The live online casino option is still a popular way to play casino games

For many online casino games enthusiasts one of the most popular innovations to be developed since the first online casinos were introduced is the live online casino option. When you take into account the fact that online casinos themselves were not part of the initial plans of the big bookmakers when they first introduced online gambling, the very existence of the live online casino feature now offered on almost every online casino site is even more remarkable because yet again it was not originally planned. Online casinos came about as a result of a decision by one of the first online sports gambling site operators to add a few casino games to their site in an attempt to squeeze a bit more return from their investment. As we now know that decision proved so popular that every other online gambling site operator began to follow suit and more and more games were added leading to what we now know as the online casinos. At that time no one had even considered introducing the option to play online casino games live, the live online casino option only came about in response to doubts being raised as to the fairness of some of these new online casino games. Unfortunately from the point of view of the site operators, the major problem related to one of the most popular traditional casino games, the game of roulette. Almost every casino game featured on an online casino relies on a Random Number Generator or RNG to determine the winning numbers, cards or pictures, and for most games that situation is perfectly acceptable and almost unnoticed by the players. When it came to attempting to illustrate the movement of the ball on a roulette wheel as it moved to the number selected by the RNG however, the software designers were unable to achieve anything looking remotely realistic. We have to remember that gambling money on playing casino games online was a very new idea, so anything which raised doubts about the fairness of those games was bound to cause problems for the site operators and could even have led to the failure of the online casino concept altogether. The online casino site operators and their casino software suppliers had to come up with a satisfactory solution to the problem, and that is why the idea of a live online casino feature came about.

Clearly the best way to ensure that the movement of the ball on a roulette wheel was as natural as possible was to actually use a real roulette wheel. The online casino operators decided to set up remote studios in which real dealers were employed to run the game of roulette using a real roulette wheel. The games were then streamed live to our screens so that we were able to play the game and see a real roulette wheel being used to define the winning number rather than an RNG. For many online casino games players, particularly those who were used to playing casino games in a real casino the live online casino feature was the ideal solution, but not everyone agreed. Employing real dealers and a real roulette wheel clearly resolved the perceived problems relating to the fairness of the games, but it was far more expensive for the site operators than simply managing an internet site. One of the major attractions of an online casino is that the casino games can be played for much smaller stakes than is possible at a real casino because of the lower overheads associated with operating an internet site. Unfortunately many online casino operators decided that they had to increase the minimum table stakes when casino games were played in the live online casino mode, which quite naturally did not suit those player with a smaller budget. There are however a few online casinos which have not increased the minimum table stakes when their games are played in the live online casino mode, but there is another disadvantage of the live casino option in the eyes of many players and that is the timing of the games. Those of us who have experienced the reality of playing roulette in a busy casino will be used to the hustle and bustle of a busy roulette table as everyone hurries to place their bets before the dealer calls a halt, but many online casino customers have never experienced that situation. In fact another advantage of playing casino games at an online casino is that you can take as much time as you like in deciding where to place your bets. That is particularly relevant when playing a game such as roulette which usually entails placing multiple bets on each spin of the wheel. The problem is that when the game is being managed from a remote studio the dealers cannot see the players and therefore have to run each game according to a strict timetable. That means that the players also have a set time in which to place their bets, and that again is not universally popular. Nevertheless the live online casino option has resolved one of the major complaints heard during the early days of online casinos and is still popular among many casino games players who like the fact that the experience casino games in the live casino mode is more like playing in a real casino. We have also seen at least one online casino take the idea of playing casino games such as roulette live using a real roulette wheel and real dealers to another level, by actually streaming the games to our screens from a real casino based in Malta. That really is more like actually playing in a real casino, although it is probably even more expensive to operate and therefore still has the disadvantages we have already identified. Although the live online casino feature is not universally popular for the reasons we have identified in this article, it certainly indicates that the online casino site operators were prepared to listen to the concerns of their customers and that is to be applauded.