Feature Live Dealers – Do They Measure Up?
4 June, 2004
Years ago, when Live Dealer Casino gaming existed only as an idea - a patented idea by a company with no products named i2 Corp - it was commonly believed that it would revolutionize the industry by bringing credibility and transparency to online casinos.
That company, i2 Corp, and their subsidiary Home Gambling Network (HGN), spent most of their time suing companies who they felt were infringing on their patented idea. Over the years, i2 filed patent infringement lawsuits against companies like First Live Casino, Where to Bet, Cable and Wireless, RGT Online, UUNet, Starnet Communications, DrHo.com and Stanley Ho himself.
Those lawsuits put a damper on the production of Live Dealer casino products, but recently there have been some Live Dealer websites opening up for business. HGN has licensed their patent to Casino Web Cam, who in turn has licensed their software to a number of sites. Other companies, like Playtech and Vuetec, have their own live dealer packages available for licensing.
Live dealer casinos are typically identical to the standard casino software packages out there. You sign up, log in, and deposit as you normally would, and the games themselves are similar to the more common RNG-based games. The "live" component is a window in the corner of the screen, which is a live video feed of a dealer, usually a woman, in either a webcam studio or an established land-based casino. Placing your bets as you normally would, the bets are resolved not by a Random Number Generator in a gameserver, but by the spin of a physical roulette wheel or a real deck of cards. You see the results as they occur and are paid out after the bets are resolved.
In theory this overcomes many people's distrust of RNG-based results, which they think could be manipulated by the server. Being able to see results with your own eyes, the theory goes, is proof of the same impartial, independent and non-manipulated outcome that a televised football game would have.
In reality, things such as audited payout statements and RNG certification by reputable companies like TST or BMM can overcome most people's uncertainty. Additionally, just because you can see the results with your own eyes doesn't mean that the results can't be manipulated. Still, for some people, their level of trust is higher when they can see the game with their own eyes.
Below are a few sites that offer the live dealer gaming experience, which can be found in either a download or no-download variety:
www.casinowebcam.com
Web-based software by Casino WebCam, offering Baccarat, Roulette, Blackjack, and Sic Bo.
Offers both live dealer and RNG-based games
Can play Live Dealer games (except Blackjack) with Fun Money.
The video quality is fairly low
www.casinotropez.com
Download software by Playtech, offering Baccarat, Roulette, and Blackjack
Live dealer games are only playable for Real Money
www.drho888.com
Dr. Ho, the famous Macao playboy, licensed the HGN patent but uses his own proprietary no-download software
Offers Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, and Sic Bo.
Has good video quality, and you can choose a video size from 80x60 to 320x240
It must be a very warm webcam studio, as the female dealers are not wearing too much clothing
