interaction from the dealer that you normally would in a live game, and you still get to see everything play out in the game right in front of your eyes. 

For people that have never played casino games online before, this can be a fantastic way to ease into playing online, rather than trying to start with a completely mobile game. 

View here for more examples of how a live casino plays out. 

Live Casino Games 

So, one question that you might have is what games you can play with this live version? Well, here are some of the most popular options. 

Poker

Poker is easily one of the most popular live games to play. It is also a very easy game to follow online because of the natural pace of play. 

With poker, you would have a dealer at a live table with a graphic showing you your cards and the options for upcoming bets. You would decide whether you are going to fold, call, or raise with your initial hand. 

Then, the dealer would reveal the first three cards in the flop with a camera focused on those cards for you to see. The dealer would narrate the action, and once again, you would have to decide what bet you want to make. 

A dealer would then flip the turn card, and this process would start all over again until the dealer finally flipped the river card. The dealer would be able to see what hands everybody left in the pot has, and a winner would be determined. The dealer would say which hand won the pot and how much the total pot ended up being. 

Blackjack 

Another popular card game that transitions well to a live format is blackjack. Here, you would have a camera focusing on what cards you have, and before you get those cards, you would have a graphic giving you an option for how much you wish to bet. 

A camera would be focused on the dealer and what card they have faced up. Then, they would go around the table, asking each player that is participating virtually whether they wish to stay or hit with their hand. 

When it is your turn, the dealer will ask you, and you will have a graphic that gives you the option of whether you wish to hit or stay. When every player has taken their turn, the camera will focus on the dealer and you will get to see their hand play out. 

Live Blackjack can also be more beneficial to those who like to keep track of what cards have already come out. While it is still not exactly the same with everybody having physical cards, it can make a player feel like there is more human control and a human element to the game, rather than having every card there be virtual. 

Roulette 

With this type of game, it is very simple to play online because all of the action is surrounded by a ball and a wheel. If you wish to play a live format of this game, you would have a camera focused on the dealer and the wheel. 

Until the dealer waives off bets for that spin, you would have a graphic up that would allow you to make any bets you wish for however much is allowed to be bet at that table. Then, once the betting is done, the camera would focus on the wheel so that you can see what pocket the ball lands on. 

Here, some players may prefer seeing a live dealer because they might feel a completely online version of the game can be more easily scripted than actually seeing the ball land on the wheel themselves. 

Craps 

Finally, another game that you can play in a live casino is craps. Here, a camera would start out facing the dealer, and you would be presented with a graphic that gives you betting options for that turn. 

Then, some live casinos will have a robotic arm that rolls the dice each round rather than the dealer. You could either collect or lose money depending on what number the dice land on. 

Play At a Live Casino

These are some of the games that you can play at a live casino. You get the perks of playing in person while the convenience of playing at home instead of a live casino in Philadelphia or a live casino in Pittsburgh. 

Do you want to know more ways to play? Check out our Entertainment section.