GPWA Times - Issue 20 - March 2012

Nuts and bolts Live dealer games are a hybrid of brick-and-mortar and tra- ditional online casino table games. In roulette, players place their bets on a virtual table, while they can see a live feed of the croupier and roulette wheel. In baccarat and blackjack, the dealer runs oversized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) playing cards over a reader that transmits the signal to the online casino software, displaying the results to the player in a graphical display. In the case of blackjack, the player can then make decisions on how to play the hand. Roulette and baccarat are fairly simple and can accommodate thousands of players at the same virtual table. After placing their initial bet, players simply wait to find out if they won or lost. Blackjack, however, presents a more difficult challenge. Because players can make decisions, software providers must either provide enough tables to meet demand (up to seven players can be seated at most blackjack tables), or they must get creative. While Playtech casinos offer players their own hand to play at their live dealer blackjack tables, both Celtic Casino, which utilizes Visionary iGaming software, and Lucky Live Casino of- fer players basic strategy blackjack with early payout. Players can stand whenever they like, but are only offered the option to split or hit when basic strategy dictates that would be the correct play. Players may also take an early payout, limiting their losses or locking in their wins, before the dealer’s hand is complete. For instance, if you’ve wagered $5 and are dealt a 20 with the dealer showing a 5, you can lock in a $3.25 profit by ending the hand right there. Or, if you don’t feel good about your 16 vs. a dealer’s 10, you can take a $2.80 loss and get back $2.20 of your wager. Smart Live Casino software deals a unique version with just one hand vs. the dealer. The player is dealt two cards and the dealer is dealt one, then cards are dealt between the two hands and are arranged in the graphical display based on how the player chooses to play the hand. If the player hits, it goes into the player’s hand. If the player stands and the dealer needs to hit, the card is dealt to the dealer. While these unique solutions allow many players to play blackjack with just one table being streamed, Piski and Carli both emphasize that their software providers plan on streaming multiple tables, giving each player who wants a seat at a live dealer blackjack table the opportunity to play his or her own hand. Popularity Roulette is by far the most popular online casino game, with roughly 70 percent of revenue from Live Casino Partners prop- erties won on roulette. About 20 percent of LCP’s revenues come from baccarat, with 10 percent coming from blackjack. The hottest regions for live casino games are Asia and Eastern and Southern Europe, according to GBGC research. Photo courtesy of Euro Partners.