Live Roulette refers to online games where you bet on a physical table and wheel through a site or app on the Internet. Unlike virtual roulette, which are computer-generated video game simulations powered by RNGs (random number generators), in Live Roulette, you interact with a real person or croupier who spins the wheel and manages the bets in a studio or land-based casino. Another word for it would be remote roulette.
Another variant is Automatic roulette, which you play on a live wheel without a croupier. The wheel is operated by a machine that is pneumatically driven. These variants are popular with players who like a fast game but still want to play on a physical wheel rather than a video simulation.
Note that Automatic Roulette games randomly vary the wheel spin speed, so if you are looking for a “Dealer Signature,” you are unlikely to find one from a machine.
Play Live Roulette Games
So, you can play virtual or video roulette, a computer simulation of a roulette table (these days, these are very life-like). This is similar in some ways to play a slot machine, and we review a wide selection of virtual roulette games and casinos on this site.
OR, you can play live roulette with dealers at sites like Wombat Casino, where you place your bets on a real table at a real casino or in a studio, and watch the action unfold over a webcam feed.
Wombat has both Net Ent and Evolution live gaming feeds. Or check out the live roulette tables over at All British Live Casino or 32Red – other great options.
Players looking for biased roulette wheels favour these kinds of games. You can also play live games on a TV channel. These games are harder to find now as the quality of the web games is so good.
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So which are the superior games? Well, both have their advantages. Virtual roulette is fast, there’s always a seat free, and there are hundreds of variants to choose from, whether you prefer French Roulette, Mini Roulette or American Roulette.
Live roulette, such as the games at Monkey Casino, is closer to the experience that you’d get at Las Vegas, Macau or Monaco. The game is played on actual wheels. And some people prefer this: a real wheel will have tiny imperfections and some players believe this gives them an edge. We’d caution that modern wheels are manufactured flawlessly, but you make up your mind.
And not only that, the game developers have really upped the ante on the production front. Take a game like Evolution Immersive Roulette for example. They stream this at 200 frames per second across multiple camera angles, with slow-motion replays and a powerful betting panel. It’s about as engaging as you can get.
Pros and Cons of Live Dealer Games
Live Roulette takes place on an actual wheel
The game tends to be more social, with interaction with the croupier and other players
The atmosphere is closer to a land-based casino roulette game
Optimised for mobiles.
The games can be slow, although many casinos offer speed or turbo versions with up to 2 spins a minute
They can be laggy on slow connections. Make sure you have fast Internet
It can be difficult to play your bets on faster games as there is a set time in between spins. Make sure you have fast Internet It can be difficult to play your bets on faster games because there is a set time between spins. Make sure you are organised before you hit the table.
More Casinos
Most of the casinos listed here have virtual roulette games as well (video roulette). Some offer an additional bonus for live roulette players, and many of them (such as All British) also enables you to play on your mobile or tablet. Some started offering live games and have since expanded into virtual games, slots and sports betting.
Some people like the authentic feel of playing at a real casino, with live dealers. It’s not as fast, but it’s more social, too- you can chat with the other players and the dealer. In terms of odds, both versions of the game deliver the same chance of winning (as long as you compare virtual European Roulette with Live European Roulette, for example.
Unless there is an imperfection in their wheel, of course, but then that is a whole different conversation …. 😉
What Exactly is A Live Casino?
Well, it’s not actually “alive.” Unlike virtual casinos, live casinos have real-life croupiers on the other side of the table. It’s a bit like the roulette you see on satellite TV (e.g., on BSkyB).
Rather than having a random number generator (RNG) spinning your wheel, an actual person at the roulette wheel interacts with you. You can ask them questions about the various bets (such as the more exotic bets like Voisins Du Zero or Black Splits), or you can chat. It’s less impersonal and more social! (You can also have a conversation with the other players).
The Best Live Roulette
As always, this is a matter of opinion. Many top casino game developers like Playtech and Microgaming have joined the live casino bandwagon. They now have their studios located in places like Eastern Europe, Latvia, etc.
The technology is pretty good, and the webcam streams are pretty slick, but personally speaking, we like to play with croupiers who have a good level of English, as this is our mother tongue, which is not always the case with some of these studios. Playtech, or whoever, will run the studio and then beam that out to multiple casino partners.
Live Roulette Tips
f you want to play on a physical wheel, but prefer a fast game, then try Auto Roulette with a physical wheel that is spun automatically. You watch the action unfold over a live webcam feed. These live roulette variants tend to be faster than games with a croupier.
Some good live dealer games have been designed for fast play, such as Speed Roulette. It helps if you are organised when placing your bets, as there is little time between spins. These variants are suitable for testing systems.
Some of the more prominent players, like 888, have exclusive tables, which is better, but if we are playing live roulette, we prefer to play on a table developed by companies like Evolution Gaming which specialise in this area. You can tell the difference in the quality of the feed.
Lightning Roulette, for example, has a theatrical feel, and they work hard to immerse you in the game- it’s electrically charged! Hence the name.
We also enjoy playing at are casinos that specialise in live games, such as 32Red Casino and Virgin Games.
There are 2 main variants of live roulette. Most tables are located in a Studio owned by the live gaming company who is running the table you happen to be playing at. Evolution, for example, has 9 studios worldwide in Latvia, Malta, Georgia, Romania, Vancouver: Canada, Atlantic City: New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Spa: Belgium.
Many companies have also tied up with land-based casinos. They run the feed directly from the table at the casino (Authentic Gaming is the market leader here).
This is a growing area within the online casino industry. Players seem to like the authenticity you get playing on a live dealer table. There are over 20 main providers we can think of, and the number goes up if we are talking smaller players. The main companies include Evolution, Pragmatic Play, Authentic, Playtech, NetEnt, Microgaming, Amaya, Media Live, Vivo Gaming and Asia Live Tech. The industry is consolidating though. We expect this list to shorten!
This is the age old conspiracy theory that does the rounds on the Internet: the idea that live roulette wheels are rigged in some kind of Al Capone fashion, with magnets under the wheel and so on. On the face of it, this would be pretty easy to pull off, wouldn’t it?, given that the players sit remotely from the wheel.
The first point to make is that any reputable casino will be audited in order to get their licence to operate. You should avoid shoddy outfits, that goes without saying, but we are confident that the casinos that we feature are playing by the rules.
The second point to make, is that the casinos already have a house edge on the roulette table. It is in their interest to make sure that their players come back and play and enjoy themselves. If an online casino is in it for the long term, they wouldn´t last long employing shady tactics. You can give yourself a measure of comfort by tracking the results on the wheel. Do they look statistically normal? The distribution of reds and blacks will tend to normalise to 47% / 47% (with the rest reserved for the green) over time. Play with small bets first and you will soon spot any obvious skews.
The third point is that skewing the wheel is actually a pretty dangerous game for a casino. If you look at some of the characters who have taken the casinos to the cleaners on roulette over the years, most of them have spotted imperfections on the wheel. It works both ways!
That depends on what you are after. For design, we like Immersive Roulette with all of its camera angles and slow motion replays. If we want to play fast, we like Speed Roulette. And for a speciality game, we like to play Lightning Roulette.
The online casino industry has developed with companies specialised in offering packages of games and design houses who develop the games and then license them out. It is quite a complex business with all of the regulation involves which varies by country, so people tend to specialise in one way or another. Evolution, for example, designs live roulette games and will supply their software to lots of different casinos. You may well be able to play at the same wheel in the same studio across multiple casinos, although some of the larger operators have their own exclusive tables.
Live Dealer roulette always has a croupier – a physical person operating the wheel. They are responsible for spinning the wheel, throwing the white ball and calling the results. Some players believe that this can result in a “Dealer Signature” which (if you can map it) will give you an edge. We think that’s hard on today’s wheels. Live Automatic Roulette wheels are theoretically more random. A machine does the work of spinning the wheel and releasing the white ball. This variant is closer to video roulette, only the action still takes place on a physical wheel. Some players prefer the speed of the games on the automatic variants. There is less chatting on more betting going on!
Automatic Roulette
If you are looking for a fast game but still want to play on a physical wheel, then you should try Automatic Roulette. These games have a physical wheel, but the machine releases the ball mechanically. You will often see these games in the roulette sections of land-based casinos.
The idea is the same, only you make your bets and watch online.
Featured Game: Lightning Roulette
Lightning Roulette
Evolution Gaming has gone all atmospheric with Lightning Roulette: a highly charged, fast-paced live dealer game for those of you who like your games…
