How live dealer games work
A live casino streams a real table from a studio. A dealer handles physical cards, a wheel or a card shoe, cameras and sensors capture the result, and the software turns that into the table you see on screen. Because the outcome comes from physical equipment rather than an RNG, the odds follow the same maths as the land-based version of the game. You place bets inside a timed betting window before each round closes.
Common live casino games
The core of any live casino is the classic table games, and most lobbies add presenter-led formats on top.
- Live blackjack: the same rules as the RNG version, with seat-based and unlimited-seat variants at some tables.
- Live roulette: usually single-zero European wheels, plus variants with multiplier side features that change the payout structure.
- Live baccarat: fast rounds with the same banker, player and tie bets as the standard game.
- Game shows: wheel-of-fortune and number-matching formats hosted by a presenter. These are built around bonus rounds and multipliers and usually have a higher house edge than the classic games.
- Live poker variants: casino-style poker games played against the dealer rather than other players.
Live casino bonuses: what to check
Live games are often treated differently from slots in bonus terms. Many offers exclude live tables entirely, and where they are allowed they commonly contribute a small share of each bet toward wagering. A maximum bet rule while a bonus is active is also common, and live tables can have minimum bets higher than that cap, which makes the bonus impossible to use on them.
If live dealer play is why you are here, look for cashback or reload offers that name live games as eligible, and read the contribution and maximum-bet lines before depositing.
Practical points before you play
Table limits vary widely, from low-stakes tables to high-roller rooms, so check the minimum and maximum before you sit down. Side bets pay big but carry a much larger house edge than the main bet. The stream needs a stable connection: operators handle dropped connections differently, so check their rules on what happens to a bet placed just before you disconnect. Crypto deposits and withdrawals do not depend on card networks, which can make funding and cashing out after a session quicker, though processing times and identity checks still vary by operator.