If you enjoy playing computer-generated online slots and classic table & card games at online casinos and want to take your experience to the next level, then you may want to try playing live dealer casino games, which are now more popular than ever.

Unlike regular online casino games, where everything from the graphics, sound effects, and animations are computer-generated and use frequently tested Random Number Generators (RNGs) to produce the predetermined results/outcomes, the majority of live casino games are not computer-generated.

In other words, apart from live dealer online slot machines and the computer-generated second-screen bonus rounds that some live dealer games have, the action is presented and streamed to you in real-time by friendly and professionally trained human beings (also known as live dealers, hosts or croupiers).

They are just like land-based casinos, except they can only be accessed online at participating iGaming sites, and you can only play live dealer games across the internet from any modern Wi-Fi/internet-connected desktop computer or mobile device, provided you are of legal age to gamble online in your country.

If you’re new to live dealer casinos, want to learn more about these highly sophisticated games and possibly start playing today’s most famous titles on a fully licensed and regulated online casino, you’ve come to the right place.

Here is a complete guide to playing live dealer games in 2024.

Getting started playing live games for the first time

To play live dealer games from multi-award-winning online casino software providers such as Evolution Gaming and Pragmatic Play, you must first find a reputable site like Stake Casino, which is legally permitted to offer live dealer casino services in many countries.

This world-class site is fully licensed and regulated by several top-tier licensing authorities/gaming commissions, making it one of the world’s safest and most secure sites.

Registering a free account takes just a minute or so, and then, as soon as your new account has been activated, you can start playing straight away.

Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

1. As soon as your new account has been activated on reputable sites like Stake.com set a reasonable budget before depositing, and then go straight to the ‘safer gambling tools’ section to manually set things like session time reminders, win/loss limits, or [daily, weekly or monthly] deposit limits to ensure you remain within your budget
2. When signed into your new account from your preferred device, go to the secure banking/cashier section so you can deposit and claim your initial sign-up bonus. Live dealer games are NOT available in the free-play demo mode, so you would need to deposit real money to play them. The minimum deposit amount is usually $/€/£10 or $/€/£20, depending on the deposit method used
3. To play any live dealer games, look for the Live Casino button from the main navigation bar. Clicking or tapping this button will instantly redirect you to where you to the main live dealer lobby
4. To narrow down your search when looking for something to play, you can enter the name of the game into the onsite search engine (if you know the name of the game) for instant results or scroll down through the list and click/tap any of the live dealer thumbnails to launch the game. Alternatively, you can filter the games by ‘provider’ (e.g., Evolution, Live88 or Pragmatic Play) or sort them by most ‘popular,’ ‘featured,’ or alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A)
5. When you are choosing which games to play, decide whether you want to try classic table and card games, such as roulette, blackjack, poker, baccarat, craps or any other dice games, TV game show-themed live dealer games or live dealer online slots
6. When you find a suitable game that you think you will enjoy playing, click or tap on its thumbnail, and it should load in just a few seconds
7. Before placing a bet, make sure you watch the video tutorials (which most games have) or at least read through the rules and familiarise yourself with the different bet types, odds/implied probability rates, and payout structure for that game
8. When you are ready to play, use the responsive player controls displayed on the overlay interface before the countdown timer reaches zero, because don’t forget, live dealer games are streamed in real-time 24/7. Unlike computer-generated casino games, where you have more control over when the cards are dealt or when the reels are spun (where there is no countdown timer), you have less control when playing live dealer games, so you must always concentrate on the action to ensure your bets get placed in time

Other important things to remember

Most live dealer games are playable from as little as $/€/£0.10 or $/€/£0.20 per hand/round/spin or $/€/£1.00, $/€/£2.00 or $/€/£5.00 per spin, depending on the table limits for that particular game you are about to play.

Before sitting down at a table or launching a live dealer slot or TV game show, take a closer look at the betting limits for that game to see which options will be more suitable based on your current bankroll.

If you consider yourself a social person, then you may be pleased to learn that you can use the instant live chat messaging feature when playing live dealer games to communicate directly with the host who’s presenting the action to you.

If they read your message, they will reply by talking to you through the camera. They can’t see or hear you, nor can any of the other active players. You can use this socially interactive feature to chat with the dealers and any other active players by typing your messages into the correct field.

Final thoughts

Before playing certain live dealer games, you may want to start by seeing if a computer-generated version of that game is available to play in the free-play demo mode in the regular casino.

You can then practice playing until you have learned the rules and tried a few basic strategies. Then, when you have learned how to play, you can head to the live dealer casino with more confidence to try the live dealer version.

The most important thing to remember is to gamble responsibly at all times to have a safe and fun live dealer experience each time you log in to play.

In other words, don’t forget to use the safer gambling tools, take frequent session breaks, try not to chase any losses you incur, never gamble while tired, under the influence, or intoxicated, and place strategic bets to ensure you remain well within your budget.

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