A look back at Live Dealer Gaming in 2012
It seems like only yesterday that I was wondering whether 2012’s Water Dragon would bring me good fortune at the live tables. It didn’t.
But 2012 did see plenty of change to the games we play live online. No surprises really, as this is after all a technology driven industry.
There were software upgrades-a-plenty with numerous tweaks to the look and feel of game interfaces.
Microgaming launched their Diamond Edition live games which came with a bunch of nifty features that almost stole the thunder from the dealers at the tables. A move to bigger video skins was the order of the day for both ViG and Bodog88, and video resolution seemed to improve at pretty much all the casinos I played at during the year. Dublinbet introduced concurrent multiple roulette table play…with one table inside a casino located in Dublin and other in the Isle of Man!
One of the industry shaping changes that took place was the introduction of dedicated live casino rooms and tables. First Unibet, then William Hill, then 888 unveiled swanky looking private rooms within the Evolution Gaming premises, each containing a bunch of casino branded tables for their patrons to play at. This may have been one of the reason why Evolution Gaming was named Live Casino Supplier of the Year for a 3rd successive year.
Not to be outdone Playtech also started rolling out a bunch of private tables and also took the wraps of a newly designed Asian dealer studio.
As always there were mergers and acquisitions.
Ladbrokes tried to purchase pretty much everyone….with no success.
There were also a few welcome entrants to the world of live gaming. Industry stalwart Intercasino added HoGaming’s live dealers, while 32Red decided they’d give it another go. US facing 5Dimes also jumped back on board with ViG games after a brief absence.
Towards the end of the year we saw a development that I suspect will be the industry shaper through 2013…live games for iPad and tablet computers generally.
As for the live dealers in front on the cameras, they remained as beguiling as ever and probably will continue to be so next year!
Have a great new year everyone, and may 2013 bring more fortune than 2012!
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