About Live Dealer Casino Gambling - FAQs

Simply find a casino offering live dealer games and follow their instructions to access their live dealers.  This will either involve having to download the casino's software and registering an account, or opening their browser based games and registering an account.  Most casinos require you to open a real account before you can access their live dealer games, but this doesn't mean you have to bet straight away.

Join a table and just sit in a watch the action for a while to get the hang of things before playing for real.

This will depend on your playing preferences. What game you wish to play; what currency you wish to play in; what language you require; what deposit option you prefer; whether you want to download the casino software or play from your browser etc. 

Our live dealer casinos page might be a useful starting point with a summary of casino profiles and account options.

As a minimum though, make sure you play at a casino that is licensed and regulated and whose games are conducted by a well known and respected software provider.  Any online casino worth its salt will include an about us link which should display all of these details.  You may also wish to choose a brand that you are familiar with such as one of the large betting shops that have made the transition online.

All of the casinos included on this site are licensed and regulated by one of the principle online gambling jurisdictions licensing jurisdictions...Gibraltar, Malta, the United Kingdom, Kahnawake North America, or Antigua Barbuda. 

As an additional probity measure, most engage independent parties to audit their historical payout ratios to attest to fair gaming and randomness of their games (including live games).  Although this is not as relevant to their live dealer games where there is no issue of fairness of random number generated outcomes it does say something for the casino's operating ethos.

For a more detailed discussion of licensing jurisdictions and relevant industry organizations, visit our industry organizations page

Most casinos offering live dealer games outsource the conduct and management of the games to a third party provider.  In this case all aspects of the live deal, from video streaming to premises security, dealer and card management are controlled by the service provider.

Both Playtech and Microgaming, two of the bigger players in RNG (random number generator) casino game software development offer their licensee casinos a live dealer format which they manage.  This video offers a nice insight into the live dealer environment implemented by Microgaming.  Both Microgaming and Playtech are publically traded companies who have been operating for over a decade now.

Another provider gaining significant traction in the live dealer space is Evolution Gaming who now count Victor Chandler, Gala Coral, William Hill, 888casino, Unibet, Party Gaming and Blue Square amongst its growing list of blue chip gaming clients. Unlike Microgaming and Playtech, Evolution are not a provider of RNG casino software and concentrate specifically on live casino game streaming technologies.  Their studios are located in Latvia and they are regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

Super Casino and Smart Live Casino are a notable exceptions to the above 'norm'. They conduct all live games in-house, controlling their own dealer rooms and video feed from their central London based television studios.  Their dealer room environment and controls are regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.

While RNG casinos have been operating for over a decade now (Intercasino and 888casino both claim to be the first bet takers in 1996) live dealer casino games are relatively new, with Playtech launching its live dealer platform in 2003.  Limitations in streaming technology and user connection speed have until reasonably recently rendered live streaming non-viable.

There are over 2000 online casinos operating today, and only a handful offer live dealer games.  At the risk of generalizing, it is probably fair to say that it is a game format that has been adopted by the larger online gambling operators as it is still a niche offering that carries a significantly higher marginal cost to provide than additional RNG games.  If you look at the list of casinos offering this format you will probably recognize quite a few of the brands if you have any familiarity with the gambling industry.

For a more detailed analysis of the history of live casino gaming visit our live dealer industry development timeline.

Game range on offer at most casinos is limited in most cases to one or more of blackjack, baccarat, roulette and/or sic bo and no where near as expansive as the list of RNG casino games offered by most casinos.   Check our live dealer casinos page for details on what games are offered at which casinos.

Typically no.  While almost all online casinos will offer free play options for their RNG games, in order to access the live dealer games you will need to open a real player account. That doesn't mean you have to start betting money straight away though.

We suggest you open a real money account and then sit in on a game for a while to get a feel for how it all works and familiarize yourself with the betting interface before playing for real.  If you don't like the way the interface works or are annoyed by any aspect of the offering close your account and try another casino.  There are no restrictions on how long you can view the live dealer action without actually laying a bet.

Exceptions to the no-free-play norm include Lucky Live Casino, Dublinbet and for US players, BetPhoenix.  Full details of casinos offering free play can be found at our free play live casinos page.

If there  is one universal complaint about live dealer games, it is the length of time between deals.  While you might find this useful initially, it can become a little painful after a while.  The typical count between completed games and the new deal (ie the time given to players to lay their bets) is 30 seconds and this count down is clearly indicated on the game interface.

Further, time is afforded to players on multi-player tables to make their bet decision, making a full table game at times a little on the slow side.

If you are at all impatient and prefer fast gaming, RNG games are probably more suitable as you can call the deal when you want it.  There are of course live casino that seek to offer faster play through quick time limits, like Dublinbet.  Other casinos offer single deal blackjack with a deal convention slightly altered to allow for many players to play the one deal.

Video Stream...

Regardless of the sophistication of the video streaming and compression technologies underlying live dealer games, at the end of the day the vision will only be as good as the user's internet connection.  If you do not have a reasonably high speed connection the web cast will not be smooth.  Even with a high speed cable connection you may see the odd freeze frame.  If you are on a dial up connection forget it.

The vision provided by the different casinos varies considerably.  The current interface for Microgaming and Playtech casinos is dominated by a virtual table with a small video feed inset.  Evolution's interface (adopted by Unibet, Victor Chandler and Blue Square) offers multiple view options, including a view dominated by the video feed which occupies the entire screen and bet options are set as a widget on the edge of the screen.

Its probably fair to say the quality of the webcast at Evolution casinos is superior to competing offerings.

To view recorded video demos of most games offer by casino listed on this site, visit our video demos page.

Unibet...	Bet365...	The Riverbelle...

Cards...

The cards used in all cases are oversized cards that are clearly visible over the stream.  Microgaming's cards are enormous and very hard to miss.  Regardless of card size, all dealt cards are swiped over a reader so that the software can identify them and that card is recorded and presented clearly on the playing interface anyway so viewing the actual card, while nice to be able to do for piece of mind, doesn't effect your ability to play the game.

You place bets from a 'virtual' account that you open at the casino and fund using one of a number of options.  Credit cards are the most common deposit method, but there are a number of others that are available at each casino, including well known virtual wallet services like Neteller, Instadebit, Click2Pay and UseMyWallet. 

We have listed deposit methods currently accepted at casinos listed on this site at our casino deposit / withdrawal options page.

Similarly, withdrawals from your account may be made to your credit card, your chosen virtual wallet service or by check or bank draft.  The casinos will clearly display their deposit and withdrawal options and assist you where you run into difficulties.

All casinos listed on this site provide 24/7 support including phone (toll free numbers for some countries) email and live chat.

This depends on the casino.  For some casinos, their live dealer games may only be accessed via the software downloaded games.  Others offer browser based Flash live dealer games so as long as you have the Adobe Flash plug-in installed on your browser you can play the live games directly from your browser without any download required.

All details of which casinos require a download and which do not may be found at our live dealer casinos page.