Some people like to have the opportunity to play real money casino games at home. They appreciate not having to face a crowd of other players or spend large amounts of money to get to a casino.
Today, there are dozens of online casinos offering live dealer games. On this page we explain everything about these games and introduce you to the best online casinos with live dealer games.
The flashing lights and sounds of people hitting progressive jackpots, high-end equipment, fancy decoration, prestige, socialization…
These are just a few of the things that people enjoy when they gamble in land-based casinos. And some of them simply cannot be reproduced on the Internet. The best dealer casinos do a good job of making the experience more realistic, while offering the benefits of online gambling.
We believe that all players should at least consider playing online casino games with live dealer casino games for real money. You can live the experience of land-based casinos without ever having to leave your home. Table and card games are distributed by real people using real equipment, and are broadcast live in online casinos.
There are advantages and disadvantages to following this route. We talk about them below, as well as the games and variations you can play, the promotions you are eligible for, and much more.
The first thing we’ll talk about will be the best live online dealer casinos right now.
The best live online dealer casinos in 2020/2021
Every real money live dealer casino is different. They have different games, features and promotions. But how do you find the best live casino for you without wasting your valuable time and your hard-earned dollars?
Joining one of the best online live dealer casinos we support is the easiest solution. Our recommendations have been thoroughly tested in several key areas and ranked accordingly.
You can be sure that each and every one of these live casinos is of the highest quality. They are all safe and reliable places to play. They all offer attractive bonuses and promotions, good customer service and many other benefits.
Most importantly, they all offer a wide selection of live dealer games.
If you’re looking to play live online dealer games for real money, you won’t find better options than the sites we recommend. It’s simply not possible.
Real dealer games, variants and features
What is the most important aspect of online gambling with live dealers? The games.
Casinos with live dealers offer mainly table and card games. It is only recently that studios have started producing live slot machines.
But don’t expect to find dozens of table games and variations that you can find in a normal, lively casino. Live dealer studios have space constraints like land-based casinos.
Nevertheless, there is a wide selection of live casino games, especially if you join an online casino that works with several large studios.
Let’s take a look at some of the games you can play now, starting with the most popular ones. Then, in the next section, we’ll look at some of the variations and features of live dealer casinos.
The most popular live and real dealer casino games
- Blackjack – This includes variations such as VIP, Early Payout, HD, Exclusive, and more. You will often have half a dozen tables to choose from with bets starting at $5 and often exceeding $5,000.
- Baccarat – The most common options are Baccarat with Dealer and Super 6 Baccarat. The Super 6 is a side bet that the banker will win with a six. Table bets start at $5 and often exceed $2,500.
- Roulette – The most common variations of roulette are American Roulette and European Roulette, although Auto Roulette and Flash Roulette are also options. Table limits start at less than $1 and can sometimes exceed $250,000.
- These are the most common live casino games you will find. That said, there are many more than three tables to choose from. There are often a dozen or more tables to choose from, not counting the different dealers or stakes you can play.
The best live dealer casinos we recommend offer all of these popular games. However, some are better for specific games, so we’ve also ranked the best live dealer online casinos for each of them.
Other Casino Games with Live Real Dealer
You can find many other live casino games. But whether or not you can play them depends on which casinos you can join and the live dealer suppliers they work with.
Here are some of the other live games you can find online:
- Casino Hold’em
- Caribbean Stud Farm
- Craps
- Dragon Tiger
- Sic Bo
- MONOPOLY live
- Deal or No Deal
- Dream catcher
- The ultimate Texas Hold’em
- Time slots
- Mega-ball
Live dealer casinos are constantly offering new games. We suggest you join a few casinos that work with different vendors so that you are exposed to the widest variety of live casino table games.
We also have recommendations for the best live dealer casinos for some of these games.
Variations and features of live dealer games
Not only will you find different sets from each live dealer, but also different variations and feature sets.
Here is an overview of the variations and features you can expect to find:
- Gender – Choose a male or female dealer.
- Language – Choose a table where a specific language is spoken or where dealers and dealers speak multiple languages. The languages available are Italian, Russian, Romanian, Spanish, Mandarin and Turkish.
- Parallel Bets – Play games with parallel bets such as Perfect Pairs, 21+3, Super 6, Hot 3, Bust It, and more.
- Game Variations – Find different variations of casino games. For example, roulette players can choose from variants such as American Roulette, European Roulette, Lightning, Immersive and
- Double Ball. Blackjack players can choose from variants such as VIP, Pre-Decision, Speed, Bet Behind and Free Bet Blackjack.
- Features – This includes options for chatting with the dealer or other players, changing or adjusting camera angles, betting behind other players, adjusting sound or stream quality, and more.
As with gaming, the different variants and features offered by live dealer casinos depend on the vendors they work with.
Studios and live online casino providers
This includes more than 20 live software vendors. These are the five largest and/or most influential vendors today.
- Evolution of the games
- Playtech
- Microgaming
- NetEnt
We cannot overestimate the role played by direct distribution service providers. They are so important, in fact, that we have a page devoted to them. We recommend that you read it if you want to know more about each provider, the games they offer, and the major live dealer online casinos with which each of them are partners.
How Live Dealer Vendors Influence Your Experience
It is difficult to explain the importance of casino software vendors and live dealers. It is one of those things that is much easier to grasp once you have played a variety of games from different vendors.
But let’s give it a try. Here are a few examples of how different live dealer vendors will affect your experience.
The quality of the live feed
Games and variants you can play
The stakes you can play
Features available for each game
Side bets you can make
Languages spoken by dealers
The setting or backdrop of the casino
Any time constraints imposed by the games (so that the game continues to run at a reasonable pace)
If you can play their games on mobile (and how)
If you can play the games for free
In addition, vendors and studios work with many online dealer casinos and each one is different. They differ in many ways.
The software vendors they work with. Online gambling casinos usually work with more than one supplier. This will give you a specific variety of live games that you may not be able to find elsewhere.
The promotions you are eligible for. Each online casino with live dealer offers unique deposit bonuses, free bets, VIP programs and other promotions specific to live dealers.
The banking options you can use to fund and cash out your account. You should expect that the limits, fees and banking conditions will also be different.
The terms and conditions. These cover everything from stagnant accounts to bonus conditions, banking and the rules you need to follow if you want to play the online dealer games.
Their software. This includes the devices the casino is compatible with, the availability of native applications, the ease of use of the software, etc.
Their reputation. Just because a live dealer casino offers quality games and software doesn’t mean it’s safe and secure.
Since every live online casino is different, we do not recommend that you join the first casino that works with the studio or provider you like the most.
You want to find the best combination of provider and casino. That’s how you will find the right live dealer casino for you.
Why play at live dealer online casinos?
Silly question, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t you play online with live dealers?
“Live casino games are a real pleasure to play. They combine the convenience and profitability of home gambling with the atmosphere and friendliness of land-based casinos.”
But in case you’re not convinced, we’ll compare live dealer games to regular online casinos, as well as land-based casinos, so you can see the pros and cons.
We’ll start by comparing live dealer games with regular online casino games (RNG). Regular games are animated, like a mobile blackjack application you download or a video game you play on an Xbox or PlayStation.
Here are the main differences between these two formats.
Live dealer games have human dealers and dealers.
This is one of the biggest differences between live dealer casinos and RNG casinos.
In live dealer games, real people deal the cards and manage the game. This makes the game look similar to a land-based casino.
The good thing about human dealers is that you can have a conversation with them. You can joke with them, just as you would if you were physically sitting at their table.
Many of these dealers speak different languages, such as German, French, Spanish, etc. So, live dealer games can even remind you that you are playing at a casino in another location.
Animated games are like video games. It’s you and no one else.
Live dealer games have higher table limits
The minimum bet for games is usually one dollar, which is ideal if you have a limited budget.
Live dealer games mirror the games you’ll find on the Las Vegas Strip. Although roulette is sometimes offered for less than $1, most table games have a minimum bet of $5.
It looks a lot more expensive on the surface, but when you dig into the numbers you’ll find that it’s not much more expensive. But you’ll know more in a minute.
For high-stakes players, live online casino is the answer. You can play for hundreds or even thousands of dollars per hand. We’ve seen roulette games up to $250,000, blackjack games up to $100,000 and other table games up to $50,000.
Good luck finding a lively game with such high stakes.
Fewer hands per hour at live dealer games
Want some action? Then RNG casino games are the answer. You’ll play many more hands per hour than live dealer games.
To put things in perspective, you can play between 4 and 40 hands per minute on animated software. But the maximum you’ll be able to play live is 100 to 120 hands PER HOUR, and that’s playing by yourself. This number decreases considerably as the number of players increases.
That’s why the minimum bet of $5 for many live dealer games is not a problem. If you play 20 hands per minute on a live table at $1 per hand, you will bet $1,200. That’s double what you would bet if you were playing $5 per hand at 120 hands per hour at a live table.
Live casino dealers are not available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
One of the disadvantages of live casinos is that the players are human beings. You can’t expect them to hand out games 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sometimes they have to sleep.
Some of the best online dealer casinos rotate their dealers so they can play 24/7. Others have fixed schedules, like land-based casinos, so you have to play at a specific time and day if you like a particular dealer.
You can play lively table games whenever and for as long as you like.
Live casino games offer the opportunity to socialize.
Many people enjoy online gambling, but the social aspect of gambling with other people escapes them.
Live dealer casinos fill this gap. You can enjoy the benefits of gambling from the comfort of your own home, and you can always sit next to players from all over the world and chat with them. You can also chat with the dealers.
But that’s not even the coolest part.
Let’s say you don’t mind chatting with other people, but you don’t want to deal with players who reprimand you for the way you play. Ignore them. Don’t even read the chat box or turn it off completely if the casino offers this feature.
This is much easier to do online at live casino tables, which is easily one of our favorite reasons for playing live online casino games.
Fewer variations of live dealer games
One of the reasons we love online casinos are all the variations of table games and cards they offer. This is especially true for games like blackjack and roulette, where you will find no less than 10 to 15 variations between the two in all the casinos you join.
Variants are fun to play because each one has different rules, payouts and bets. They are different to try if you are exhausted by the regular versions.
Unfortunately, live casinos do not offer as many variations. They may have a handful, but you’ll have to join two or three of them to find even a fraction of the variants you’ll find in an RNG casino.
This won’t bother most people, as most players are happy to play roulette or blackjack. But people who often play these games will miss the variety that normal online casinos offer.
This sums up the main differences between traditional online casinos and dealers. Here’s how we summarize this section.
- If you want to play hundreds of hands per hour, play for the smallest limits and play in total isolation, then animated games are the solution.
- If you want realism, the ability to socialize, or the ability to play for thousands of dollars per hand, then dealer animated games are a better option.
Of course, there is no reason not to play both.
Now let’s take a look at the main differences between online casinos with live dealers and land-based casinos.
Live Dealer Casinos offer unique promotions
Land-based casinos offer promotions. For example, most have counting programs where you receive points for every bet you make. You can use your points to pay for buffets, show tickets and even rooms.
That’s not bad, but we think that dealer casinos offer much better promotions. Here are the types of offers you can get online.
- Deposit Bonus – Make a deposit and the site will give you a percentage.
- Free Bet – Make your first bet in the live casino and if it loses, they will refund it.
- VIP Programs – These programs are similar to land-based casino VIP programs, except that the benefits are better.
We go into more detail about each type of offer in a later section. And we’ll talk about the conditions you’ll accept when you take advantage of one of these offers … and what you want to consider before doing so.
Play live games anywhere
Live dealer games and land games are similar in many ways. But they are totally different, especially because you can play live dealer games anywhere in the world where you have access to the internet.
You can play blackjack with a live dealer in your bathtub, play sic bo while watching the game on the couch or play Monopoly while sitting on the toilet.
When was the last time you played your favorite land-based blackjack game outside the casino?
Online gambling offers a level of comfort that land-based casinos simply can’t compete with.
The limits of live dealer tables are smaller
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the table limits for live and land-based games are the same. They used to be, but things are changing.
Land-based casinos have long had a $5 minimum limit for games like blackjack. They would only go as high as $10 or more on weekends or at busy events such as the Super Bowl.
Today, many land-based blackjack games are $10 a hand on normal days and are higher on weekends and at special events.
Table limits for online dealer games are high compared to live games, but are becoming cheaper than in land-based casinos. In addition, we have never seen a live online casino increase its minimum bet to take advantage of extra traffic.
Live dealer casinos have more tables
What happens when you want to play a land-based blackjack game but the table is full? You move on to the next one. And what happens when the table is full?
You are out of luck. Or you try another location.
This is not a question for online casinos with live dealers. They have many tables with different stakes and languages.
And even if you haven’t found an open table (which is unlikely), you can connect to another site in seconds and enjoy another advantage of online gambling.
Live Dealer Casinos offer unique variants
Land-based casinos have limited room for manoeuvre. They must therefore offer the most popular (and most profitable) table games. They have no room for anything else.
This is not a problem for online casinos, even for live dealer studios. Many of them have entire rooms or studios dedicated to live gaming. This gives them the freedom to offer more variations, even the less popular ones.
For example, the live dealer supplier, Evolution Gaming, offers unique games such as Lightning Roulette, MONOPOLY Live, Two-handed Hold’em and Dream Catcher.
You won’t find these games in a land survey. But you will find them, along with many other unique variations offered at the best real money online dealer casinos.
Save money by playing at live dealer casinos
Even if you play for similar stakes, you will save more money by playing live dealer games than by playing land-based table and card games.
There are several reasons for this.
- You will not spend any money going to or from the casino. The farther away you are, the more money you save.
- You will not spend money on food, drinks or entertainment.
- You will not spend money on tips.
Everything also costs more in a very touristy place (like Las Vegas). You will spend several dollars for bottled water, $30 or more for food, $5 or more for ATM fees, etc.
That’s all the money you can save if you choose to gamble online instead.
Live Dealer Casinos give you the opportunity to discuss
One of the attractions of online dealer casinos is the possibility of meeting each other. You can chat with the dealer or your table mates, just like in a land-based casino.
But what we like about live dealer games is that you don’t have to chat with anyone. If someone wants to talk but you don’t feel like it, or if someone is reprimanding you, just ignore them or turn off your chat.
Think about how difficult it is to ignore someone in a land playground. It is difficult. Other players might think you are a jerk. And if you tell the abuser to leave you alone, the problem may get worse.
It’s not an online problem. You can talk when you feel like it and ignore it when you don’t feel like it.
This summarizes the main differences between online dealer games and land-based casino games. Here’s how we summarize it.
- If you want to take a vacation, visit sites, attend shows, enjoy free drinks, etc. and you have money to spend, then playing at a land-based casino is an option to consider.
- If you only want to spend what you have to spend, if you want to have the opportunity to socialize and if you want more variations, features and promotions, then online dealer casinos are the best option.
But then again, there is no reason why you can’t take advantage of both options. This is the way we like to do things.
Live casino promotions
We have already mentioned that one of the advantages of online gambling is the possibility to benefit from promotions. They are much better than the promotions offered by land-based casinos.
In this section, we will explore the different promotions that the top online casino live dealers offer, as well as the terms and conditions you accept when you claim one.
The most common promotion of live casinos
The most common offer is the free live casino bet. It’s not exactly what it looks like. The site doesn’t give you $10 or $20 to spend for free.
Live casinos don’t give you the free bet this way because it’s too easy for people to take advantage of it. Think about it, how easy would it be to create an account, claim the free bet, and then cash it out?
All the scammers would rush into it. The casino wouldn’t stand a chance.
What they do instead is treat the free bet as insurance. If you accept the offer and make a live bet at the casino and win, you get nothing. But if you lose, the casino will pay you back.
The amount varies from place to place, but it is usually less than $30. And this offer is only valid for your first bet in their live dealer casino, so make sure you have your ducks in a row before you start playing.
Deposit Bonus
The deposit bonus is the most common promotion offered by real money online casino dealers. They offer to match your first deposit (or a series of deposits), which can add 50% or more to your capital instantly.
For example, the live online dealer casino you join offers a 150% bonus up to $1,000. The casino will give you $1.50 for every dollar you deposit.
Here are some examples of what a 150% bonus (with a $1,000 cap) looks like depending on the amount you deposit.
10 deposit + $15 bonus = $25 in funds
100 deposit + $150 bonus = $250 in funds
500 deposit + $750 bonus = $1,250 in funds
1,000 deposit + $1,500 bonus = $2,500 in funds
5,000 deposit + $1,500 bonus = $6,500 in funds
A deposit bonus can add a significant amount to your capital. You can play 200 additional hands of $5 blackjack or 1,000 additional spins of roulette with the bonus example above.
Details, such as match percentage, bonus amount, etc., vary from site to site.
Terms and conditions also vary. And this is the most important aspect of the deposit bonus. This is especially true for players of table games, as the deposit bonus conditions are not very good for these games.
You’ll see what we mean in a moment.
VIP Program
VIP programs vary greatly from casino to casino.
Some establishments offer a cashback program where you earn points for every wager you make. Once you have accumulated enough points, you can redeem them for cashback.
Other loyalty programs are more sophisticated. You earn points, which can sometimes still be used for cashback. But the points you earn will also determine your VIP “status”. The higher your status, the better the benefits you can get.
For example, let’s say there are four levels in a VIP program.
Bronze – 0 point
Argent – 500 points
Or – 2 500 points
Diamant – 5 000 points
If you get 1 point for every $10 you spend, you will move up from Bronze to Silver level as soon as you spend $5,000.
Some casinos reset your points to zero each month, which means that you must regain your status. Others will give you your status for a few months, while others will give you your status for life.
You’ll want to progress because you’ll enjoy better benefits, bonuses, faster cash-outs, free withdrawals, higher table limits, etc.
Sometimes the benefits don’t change, they just get better. For example, you can get a $100 bonus to reach the Silver level and a $500 bonus to reach the Gold level.
Like all the promotions we’ve talked about so far, the VIP programs vary a lot. And if they matter to you, you’ll want to compare programs to find the one that will reward you the most for the games and challenges you plan to play.
Unique Live Dealer Casino Offers
The above live reseller promotions are the most common. These are the “staples” you can count on in any casino.
But many real money online casinos offer unique promotions for their live dealer games. These vary, so you’ll want to read our reviews or visit the casinos you’re interested in to see what they have to offer.
Here are a few examples of live dealer offers we’ve seen in the past.
- Bet $600 at roulette and get $25 free
- Win five consecutive blackjack hands at $5/hand or higher and the casino will double your fifth win.
- Win at least $5 on 30 hands of blackjack and receive 20 free spins on a slot machine.
- Place yourself among the top xxx players on a live dealer leaderboard to get a share of the prize pool.
- Win with a hand of the heart to earn an additional $10
You got it. There are all kinds of offers made by live online casino dealers. Many of these offers are not open-ended. They are available for a limited time, made at random.
This is one of the reasons why it makes sense to have multiple live dealer casino accounts. Even if you don’t play at all casinos all the time, you can at least receive their promotional newsletters to see what they offer each week.
Because you never know when you’ll see the perfect promotion with reasonable terms and conditions.
Online Casino Bonus Terms and Conditions
Until now, we have touted the promotion of online casinos as one of the great advantages of playing live online dealer games with real money. But there is something you need to know about them.
Every promotion has its share. These offers are not free.
Most offers will require you to make a deposit or play a certain number of hands or wager a specific amount before you can get your bonus, free bet or cash out your winnings.
Online casinos have bonus conditions to prevent people from taking advantage of them. They don’t want anyone to create an account, claim a bonus and cash out immediately without playing.
Remember that casinos are there to make money. Once you have accepted this, the bonus conditions, such as the rollover obligation, are easier to accept.
Live dealer casino reviews
You could spend several days and hundreds of dollars to find a safe and secure online dealer casino. And that’s assuming you are lucky enough to find one.
Unfortunately, many people end up playing at a dishonest site. This has consequences of varying degrees of severity. You can join a casino that is simply no fun to play or has crap live dealer games. You can also join a casino that scams people.
Either way, you won’t have any fun.
A better approach is to rely on us for information. You can take our recommendations at face value and join one of the best live dealer casinos we recommend. Or you can read our reviews to find out more about each one before you make your choice.
Some of our reviews are about a live casino, while others have a section on live dealer casinos. In both cases, we include the following information in each review we write.
- Types of live dealer games available
- The stakes of the table you can play at
- Variants you can play
- Dealers’ working hours
- Live casino features, sometimes gambling by gambling
- The quality of the feed and the games
- What online dealer promotions you can take advantage of
- The live dealer suppliers that the casino works with
- Terms and Conditions
- The mobile live dealer applications that each casino offers
Our reviews also include information about the casino itself, such as the company, its reputation, banking options, other games, etc.
The idea is to give you the information you need to determine if a real money live dealer casino is right for you, given the games and stakes you want to play. You can also compare two or more sites to find the one that’s right for you.
You’ll notice that we’re not the only ones that publish reviews of live casinos. But what makes our reviews unique is that we include both the good and bad sides we find. We don’t hide anything.
You’ll know exactly what you’re getting into when you finish reading one of our reviews. That’s exactly how it should be.
FAQs on Live Real Dealer Online Casinos
✅Les can blackjack players count cards?
Can you? Of course they can. The question is, should you?
You see, most online dealer casinos have clauses in their terms and conditions that explicitly state that card counting is prohibited. You risk losing your winnings, and perhaps even your account if you are caught breaking this rule. But nowhere have we seen the prohibition of using a basic strategy. This option is worth considering if you want to reduce the house margin.
✅Puis do I chat with the dealers?
Yes, many dealers will start talking to you once you are seated. They will greet you and ask how you are doing. They will also answer your questions and make conversation with you.
✅Que what happens if the live feed is lost?
Casinos usually give you a refund if the connection problem is at home. However, we recommend that you read their terms and conditions to be sure.
If the problem is on your side, chances are you will lose time if you don’t reconnect quickly enough. In any case, your hand or trick will play. If you lose the hand, you lose your bet, and vice versa.
✅Puis can i play live dealer games in demo mode?
It depends on the provider and the site. Most real money live dealer casinos do not allow you to do so, although they do allow you to watch games that others play. We’ve only seen one or two exceptions.
The good news is that many live casinos have minimum bets in the $1 to $3 range, and they deal fewer hands or spins per hour. So you don’t need a lot of money to play live games.
✅Les do live dealer casinos use random number generators?
No, dealer casinos operate like a land-based casino.
They either shuffle the cards manually or use a machine to do so. And they deal the hand as a dealer would in a land-based casino.
✅Les are online casinos safe and secure?
Yes, they must be licensed like all other casinos. And they have people they have to answer to if and when something goes wrong.
Also, live dealer casinos are very good because you can watch the dealers. If they’re trying to make a quick shot, chances are you’ll notice. And if you don’t, their table manager will.
✅Puis can i play live dealer games with a bad internet connection?
We do not recommend playing live dealer games with real money over a dial-up connection. You may find it difficult to maintain a quality stream.
If you use streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, your connection is probably good enough to play live casino games.
✅Combien how much time do I have to make my bets?
That depends on the casino. Most of them have time limits to make sure the games are progressing at a decent pace, which is important because they are much slower than RNG games.
Most of the casinos we have seen have a time limit of 30 seconds. That’s a lot of time to make a decision, even if you have to look for the right strategy before you act.
