When does it seem revolutionary to have a live, actual, person dealing you your hand of blackjack or pai gow? Or to have an actual croupier pull the chips across the table or spin the roulette wheel? After all, isn’t that how casinos have been doing things since … well, since casinos started doing anything?
While it might seem quaint IRL, the concept of live dealer casinos is brand-spanking new on the Internet. Most of the major casinos have now added at least some form of live dealer offering, typically with the most popular games such as blackjack and roulette.
Why the sudden popularity? It turns out that players do want more than just a flat screen and some cute graphics, and casinos locked in a very competitive struggle for control of online share are rising to meet that need. It’s tough to differentiate yourself as a casino – especially on the Internet – and any small edge that can be exploited is generally exploited quite quickly.
Live dealer poker is also becoming popular, but lags behind casino games in terms of availability. The major rooms such as PokerStars have made no move toward the model, and it seems unlikely that they will. The increased overhead of an actual dealer – plus the technology to support it – would add massive costs. Worse still, the room would likely make less money from rake as the pace of hands slowed down. Even the best dealer in the world is little match for the worst online poker software in terms of speed and accuracy.
Live casino dealers seem here to stay, and perhaps will even continue explosive growth if the US market sees regulation soon. As for live poker dealers online, that may be an innovation destined for the digital boneyard as players emphasize quantity of hands over the quality of the experience.
