The Live Online Casino option is a very popular development

Since the introduction of online casinos there have been a number of positive developments which have generally enhanced the experience of playing casino games online. For many people the most important of these developments is the Live Online Casino option which is now available at almost all the online casinos on our recommended list. To explain why the Live Online Casino option is so important to some casino games players we need to go back to when online casinos first became available. In order to offer their customers a broad range of casino games, including the traditional casino games such as roulette and blackjack the online casinos needed a method of establishing a winning number. The solution was a Random Number Generator (RNG) which as the name suggests automatically and randomly selects a winning number when the Play button is activated. Most casino games in which an RNG is used to select a winning number or card can be played without even noticing that an RNG is in use, but it did not take long before roulette fans started to express their concerns. When online casinos first became available most of their customers were already fans of playing casino games and loved the convenience of being able to play their favourite traditional casino games from the comfort of their own home. However when it came to playing roulette online there was clearly a problem with the use of an RNG because the computer graphics were not capable of realistically imitating the movement of the ball on a roulette wheel. Clearly casino games players are a suspicious bunch, and this failure to illustrate the smooth passage of the ball to the number selected by the RNG created doubts in many people’s minds as to the validity of the game. Although those people expressing concerns were probably a relatively small minority of people now playing casino games online, the online casinos began to look for alternatives to the RNG particularly for the game of roulette. This resulted in the concept of the Live Online Casino which is now a common feature on most online casino sites in one form or another.

In the early days almost all the online casinos offered their Live Online Casino option by establishing a roulette wheel and often a blackjack table in a remote studio and employing real dealers to manage the games which were then streamed live to our screens. The idea was relatively simple and is still in place for most of the online casinos offering the Live Online Casino option. We are also now able to chat with these dealers if we want to, adding a further dose of reality to the experience for those who enjoy chatting while playing. As with most new developments there are drawbacks and the Live Online Casino is not for everyone. Initially the biggest problem was in the quality of the streaming, and even now broadband is essential for satisfactory access to this option. Then we come to the increased costs of operating a service using real dealers. One of the advantages of playing casino games at online casino is that the minimum table stakes are very low because online casinos clearly have much lower overheads than a real casino. Playing casino games at an online casino in the Live Online Casino mode does mean that the minimum table stakes are generally higher, but the enthusiasts clearly think that this is a small price to pay for the improved experience. To their credit roulette can still be played in Live Casino mode at the William Hill casino for as little as 0.1 euros, but the minimum stake at most other online casinos is now 1 euro or more. Finally we should point out another feature of playing roulette in the Live Online Casino mode, and that is the timing of the game. In common with what happens at a real casino it is the dealers who decide how quickly the game is played, and therefore how long you have to place your bets. Again this does not suit everybody, and there are many people now playing casino games online who enjoy the fact that they can take as long as they like to place their bets.

Most online casinos also limit what casino games can be played in their Live Online Casino option to just two or three, usually roulette, blackjack and possibly baccarat. There are exceptions however, with both William Hill and Betfred also offering ‘casino hold’em’, which is a form of Caribbean stud, and Ladbrokes and Bet365 adding Sic Bo to their options. Finally we should also comment on whether the Live Online Casino option is available without the need to download the games. This is possible at Betfred, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power, but William Hill, 888 and Bet365 all require the games to be downloaded before the Live Online Casino option is accessible.

So far in this discussion you will note that we have only mentioned the online casinos operated by the big bookmakers, all of which present their Live Online Casino option in a very similar way. However some of the newer specialist online casinos such as the All Irish casino have taken an entirely different approach. The Live Online Casino option offered by the All Irish casino is exactly what it says, and is actually streamed from the Portomaso casino on the island of Malta. It is difficult to imagine a more effective way to capture the atmosphere of playing casino games with fellow punters at a real casino than this. The All Irish casino currently offers roulette, blackjack and baccarat streamed live from Malta and the concept has proved very popular. The drawbacks are of course very similar to those associated with streaming live from a studio, particularly in terms of timing and table stakes. There is also the added potential inconvenience that this option is of course only available during the opening hours of the casino, but as this covers from 10.00am till 5.00am it is unlikely to be a problem for most of us.