There’s absolutely no denying it, the latter half of the past decade belongs to the live casino.
Like us, as seasoned casino enthusiasts, you’ll have witnessed and enjoyed all of the groundbreaking innovations that this industry has so generously gifted us over the last few years, especially those that have come within the growing live casino sector.
It didn’t take long for the live casino scene to open up following the launch of the very first online casino in 1996… Since then we’ve seen continual growth alongside advances in technology, leading to where we find ourselves today, celebrating the creation of the captivating live casino game show genre.
What are live casino games?
Live casino games are games that replicate the experience of gambling in a real ‘brick and mortar’ casino. This is achieved by having a camera set up in a studio designed to look like a physical casino table. Here a dealer performs all of the important game actions such as dealing cards and spinning the roulette wheel in real-time.
Players place their bets online using a digital overlay that allows them to select their stake and place bets and side bets where they please, all within a certain time limit to keep the game flowing at a steady pace.
The most common live casino games are roulette, blackjack, baccarat, sic bo, dragon tiger and a number of different variants of poker including casino hold ‘em, Texas hold ‘em, Carribean poker, bet on poker and three card poker.
However the addition of live casino game show titles such as Monopoly Live and Dream Catcher Live and immersive games such as Lightning Roulette have heralded an incredibly exciting new dawn for the live casino genre.
When and why did live casino games become popular?
As players became more familiar with gambling online following the turn of the new millennium, it became clear that the overall experience, whilst enjoyable, could be considered somewhat lonely and isolating compared to playing in person.
The desire for more interaction, coupled with advancements in technology led to developers such as Evolution Gaming and HoGaming creating live casino solutions that saw players given the opportunity to play against a real dealer, in a real casino environment from the comfort of their own home in real time.
Initially, during the early days live casino lobbies were limited to offering just roulette and blackjack. These rooms were only open for a few hours a day at select times, so fans of live casino games had to be alert in order to enjoy their favourite games this way.
In stark contrast, players now have access to hundreds, if not thousands of different live casino games from a number of different developers including Playtech, NetEnt, Ezugi, Microgaming and Pragmatic Play.
The live casino game show boom
Evolution Gaming took the first big step into this exciting world when they released the very first live casino game show game, Dream Catcher Live, in 2017. Ever since then leading developers Evolution Gaming and Playtech have fought tooth and nail amongst themselves to deliver players the most novel and innovative live casino games to players.
For the uninitiated, live casino game show games are an incredibly interactive variant of live casino game that follows the format of a television game show.
Charismatic and glamorous live presenters dazzle audiences with an almost theatrical performance as they host unique games such as money wheels.
Most live casino game show games require very little input from the host themselves other than spinning the wheel, pressing a button or pulling a lever which allows them more time to interact with players who talk to them via live chat.
Like their standard live casino game predecessors, live casino game shows are streamed in real-time from elaborately themed sets which mirror the overall theme of the game, for example Evolution Gaming’s Super Sic Bo is themed entirely around Chinese architecture, the presenter wears an Asian inspired outfit and is surrounded by cherry blossoms.
Currently there are five main types of live casino game show game available to play: money wheel games, roulette games, blackjack games, card games and live slots games.
The future of live casino games
It’s no secret that 2020 is going to see a huge influx of brand new live casino games all thanks to their runaway success over the last couple of years.
Playtech have already announced they’ll be launching a brand new game based around UK game show The £100k Drop. Elsewhere Evolution Gaming have teased no fewer than 12 new games, including what looks to be a Plinko game made famous by iconic game show The Price is Right!
Players are demanding more from developers now they’re fully aware of what can be achieved when innovation and entertainment are put first, which can only be seen as a huge positive.
It’s clear to us that the future of live casino gaming is brighter than it has ever been before.
