Live Casino Games

Live casino games have taken off in a major way in the past few years. While the world of computer games more generally has used better tech to retreat further and further into created and virtual realities, the casino industry has used higher and higher internet speeds – including on mobiles and other devices – to recreate the original casino experience.

That means that players sit at home but feel like they’re in a casino – there are even live casino games streaming from actual real-life casinos these days.

The games work in the same way that they would if the player were sitting across a slice of green baize from a dealer in real life. The only differences are the film cameras and the interface through which the player communicates the decisions they make in the game to the people running the game.

Because this is online though there are far more options than in most casinos. There is really no limit on the number of tables that can be squeezed in, and these can be sold to specific sorts of the customer (usually, players at different levels of a loyalty scheme) and for specific budgets.

This guide will introduce you to the world of live casino games!

Best Live Casino Games Sites

Finding Safe Live Casinos

Your first duty is to your own safety. The vast majority of online gambling is safe and legitimate, but it is not impossible to get scammed – and any online transaction is worth being careful about.

Please look for fuller guides on cybersecurity and safe gambling than we can offer here.

What we can say is that in the UK you must not use any site that is not licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UK GC). You should be able to find a link or an account number for this licence at any legitimate site, and you should take the time to check the link.

Look at reviews and forums to see if you can find any positive reports about the sites you’re considering using.

There are relatively few sites that offer just live casino games; most are wider casino or betting sites, with slots, bingo, lottery, virtual sports or live sports betting attached too.

Look for well-known sites with good quality games from providers that you have heard of and safe payment options.

Have a look at the site FAQs and make sure that you are happy with the company’s data protection policies and their encryption. Always make sure you check that you are looking at the right URL (the web address) in your browser and that you can see a padlock there to show that it is a secure connection.

Make sure you know how to set safe passports and to keep your device up to date with the latest anti-virus software.

Using a Live Casino Games Site

You should not be able to play at any live casino site without signing up for an account and providing proof of age. You will certainly not be able to cash out large amounts of money without sending ID documents (usually a driving licence or a passport) in to the sites. This is generally done through a dedicated uploading site.

To sign up for an account you simply need to provide your personal details (name, age, address, date of birth), and you will also need to provide some sort of payment.

Most casino sites offer a welcome offer when you sign up. This will probably involve a bonus amount of money (usually 100%) that you’ll be given when you make your first deposit. Make sure you understand how this bonus offers work and how your use of bonus money will be restricted.

You may not be able to use the bonus money on live casino games, and you may not be able to use live casino games to contribute to the “wagering requirement” (an amount of money you must spend to release bonus funds) attached to the welcome offer.

Once you have completed the formalities you should be able to go ahead and start playing.

Playing Live Casino Games for Free

Everyone loves free. There are free casino games all over the web. It is possible to play a lot of games at legitimate casino sites on a demo mode. It is also possible to play versions of casino games at review and affiliate sites.

However, it is very difficult to find live casino games for free.

Live casino games are staffed by real people and they need to be paid. That means free games are hard to come by.

The best option if you would like to try live casino games is to play RNG versions of the games that you’re interested in playing.

RNG games use a random number generator to generate the events in the game and the game is played out in a computer simulation. Playing these games for free is a great way to check out the rules and rituals of the games you want to play.

Playing Live Casino Games for Real Money

Most players want to play these games for real money.

This is why we have mentioned safety. Safe gambling doesn’t just mean not getting hacked, it means keeping yourself – and your bank account – safe.

Real money games come with a risk. Make sure you understand the dangers of gambling addiction and how to spot the signs of risky behaviours. And make sure you know how to reach out for help if you feel you need it – being able to talk to family or friends is a great first step.

There are a lot of safe gambling tools at every live casino site these days. Click on the links when you sign up at a site so you know how to find advice, and how to reach out for help from industry bodies that provide counselling and help.

Real money games can be great fun, but real casino games are probably a little more expensive than most other casino games. That’s because of those staffing costs.

However, most casinos offer a great selection of entry-level games.

Live casino games are usually ranked by budget and accessed via a lobby dedicated to each game.

Be sure that you gamble only what you can afford to lose and set spending and time limits that you stick to when you play live casino games for real money.

The Biggest Live Casino Games

There is no legal standard for what should be on offer at a good live casino, but you can be pretty sure that you’ll find these games, and if you don’t you should probably shop around.

These are what we think you should expect to find at any high-quality online live casino sites.

Live roulette

Roulette is the biggest casino game in the world.

The live version of the game online works in the same way as the real-life game in most ways.

This means you need to understand rule variants, betting rules, and how different games work.

The best way to do this is to make sure you read the rules of every game you play.

The main roulette variants are:

European roulette – this is generally considered the best value version of the game as it has fewer zeroes, than,

American roulette – an extra zero ups the house edge, but there are other betting options to consider too, and,

French roulette – this is basically European roulette, but an extra betting rule allows players to retain half of their stake on bets that are lost into the zero slot.

Roulette games in a live casino may come in a number of variants, these are usually cosmetic exercises in styling and presentation style. Immersive or ultra-real games might include multiple camera angles, for example, and presenters may be asked to present in a particular way.

Live blackjack

Blackjack is the biggest casino card game. It is very simple to learn but has hidden depths. The fact that card counters (this is almost impossible to do in online casinos) have won huge amounts in real-life casinos can only add to its appeal.

Blackjack also comes in a number of rule variants. This is something that is worth studying in greater depth than we can provide here.

Options usually include:

Doubling down – when can you double your bet.

Splitting – can you play the cards in dealt pairs as single hands, and

Dealer behaviour – the way the dealer handles their own hand is a major influence on the way the player plays.

And, you will also find a lot of different presentation styles, including party games and one-on-one games.

Blackjack games are normally limited in the number of players who can sit at the table, though some new games are now offering the chance to bet on games that players watch.

Live Baccarat

Baccarat is the last of the Big Three casino games. It is French in origin and enormously popular in East Asia, which has heavily influenced the presentation of the game in online live casinos.

While the game got a very exclusive reputation because of its use of French terms and its portrayal in films and TV Baccarat is in fact very simple to play and to understand.

Like most casino games it has a number of variants. These are:

Punto banco – the American version of the game that is the commonest baccarat online

Chemin de Fer (aka Chemmy) – a six-deck game with a moving banker, and

Baccarat Banque – a game with the banker moving less often, and

Macao – a precursor game with two decks.

Live Poker

Poker is available in several forms online. You can play the game around a table against other players in poker rooms, you can play “video poker” a form of slot, or you can play RNG poker games and live poker games.

These are dealer variants of poker, in which players play against a single dealer hand rather than against each other.

The most popular of these games is Texas Hold’Em, but you should also expect to see Three Card Draw and Caribbean Stud poker up for offer.

Live Game Show Casino Games

The traditional games of the real-world casino are no longer enough for live casinos. This has led to an explosion of Game Show games. These are generally relatively simple gambling games that can be presented as if they were TV shows.

Deal or No Deal is a great example, as is Monopoly, but there are also a number of unique branded games that are only available on a few sites.

Live Slots

If you thought there was no way to expand slots then you were wrong! There is now a way to play live slots through a number of big slots brands.

It’s new, but it seems to be catching on so you should expect to see more of it.

Live Casino Games Providers

As with slots you’ll find a wide array of live game providers, but nowhere near the number. That is because Live Casino Games are more expensive to produce. They need a studio location and film cameras and lived dealers. It takes a lot of cash to even get started.

The big providers in 2021 are:

Evolution Gaming – these are the biggest producers of live casino games in the world, originally based in the Baltic States but now with studios around the world, including in the USA. They keep coming up with new brands to match their big prize Lightning series, and they also own:

NetEnt – NetEnt are about the biggest slots makers in the world, and their games also had a good deal of success in live casinos. NetEnt’s footprint will help spread live games even further.

Playtech – the world’s largest online gaming company is now in the live business, opening up a major studio in 2017.

Pragmatic Play – Another big slots company that has found a new market with live games filmed in their own studio.

Ezugi – These guys are live casino games specialists with studios around the world.

Live Casino Games FAQ

Here is everything you need to know in brief.

Are Live Casino Games Safe?

If you use a live casino site that is licensed and legitimate then you should be safe. Of course, you need to keep an eye on your behaviour too and you need to think about how you interact with live dealers. Make decisions about gambling based on your own personal safety not on whether or not you’d like to impress – or spend more time with – a live dealer.

Can You Play Live Casino Games on Your Mobile?

You can play live casino games on mobiles. It is possible that you will have fewer games to choose from, but all casino companies now design their products with mobile users as their first imagined customer. The screens are smaller, and you may be relying on a smaller speaker or headphones, so make sure you have a good view, a secure signal and good sound before you play.

How do you win at live casino games?

Live casino games are the same as all the other games on casino websites: they are designed to deliver a profit. This is not a popular or widely publicised view of the ENORMOUSLY PROFITABLE casino industry, but it is true. Games are random, but the frameworks within which they operate are set up so that there is a “house edge”. For the player, this means two things: random events cannot be predicted, there is no strategy. And, in the long run, if you gamble a lot you will almost certainly lose money. The key is to find a way to make it sustainable if you enjoy it.

What is the best betting strategy for live casino games?

The best betting strategy is the safest one for you. No one can use a betting strategy to get around the random events at the heart of all casino games, and the only betting strategies worth your attention actually work only to limit losses. In doing this, these betting strategies often ramp up staking very quickly, so that you can be paying out a lot very soon after starting. So forget strategies and play sustainably with small stakes that you can afford.

How do you make money at live casinos?

There is no strategy or tactic that can help you make money at live casino sites and you are most likely – but it’s not guaranteed – to lose smallish amounts of money in line with the theoretical return to player figures. So, to make money you should… probably not play! Of course, if you don’t play you can’t win, but there really isn’t a safe way to try to make a living from live casino games and you shouldn’t think of them in these terms.

What are the best value live casino games?

We don’t know the exact figures of all slots, and the same is true of live casino games, but we do have some broad predictive figures that we can work with. These include the RTP, which is the theoretical return to the player. The RTP predicts how much of the money bet on a game will be returned to players. In the live casino arena, you should make sure that you check this figure on each game you play. However, in general terms blackjack and baccarat are better value than roulette, but it all depends on which bets you play. The “banker bet” in baccarat is probably the best value in most live casinos.

How do you fund live casino games?

You must use your own money and you must play only at licensed sites. Once you’ve satisfied those two little rules you have lots of options. Use a bank account to make online transfers or use your debit card in the same way that you would at any other online retailer. You can also use e-wallets, for example, PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller, to fund your account. There are now specialist mobile payment apps that you can use at live casino sites, including Boku and pay by mobile. Apple Pay is more like a full bank account than these apps and doesn’t have the same restrictions. Cryptocurrencies can be used in some online casinos though they are usually converted into fiat currency and must be deposited via e-wallets rather than directly from a crypto wallet.

What is dangerous about live casino games?

If you follow the rules you should be fine. However, keep an eye out for dangerous gambling behaviours, and don’t get too caught up in personal relationships – something called a parasocial relationship – with dealers or other casino staff. Treat everyone you meet online with the same respect you would like to be treated with and don’t go beyond that. Staff are there to work and you’re there to have a good time – safely – playing games that you love.

How do I find the best live casino games?

There’s a relatively small field of live casino game producers and they all do a pretty good job. All of the ones we mention in this guide – Playtest, NetEnt, Ezugi, Pragmatic Play, and Evolution Gaming – all offer legal and safe games. Your choice is likely to come down to finding a casino that you like that hosts the games that you enjoy. This is a whole other subject, and it includes finding good welcome offers, good customer support, and good quality across the gaming offer. Look for reviews and check forums too – gamblers like to talk.

What is the biggest win in live casino games?

You can win a lot of money with long-shot bets in most casino games, whether those are single number bets on roulette or hitting a tie on baccarat. For really big prizes though you might want to check out some of the newer hybrid games, for example, Lightning Roulette puts multipliers of up to 5,000-times onto standard roulette bets, and there are now live progressive jackpot slots and big prize game shows too.