Live dealer roulette is exactly what the name sounds like; a version of the game online that is run by a live dealer instead of a piece of software. Thanks to streaming video technology, many online casinos are hiring live dealers to host casino games, beaming them to your browser to run your game, interact with you (and other players), and make the online casino games you love more like the real thing.
With live dealer games, the outcomes of the spinning wheel are determined by the spin of an actual wheel, run by a real casino dealer. That means you can watch the game you love take place in real time, and you don’t have to depend on a random number generator or piece of software for your results. With live dealer casinos, you can see and hear the dealer’s every move, interact with them, and play a version of online casino games that are much more like real casino action than typical online games. For the most part, live dealer casinos make their live tables available 24 hours a day, so no matter when you like to play, you should have a dealer waiting for you.
What Does the Live Game Look Like?
Every live dealer online casino has its own look and feel, but there are some aspects of live dealer games that are standard at all live dealer casinos. With live roulette, the dealer screen is usually on the right hand side of the page, and is sometimes called a control screen. That’s because it also acts as the panel used to navigate through the live dealer casino. This screen also lets you see and hear your live dealer. In live dealer games, the dealer actually spins the wheel and launches the ball, calling out when bets are off and announcing the winning number, just like in a real casino.
On the left side of your screen, you normally have the game’s betting surface. That’s how you interact with your dealer in terms of placing bets: bets you place on the live dealer user interface are transmitted to the live dealer, who then places your bet on the appropriate spot for you, so you can see and verify your wager.
Some live dealer casino games are called “multiplayer” games; these games put multiple live dealer casino gamblers at the same table. Obviously, since this is roulette, you’re not playing against the other players. Still, it’s nice to see other players making bets and hear them interact with your live dealer. It’s the next best thing to really sitting down at a casino table.
Why Play Live Dealer Games?
Online casino gambling can’t quite capture the magic of this casino classic. Something about the dealer launching the ball into the spinning wheel, hearing the ball knock around and the wheel spin, and watching the wheel stop spinning, waiting in anticipation for the result—it’s something that online casinos can’t replicate.
Simulated online games have a tendency to feel heartless and empty, especially in a single player version without a live dealer. Up until the advent of live dealer casinos, the only way to get in on the hypnotic action of a real wheel and ball was to leave your home and take a trip to a land-based casino. Now, live dealer gaming makes online casino titles a little bit more like the real deal.
Another problem with non-live dealer games is the way the game feels like a video or arcade game. When I sit down to play online roulette without a live dealer, it’s hard for me to psych myself up. The static versions of the game online seem too much like a video game, and some players find it difficult to concentrate on their gambling, since there are no other real human beings around.
No amount of clever animation, 3D graphics, player avatars, or other graphical elements make online roulette anything near the thrill of the real thing, and when you consider that the game’s results are determined by random number generators and computer software, the whole thing feels a little bit cheap. Live dealer play is nothing like that, combining the better aspects of online casino gambling (a digital user interface) with the realism of a live dealer and even other live players.
Playing live dealer roulette is the closest thing to replicating the actual experience of playing in the casino without leaving your house. Live games put a dealer to work, a dealer who is sitting in a realistic casino setting at a real gaming table, and placing bets with this live dealer and interacting with them while the game progresses will open up your online casino gambling to a whole new world.
Live dealer casinos aren’t quite as satisfying as sitting in a traditional casino, earning comp’d drinks, chatting with the employees, and flirting with the other casino customers. But, if you’re going to play online casino games, you may as well play it using the latest technology. The addition of a live dealer to online play turns the online game on its ear. The only way live dealer setups could be any more realistic is if the online casino could send a cocktail waitress over to your house. Until then, live dealer casinos are the closest thing you’ll get to a real casino from the comfort of your home.