Play a live dealer dual network

A few weeks ago we hinted at the probability that a well known online casino was going to take things up a notch in the live dealer stakes and expand their offering to include dealers from 2 distinct dealer studios – one in Asia and one in Europe.

Well it all went official last week, so we can now tell you the casino is bet365 and the expansion involves the addition of Playtech’s European dealer platform to the the existing Asian dealer games that have been offered at bet365 for a few years now.

They’re calling it a ‘live dealer dual network’.  Thing is, they can pretty much call it whatever they want because it’s a first, and it creates a pretty compelling offering for players because it brings together the strengths of both platforms and makes them both easily accessible at the one casino, from one login.

I don’t want to examine the platforms in detail here (you can read more on each at the above links) but thought it is worth summarizing the synergies that this combined offering brings.

Dealer flavour:

This is an obvious one.  Want an Asian dealer that speaks your lingo?  Then simply choose a game conducted by one of Playtech’s Asian dealers.  Want a European dealer? With a click of the games menu you are whisked from Asia to Riga, Latvia and one of Playtech’s European dealers.  No other casino/platforms gives you this option.

Gaming room ambience:

If there’s a criticism of the game videos streamed from the Asian dealer studio (and the therefore the studio itself I guess), it’s that they are pretty bland.  You have a dealer, a table, and a blue-screen backdrop.  Not exactly reminiscent of any casino floor I’ve ever seen.  The Euro dealer studio offers a significant improvement in this area, with a purpose built studio designed to look like a gaming floor and camera aspects and lighting that enhance the video’s effectiveness in transporting you there remotely.

Game range:

While the Asian platform lacks a certain polish in the looks department, it is without peer when it comes to game range.  A bunch of baccarat variations, blackjack, European and French roulette , SicBo and MahJong Paigow make it the most comprehensive live gaming option available.  The new Euro platform isn’t too bad, with the standard blackjack, roulette and baccarat but is bolstered considerably with the additional games streamed out of Asia.

Functionality:

The cool thing about both platforms, is that while the dealers and videos are different, because they are both from Playtech, the interface skins and game functionality are pretty much the same so if you’re familiar with one platform, you will automatically be familiar with the other.

All in all bet365 have definitely raised the bar with this move and are to be congratulated.

Presently the Euro dealer games are only available from the casino download (ie not browser play).