GPWA Times - Issue 20 - March 2012

COVER STORY: Lower margins? Maybe. Higher rollers? Definitely. Live dealers are bringing the brick-and-mortar experience online By Aaron Todd A drian Carli wasn’t a gaming industry veteran when he first thought of opening a live dealer online casino. In fact, he was just trying to support himself and his son while he attended Universidadde las Américasmedical school in Costa Rica when he started looking into streaming live casino games online. “I got about two weeks into the project before I realized that in order to do it suc- cessfully, you needed a large multidisci- plinary team in order to fully implement and launch a successful casino,” says Carli. He also discovered that he wasn’t the first to think of the idea, and got a license to run a live casino with a provider that was already offering live dealer software. He quickly realized, however, that the compa- ny wasn’t a good fit for him and switched gears with his site, turning it into an on- line casino affiliate site. After graduating from medical school, Carli stayed in the online gambling in- dustry, deciding he was having more fun and had a better lifestyle as an af- filiate webmaster than he would have had as a physician. And while his first attempt at a live dealer casino never came to fruition, he never gave up on the idea. “I still believed in live games,” says Carli. “I thought that live games were going to be the future. It’s much more engaging, a bet- ter enriched experience for online players.” Three years ago, he launched Lucky Live Casino and started Live Casino Partners, an affiliate program that promotes Lucky Live Casino and Celtic Casino. Both on- line casinos promote live dealer games almost exclusively. It’s a market that’s growing rapidly. According to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC), $18.7 billion was wagered on live dealer games at online ca- sinos in 2008. This year, GBGC estimates that number will grow to $40.8 billion for growth of 118percent in just four years’ time. Technology, trust driving growth Online casinos were up and running for more than 10 years before live dealer games Photo courtesy of Euro Partners. 41 Lower margins ? Maybe. Higher rollers ? Definitely.