A live casino brings you the best of both worlds – Las Vegas casino action, paired with all the advantages of playing online. You get real tables, real cards and a professional dealer all streamed in HD to your screen. You can chat with the dealers or other players and the experience is incredibly authentic.
Most live casinos have games you’d expect to see at a land-based casino, from blackjack and roulette to poker and baccarat. In addition, some sites also have special games such as speed baccarat and hold ’em. It’s worth checking the selection of games before you play and ensuring the live casino is compatible with your device.
In order to run a live casino, operators have to put in quite a bit of work behind the scenes. For example, in order for certain playing cards to be recognised and the results of a roulette wheel to be digitised it requires some pretty ingenious technology. This is usually in the form of a piece of hardware called a GCU (Gaming Control Unit). These are about as big as a shoe box and, without them, live casino action wouldn’t be possible.
The other crucial component is the software that runs the live casino. There are a number of different software providers but Evolution is by far the leader. They have a sleek look and fast loading times. Their software allows you to wager on the outcome of specific hands or spins, allowing you to place bets while the game is in progress. They also allow you to keep your preferred bets and close them out when necessary.
You’ll often find that live casino games are available on mobile devices too. Most of these will be accessible via a dedicated app or mobile instant-play versions of the casino website and the games themselves will function very similarly to those on desktop. Generally, the only difference will be that the graphics etc have been scaled back to reduce the strain on your mobile phone or tablet’s connections.
As with any other type of online gambling, it’s important to check the terms and conditions before you make a deposit. Most of these will set out the minimum and maximum wager amounts for your bets and you should never place a bet that you can’t afford to lose. It’s also a good idea to keep track of your winnings and withdrawals at all times to avoid losing more money than you have.
You can sign up for a live casino account at most online casinos by creating a new user name and password. You’ll need to give some personal details such as your full name, home address and the last four digits of your social security number too. Once you’ve signed up, you can then log into your account to start playing the real-time games.