Going to the casino is often a bucket list item, something that you might do on a once in a lifetime trip to Vegas. For most people, it involves travelling to a city, booking somewhere to stay, and dressing up to match the exclusive dress code.
Once there, of course, you are surrounded by glamour and opulence – no expense spared on the décor, the themes, and the other players who attend. This exclusivity is why it is usually a well-planned night out rather than just something to do when you have some spare time.
However, the move to online casinos has changed the game for most players. Now, you can access your favourite casino table games and slot machines from the comfort of your own home, able to wager on the results of your favorite sports team wherever you are.
The casino industry has always moved with the times, and one of the latest developments in the industry is the live casino.
What is a Live Casino?
When you sign up to an online casino, you will have the choice of different games to play. Often there will be hundreds or more slot games to play, which are usually popular with beginners. You might also be able to see the odds for the next big game for your favorite sporting team, and sometime even be able to keep up with the action.
A big part of what the major online casino operators offer are table games. Similarly to the brick-and-mortar casino, these are the games that we see in Bond movies and the like – things like blackjack, roulette, and poker, to name but a few.
The table games are the ones that you will usually need to learn before playing, to get a handle on the rules and know how to play, what to play, and when.
It is these table games which have evolved in the modern online casino to offer a new way of playing – one that blurs the line between online games and playing in real life. This is a live casino.
How Do You Play at a Live Casino?
Live casino games start at a certain time, and you need to enter the ‘room’ before then, usually by clicking the relevant link on the home page.
A live casino game involves streaming video of a croupier, who is dealing cards or spinning a wheel in the same way that they would if you were physically in front of them. These dealers might be in a room in a real casino, or in a studio set up to look like a casino. They are well-trained professionals who are adept at not only playing the games but also interacting with the players.
Each live casino game plays out the same as it would in a real casino, but through technology such as OCR (more on this later), the algorithms can tell when you have placed a winning hand, making the results immediate and almost infallible.
The croupier can chat with players as they play, using a chat box function, and there are multiple camera angles so you can get close to the action. Other players are online with you, and you can chat to them as well, which is a great way to meet new people and learn from those who are more experienced, too.
The Technology Behind Live Casinos
We are lucky in the modern world to have such excellent videography techniques available – and these are used to their fullest when it comes to live casinos. Often streamed from 4k cameras, the live feeds of all the action on the table are encrypted, blended with data, and sent to your PC, laptop, or even your smartphone so you can play along.
Optical Character Recognition
This is an integral part of the system, translating images of things like cards and suits or numbers on a wheel into data that can be understood by the game mechanics. When combined with the video feed in the GCU, wins can be automatically calculated, reducing the effort for players and allowing the dealers to see who won, who lost, and what the next steps in the game should be.
Game Control Unit
This is the hub of the game, where the dealers can see the data, the live feeds, and exactly what the players are doing. It is usually a screen in their line of sight, so that the dealer can respond in real time to questions from players, and to the action that is taking place in front of them and behind the screen for the players.
Live casinos are one way to blend the atmosphere of being in a live casino with the convenience of playing at home – and you can try it today.