The concept of the live online casino has been developed even further

Here at onlinecasino.ie we often comment that the success of online casinos is primarily due to the huge range of casino games they are able offer, but there are of course several other factors which have all contributed to our enjoyment of playing casino games online. One of those factors was the willingness of the first online casino operators to respond to their customers’ concerns and the adaptability they showed in creating new online gambling experiences such as the live online casino option. The first online gambling sites were all operated by the leading bookmakers and were all primarily sports gambling sites. The concept of online casino gambling only came about when the bookmakers decided that they should attempt to maximise the returns on their investment in the technology necessary to operate their internet sites by adding a few gambling games. Once again the idea of being able to play what we now generally classify as casino games from our own homes immediately began to prove just as popular as online sports gambling, and as a result led to more and more games being added. It was not all plain sailing however, because some traditional casino games proved more difficult than others to transfer onto an internet site, most notably the game of roulette. Almost all online casino games rely on the use of a Random Number Generator (RNG) to determine the winning conditions and that is also how the winning numbers for online roulette are selected. The problem was that the online casino software associated with providing the graphics was not very good at illustrating the movement of the ball on a roulette wheel as it moved towards the predetermined winning number. Nowadays of course we have become accustomed to using internet sites for a wide range of activities, including financial transactions such as managing our bank accounts online, but when online gambling and online casinos first became available many of us were not so sure that they were all fair and above board. The problems with the graphics associated with presenting online roulette therefore reinforced those doubts in some people’s minds and the online casino operators clearly needed to find a solution a quickly as possible. The answer was of course fairly obvious in theory but not quite so easy in practice. If the software designers were not able to produce satisfactory graphics to illustrate a roulette wheel, the only answer was to use a real roulette wheel to decide the winning number and that is what they did. The online casino operators set up remote studios, usually somewhere in Eastern Europe and streamed the games of roulette live from those studios using real dealers and of course a real roulette wheel. This was the beginning of what we now call the live online casino option, and almost all the online casinos on our recommended list now offer their customers the choice of playing roulette, blackjack and even baccarat in this type of live online casino format.

Whilst we clearly welcome the fact that the online casino operators responded to the concerns of some of their customers in those early years, we should also point out some of the drawbacks of playing casino games such as roulette streamed from a remote studio. Those of us who started playing casino games at a real casino will be know how hectic it can be trying to place multiple bets on a busy roulette table before the dealer calls a halt and spins the wheel, but many new players do not have that experience. In fact there are many online casino games players for whom the ability to take their time placing their bets is one of the biggest advantages of playing online. Operating the game from a remote studio means that the dealers are not able to respond to what is happening with the players as they would in a real casino, they can only run the game to a strict timetable which means that there is a time limit on how long a player can take to place their bets. Another popular element of playing casino games online is that the minimum table stakes are usually very small so players on a limited budget can still enjoy a reasonably long session playing their favourite games without breaking the bank. Employing real dealers and maintaining a studio obviously costs far more money than simply running an internet site, so many online casino operators have increased the minimum table stakes for casino games played in the live online casino mode. Although both of these factors can be negative for some online casino games players, others find playing their casino games with real dealers far more interesting and enjoyable than sitting at home playing in isolation. Most online casinos now have the option to communicate with the studio dealers while playing the games, which again is commonplace in a real casino and often adds to the fun. Replicating the atmosphere of a real casino is clearly not possible online even when the games are being controlled by real dealers, but one or two of the newer specialist online casinos have taken the concept of playing casino games live with real dealers to a new level. The All Irish casino for instance offers their online casino games players the opportunity to play roulette, blackjack and baccarat as they are being streamed live from a real casino situated on the island of Malta. You may not actually be on the casino floor with the players in Malta, but it is the nearest online experience yet to playing casino games in a real casino. The dealers are true professionals and run the games beautifully, so for anyone who misses the atmosphere and excitement of playing casino games in a real casino it is certainly worth trying. The continuous development we have seen in the concept of the live online casino is indicative of the way the online casino operators have always tried to improve the experience of playing casino games online, and we thank them for it.