Live casinos have become really popular in recent times and many people are either switching to live casino games rather than traditional online casino games simply because of the fact that it makes them more immersed in the online casino experience. This new form of online gambling entertainment has drawn in an incredible audience and the player base of these online casinos has been growing rapidly ever since companies started introducing this new form of play. From live online roulette, to live blackjack, and live poker, the live online experience definitely adds something special that hasn’t been felt before in the sphere of online casinos.
When observing these casinos, it is important to look at the game providers that they use so that we can make a good assessment of what their services will be like. Different providers have different advantages and disadvantages, and no doubt some providers are better than others. Today we’re going to look at the list of some of the most popular online live casino providers as well as what some of their strong suits are as well as exploring some of their weaknesses if it so happens that we stumble upon any.
Evolution Gaming
This live game provider had its debut back in 2006. Their reputation grew rapidly and today they’re regarded as one of the most successful game developers and providers. They set an example for most other software providers. They focus not only on the features of the games themselves, but also on expanding their business so that they have a massive repertoire of tables, dedicated client tables, and dealers. They aren’t limited to the world of online play, but also have their own casino tables in real life. Some casinos in Romania, Malta, and England offer players to use the Evolution Gaming tables to play on the online platform while enjoying the casino atmosphere.
What they offer is basically a product, or rather a number of different products that all follow the same standards that the company has set up for itself. They look to incorporate very fast loading times and a user-friendly interface that isn’t hard to master and offers the player a good experience without the frustration that some other providers might induce with a bad game and interface design. Their insistence on speed doesn’t end with the loading times as they try to make their product available to all connections while still providing services without any lagging or bugs. They succeed in doing this and even offer all of this in full HD resolution.
They have won several awards including the Live Casino Supplier of the Year at eight different occasions since 2010, making them the reigning and uninterrupted champion of software development and provision. They are the pick of many popular online casinos including the insanely popular 888 Casino which uses their live games to power their platform.
With a very impressive license base, a complete dedication to live dealer gaming, TV quality full HD streaming, tolerance of lower connection speeds, non-stop availability 24/7, browser implementation and support, variety in the atmospheres when it comes to the tables, smartphone support, good transparency practises, and great regulations and licencing, there isn’t much negative to say about this software provider.
Playtech
Coming right behind Evolution Gaming when it comes to popularity, Playtech has made quite a name for itself ever since its formation in 1999. They operate three studios, one in Latvia, another one in Romania, and one in Asia in the Philippines. With this geographical positioning, they cater to both European and Asian players at the same time which makes their business model one of the most successful ones in the business. They now have over a thousand employees that provide some stellar live dealer games and you can expect a lot out of them and their services.
It speaks for itself when one of the biggest betting sites in the world, bet365, is one of the licensed casinos able to run this game. Other than this one, there is also Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, BetFred, Betfair, William Hill, and Defabet. The regulating bodies of this company and its services are located in the Isle of Man, the UK, and the Philippines. With this many gambling commissions behind the provider, it’s truly one of the better regulated ones on the market at this moment.
They have a great operating history and are well respected in the world of online casinos. Their games are browser based as most successful providers’ games are. They also offer a wide range of games including blackjack, roulette, baccarat and its variations, sicbo, many poker variations, and more. The resolution is also on the high-end when it comes to streaming though there are sometimes bugs when it comes to the audio and video though these aren’t that common at all.
They have many different ambiences that the players can choose from which allows for the ultimate customization of the player experience when they sit down at the live dealer table. They are also very secure and offer their services as one of the most secure ones available. Speaking of the availability, they work with so many employees that they can host their live dealer tables 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Microgaming
This software provider has been operating since 1994, so they have a long history which is filled with amazing statistics. They were actually the first ones to pay out a jackpot larger than a million dollars, and up to today they have paid out more than 465 million euros worth of jackpots. They have more than 800 online games available for their traditional gaming fans and more than 225 games for mobile devices as well. While they have this impressive history in traditional online casinos, Microgaminig hasn’t exactly been one of the best at capitalizing on the fast growth of live online dealer games.
In fact, they started in 2006 with live baccarat after which they’ve slowly started expanding this field of gaming. Some speculate that this slow approach was aimed at making sure that they make their entry onto the live dealer game podium right without any hiccups as to maintain their highly regarded status as one of the best in the business. Nowadays, they have expanded their gaming options and offer live roulette, live blackjack, and even live hold’em.
While you might notice that they have gone for the very sexy approach with some of their dealers, it is also the case that some of the interactions in their live online games have felt a bit unnatural. It’s almost as if the dealers have to follow very strict guidelines and this prevents them from feeling more authentic. If it’s any consolation, at least you get to look at some busty babes dressed in bunny costumes.
Their studio is located in Toronto, Canada and they have licences from the UK Gambling Commission, as well as the Isle of Man GSC. They operate on several online casinos including Platinum Play, Royal Vegas, and Dublinbet. The number of tables that they offer isn’t as plentiful as the more popular providers at only 20-50 tables being available at any given time.
Extreme Live Gaming
A fairly new arrival to the live dealer gaming genre, the company was founded back in 2013. After only a year of operations, they were acquired by a gaming giant based in Austria called Novomatic Group which had massive revenues that year reaching almost two billion euros. The company then received heavy investments from Novomatic Group as they saw the potential that it had with its live dealer casino games.
They put so much into this business that they’ve even managed to open up a studio in London, something that’s not seen very often in the world of live dealer games. Usually, the dealer tables and studios are based in lower living standard countries which dramatically cuts the wages needed to be paid out to their workers, but it arguably also gives us less skilled dealers who usually sport some kind of accent.
While they don’t offer an insane number of tables, they still give quite a good choice given the fact that the studio’s location is in London of all places. And since they were ready to dish out money when it came to the physical location of the game provider, they weren’t shy about spending money on improving the gaming quality as well. Because of this, we saw online casinos such as Leo Vegas, Mr Green, Betvictor, Betsson, and Grosvenor becoming licensees as they couldn’t miss out on the high-quality content and entertainment.
On top of all this, they even offer live streaming of tables from brick and mortar casinos with a Gibraltar casino being the first one to take up the offer. The provider has also been audited by the eCOGRA who have determined that their platforms are safe and secure. They also like to receive feedback from their customers on how they can improve their games which is always a welcome sign in the world of online casino gaming.
What's the deal on live dealers?
In this article, we have covered only some of the most popular online live casino gaming providers, but there are many more that we haven’t mentioned which are also prominent in the field. Providers such as Net Entertainment, Media Live Casino, Opus Gaming, Portomase Gaming, Visionary iGaming, and Ezugi are all on the rise because of the rapid success of live online gambling which doesn’t seem like it’ll slow down any time in the near future. If you still haven’t given this form of online gaming a try, then you should definitely consider some of the providers from this list and give them a go and see if you like it. With how these providers treat their customers, you simply can’t go wrong.
