The live dealer casino scene is one of the fastest growing subsectors of the iGaming industry. An industry that has been projected to be worth over $127 billion by Grand View Research in the next five-to-six years. Live dealer gaming will be at the heart of this industry’s growth, as more players seek an authentic and immersive gaming experience that’s as close to sitting down in a brick-and-mortar casino as possible.
The boon of HTML5 technology, which is the universal language that works on web browsers like Mozilla Firefox, along with the proliferation of 4G and 5G connectivity, has made it possible for live dealer casino games to be enjoyed on any device, regardless of screen size. HD-quality streams of live casino table games bring players closer to the action than ever before, with new and exciting variants being unveiled with every month that passes. If you’re thinking of delving into the delights of live-streamed casino gaming this year, read on as we outline the latest releases that are already setting pulses racing in regulated iGaming markets worldwide.
Quantum Roulette
If you have been brought up on a fare of European or American Roulette rules and you fancy trying something different, there are two new variants to sample with the leading iGaming operators. The first of which is Quantum Roulette, which is played with a trained human dealer and a slingshot European Roulette wheel. Before each spin begins, some individual numbers are awarded a ‘Quantum Multiplier’, transforming the potential payout of these numbers on straight up bets from 50x to 500x your initial stake. No more than five numbers are applied with Quantum Multipliers in a single spin.
Lightning Roulette
Lightning Roulette operates in a very similar vein to Quantum Roulette. Before every game round, the roulette wheel is struck by lightning within the live dealer studio, ramping up the potential win multipliers for up to five random numbers. As with Quantum Roulette, the potential payouts range from 50x to 500x. This is a significant increase on conventional straight up bets on European Roulette, which have a ceiling of 35x multipliers. Players can drag betting chips on their chosen bets on the virtual roulette table in the usual manner.
Casino Races
It’s also possible to play live dealer casino games as part of ‘Casino Races’ with certain iGaming operators. At PokerStarCasino, players can entire a live casino race from the homepage, with players entering a seven-day real-time tournament, tasked with accruing as many points as possible to reach the top of the leaderboard. Points are accrued through placing and winning bets at the live casino tables. Those who manage to do so will win the Casino Race and the top cash prize.
Football Studio
If you consider yourself mad about soccer as much as casino games, Football Studio seems like the perfect fusion for you. This live dealer game is a top card game, played in a genuinely atmospheric soccer stadium atmosphere. The live game host is dressed as a sports commentator too to add to the authenticity. Bet on either the “Home” or “Away” card, or the “Draw”. The dealer draws one card to Home and one to Away. The team with the highest value card wins the game. It really is that simple. The Home and Away payouts are at even money but the Draw bet is worth 11:1. Most players tend to avoid this because the size of the payout is not commensurate with the probability of a tie occurring.
The Money Drop
One of the most recent arrivals to the live dealer scene, The Money Drop is the brainchild of iGaming pioneers Playtech. This gameshow is a celebration of similar Money Drop television series, including The Million Pound Drop in the UK, which was subsequently adapted and used in over 50 nations worldwide. In the UK it has since changed its name to The £100k Drop. Players can land on multipliers worth up to 5000x on the wheel of chance, with players required to spread their risk across ‘Drop Zones’ in the hope of a massive payday.
Infinite Blackjack
Devised by Evolution Gaming in a bid to scale up their live dealer blackjack offering, Infinite Blackjack is a real-time blackjack game open to an unlimited number of players. How does that work? Surely the game would be super slow with an infinite number of players at the table? In actual fact, each active player is dealt the same two-card hand. Each player than independently decide whether to stand, hit, double down or split the hand. There’s four exciting side bets on offer too. It also offers a low minimum bet, which makes Infinite Blackjack a great entry-level version for live casino blackjack newbies.
Monopoly Live
If you’re a fan of the family favorite board game and Mr. Monopoly himself, you’re sure to love immersing yourself in the live dealer studio game Monopoly Live. The game is based around a Wheel of Fortune-style wheel, with players able to wager on which number segment the wheel lands on. If you land on the ‘2 Rolls’ or ‘4 Rolls’ segments, you’ll be taking to the virtual Monopoly Live bonus game, where you advance around a lifelike Monopoly board, picking up prizes along the way. The game fuses live dealer action with augmented reality (AR) too, with Mr. Monopoly present in the studio, waiting to show you the bonus feature.
Power Blackjack
Power Blackjack first appeared on the iconic Las Vegas Strip on the casino floors of Paris and Fitzgerald’s. It has since graduated seamlessly to the online casino scene. Power Blackjack is an eight-deck game of blackjack, which pays 3:2 on blackjacks. It’s all about the four side bets in Power Blackjack, which add a unique twist to every round of betting. You can bet on ‘Hot3’ which pays out up to 100:1 if your first two cards and the dealer’s up card add up between 19 and 21. Three sevens yield the biggest payout. The ‘21+3’ side bet pays out 100:1 if your first two cards and the dealer’s upcard form a three-card poker hand. A suited three-of-a-kind yields the top payout. The ‘Any Pair’ side bet pays out 7:1 or 20:1 when your first two cards form a pair or suited pair. Finally, the ‘Bust It’ side bet pays out whenever the dealer busts their hand. The more cards in their busted hand, the higher the payout.
