LIVE DEALER

The moment of truth has arrived… there’s a card, waiting… it has your name on it, but does it spell riches and fortune, or loss and dismay? Your eyes dart left, right, gauging the other players; you pause, you consider, you look the dealer in the eyes and, with a tiny bead of sweat on your brow, you say, in a clear, steady voice that betrays not one nerve… “Hit me”.

Online casinos are fantastic, as far as we’re concerned. The ease of access, the convenience, the ability to quickly switch between providers to find the one that suits you best – these are all good reasons to visit an online casino. The only thing missing, sometimes, is the experience of playing against other real people with a real human dealing the cards and spinning the wheel. There’s a unique flavour to gambling when you need to not only consider an algorithm, but another person.

Thankfully, online casinos and their game providers have given us online players the best of both worlds in the form of live dealer casino games. All you need to do is log on to your favourite online casino that offers live dealer games, select your game, and enter the next best thing to a salon privée. Join other players and interact with a professional croupier who will bring the bricks and mortar casino experience right to your screen.

Live dealer games come in many flavours, and depending on the game provider and the casino involved, there may be several different games and variants to choose from. Some of the live dealer  games that are most popular include all the classic favourites: blackjack, roulette and poker, for example. Some online casinos will offer a wide range of these, while others may only offer one or two options per game.

There are, of course, plenty of other games that can be offered with a live dealer. Baccarat is one that shows up with some regularity, as do Dragon Tiger and many variations on wheel-of-fortune-style games. If a game can be played live in a bricks and mortar casino, then it can usually be found as a live dealer game on one or another online casino.

1: Speed Roulette by Playtech

• Variant: Roulette
• Why we like it: This variation of live dealer roulette is unique to Playtech. It offers fast paced game play, fitting in more rounds per hour, giving you quick, consistent game play with no waits.

2: 3 Card Brag by Playtech

• Variant: Poker
• Why we like it: This poker-inspired game relies on the dealer’s cards only, and pays out according to a preset series of three-card hands. It took us a few minutes to get familiar with the hands and play, but once we did, we felt right at home.

3: Speed Andar-Bahar by Super Spade Games

• Variant: Andar-Bahar
• Why we like it: If you’ve never tried this Indian game before we highly recommend giving it a whirl. Relying purely on the luck of the draw and your own intuition, this high-speed version of the game brings even more excitement and fun to game play.

Live dealer games are the closest thing you can get to a bricks and mortar casino, so if you are hankering after a casino visit, but can’t go for whatever reason, this is a fantastic alternative. There’s also the fact that, while enjoying the live dealer experience, nobody is trying to sell you expensive drinks or distract you. If you’re a ‘why not both’ kind of person who loves the thrill of live games but would love to do it from your own couch – or the beach, or anywhere you feel like – live dealer games are the ultimate win-win situation.