The popularity of live casino games is on the rise all over the world. In this game category, you find table games, card games and game shows, including casino versions of famous TV shows and innovative money wheel games.
This article about how live casino games work is part of a larger article series about how online casinos work. In this series of articles, we aim to use our experience and knowledge to provide useful insights into how the different aspects of online casino work.
Now, the time has come to focus on live casino games and more specifically how live casino games work. Even though the games in this category are among the oldest gambling games in the world, it’s relatively new to the online casino world.
TECHNOLOGY USED IN LIVE CASINO GAMES
In our article about how slot machines work, we discussed the Random Numbers Generator and more precisely how that affected the outcome when playing slot machines. Other than the fact that live casino games are real, the biggest difference between a slot machine and a live casino game lies here.
While slot machine results are determined by a computer algorithm, the results in live casino games are left to chance and can be categorized as truly random. However, recently some live casino games have small elements of RNG. You can find these in the selection of game shows from Evolution and Pragmatic Live.
THE GAME CONTROL UNIT (GCU)
As with all online operations, there is some technology more important than others. To keep control of any live casino table game, the game control unit (GCU) is absolutely necessary.
The GCU is the technology coordinating what is happening on the table with what is happening on your screen. Essentially this is the technology making it possible to bet online on something happening for real.
When you play a card game in a real casino, you will experience dealers pulling cards from the shoe in a smooth and swift motion. However, when you play live casino, you can notice that the dealer rubs the card on the table, right after pulling it from the shoe. This is the GCU scanning the card.
By doing it this way, the computer knows what cards you are dealt, which cards the dealer are dealt and through that, it will know who to pay when the game round is over.
In roulette, it’s more difficult to notice the GCU, because it’s attached under the wheel. By having it there, the computer is able to read the outcome and payout according to your digital bets.
THE DEALER’S MONITOR
A big part of the entertainment when playing live casino games is the interaction between you and the dealer. In addition to providing the dealer or croupiér with crucial information about players, who’s turn it is and other aspects of the game, the monitor displays the in-game chat.
This provides the opportunity to communicate with the dealer, making the entire experience more immersive and more social.
The monitor also helps the dealer keep track of bet sizes, allowing them to know when a person is winning or losing bigger pots.
HOW LIVE BLACKJACK WORKS
Blackjack is one of the most popular live casino games in the world. The origins of Blackjack is still under debate, but researchers agree that Blackjack probably originated in the French casinos around 1700.
Blackjack represents the game with the best RTP in an online casino. With an RTP of 99.6% in single deck blackjack, your chances of making a profit are higher in this game than in any other game. This is however only applicable if you use the basic blackjack strategy in combination with card counting.
As there is no RNG installed in blackjack, the outcomes are completely random. The game round starts off with the dealer giving each player, including themselves one card. The dealer then goes ahead and deals one more card to each of the players, including themselves again.
The difference of the second round is that the dealers’ second card is dealt face down, while all other cards are dealt face up.
The goal from here on out is to beat the dealer. The goal of blackjack is often mistaken by trying to get 21. If you want more information on how blackjack works, we welcome you to read our article on how to play blackjack.
HOW LIVE ROULETTE WORKS
Roulette is another old, classic live casino game. The live casino game is known to be a game of chance, more so than for example blackjack.
Although blackjack comes in different variants, it cannot be fully compared with roulette in that sense. This is because different versions of roulette have been around for hundreds of years, and are confirmed as legit versions of the games a long time ago.
The three most known variants are the European, American and French versions of the game. With an RTP of 97.30%, the European version provides the player with the highest chances of winning.
The goal of roulette is to bet on the same number or segment as the ball lands on after the roulette wheel is spun. Every game round starts with players making their bets before the croupiér spins the wheel. When the ball has landed, the dealer will place the dolly on the winning number.
Even though roulette is a game of chance, you can profit from applying a betting strategy to it. The most commonly used betting strategy in roulette is The Martingale System. Another popular strategy used by players is The Fibonacci System.
If you want to learn more about roulette, we recommend checking out our guide on how to play roulette.
