Live dealer games

How live dealer games work

A live dealer game is a physical table in a broadcast studio, filmed by several cameras and streamed to your device. A trained dealer runs the game exactly as they would in a venue: shuffling and dealing real cards, spinning a real wheel, calling the result aloud.

You place bets through an overlay on the video, within a betting window that opens and closes for each round. When it closes, the dealer plays the round out. Optical character recognition reads the physical outcome — the cards dealt, the pocket the ball lands in — and the system settles every bet against it.

The important difference from a software game is where the randomness comes from. A software game uses a certified random number generator. A live game's outcome is produced by physical equipment: a shuffled shoe, a weighted wheel, a ball. Neither is more or less fair than the other; both are tested, and both are outside anyone's control once the round starts.

Live tables run to a schedule rather than to your pace. There is a countdown, and a round proceeds whether or not you have bet. Tables also carry their own minimum and maximum stakes, which are shown before you sit down.

Most tables include a chat function for talking to the dealer. Dealers are working and are asked to stay professional; abuse of a dealer will get you removed from the table.

Because live play is paced by the studio and feels sociable, it is easy to stay longer than intended. A reality check is the tool that helps most here — it interrupts at an interval you choose and tells you how long you have been playing.