If you’re looking to play a hand of poker or have a crack at roulette online rather than making your way into a physical casino, you’ve come to the right place.
Whether live casino games are old hat for you or this is your first time taking a seat at the table, we’ve prepared a handy guide on how live casino works at Casino Time or any other licensed Ontario online casino.
At first glance, you might think that all casino games happen live, but a ‘live casino’ game is just a bit different. Rather than solo-play games like slots, live casino covers games that you play in real-time with other people, or against the house through a dealer.
Through a live stream, it brings physical casino classics like roulette, blackjack, poker, or baccarat into the online space. More recent inventions also include gameshow-type titles such as Wheel of Fortune and Deal-Or-No-Deal.
You can hop into a room to fire up the stream and start placing your bets, all while chatting with other players and the dealer. It’s a great way to have the most authentic and interactive online casino experience not just in Ontario but the world.
Why play live casino:
Heading into a physical casino isn’t always possible and if you’re new to it, hopping into a lobby and playing with others might seem a bit daunting. But it’s simple and easy to get started, and a lot of fun, too! Big reasons for giving live casino a try include:
- Getting the real casino experience with the comfort of playing wherever and whenever you choose
- Playing at real tables with real cards, chips and roulette wheels
- Chatting with the dealer or other players throughout makes it a more social experience
- Enjoying a VIP experience at high-stakes tables – if that’s up your alley.
How does live dealer actually work:
Plugging into a live dealer game might seem outlandish at first, but how it works is pretty straightforward.
The tables themselves are set up in a studio, either run by the online casino or a supplier partner who employs real human dealers. In some cases, the games are even streamed from the floors of real casinos.
The dealers run the games as they would at a table on the casino floor, with cameras and microphones to capture the action as it happens and broadcast it to you on your computer, tablet or smartphone. What you see on the stream is exactly what’s happening on the table in real time!
Through the casino’s interface, you can access the game and place your bets as well as use the chatroom to have a bit of a parlay with the dealer and other players on your table.
Not every online casino is a ‘live casino’ or has live dealer games, so it’s worth keeping an eye out on what’s being offered. Of course, Casino Time is the go-to destination for live casino play in Ontario.
Live dealer games to choose from at Casino Time:
Most live dealer games bring the casino classics to you, along with a few extras.
Roulette
Give the wheel a whirl!
In roulette, you place a bet, this can be a colour (red or black), a number (0 or 00 up to 36) or other wagers like odds or evens. When all bets are placed, the dealer will spin the wheel and a ball is tossed in – where the ball lands is the final result of the wager.
So if you’ve placed $10 on ‘Red’ and the ball lands on the number 7, a red colour, you win! In this game, everyone at the table is competing against the house.
Blackjack
Hit? Call? Bust? You’ve got the power.
The rules of blackjack are pretty simple: try and get as close a number to 21 without going over, beat the dealer and you win! Blackjack is often a popular game because it’s easy to understand, you’re playing against the house and every hand is a ride.
Each player at the table gets dealt two cards and can see one of the dealer’s cards. You’ve got the option to ‘hit’ and get another card, which increases your number, but comes with the risk of getting more than 21 and going ‘bust’ – losing your stake. You can choose to ‘hold’ and hope that you’ve got a better hand than the dealer. There are also options to split and double down, depending on how lucky you’re feeling.
If you’re lucky enough to get 21 on your first draw, blackjack! You win and double your stake.
Baccarat
A guessing game, but more.
In simple terms, baccarat is about guessing which hand – yours or the dealer’s – will win. The aim of the game is to get the closest to a total of 9 points, with face cards and tens counting for zero points.
You can bet on either hand winning and even a tie. After bets are placed, you’re dealt two cards and the dealer two. If the total is an 8 or a 9 it’s counted as a ‘natural win’ for the winning side and bets are settled.
If you draw a 6 or 7, you stand and the bank draws to try and win. If you have 5 or less you can draw a third card to try and increase your total. If your total goes into the double digits, you only keep the number on the right – so 13 becomes a score of 3.
Poker
Ready up, partner!
Poker comes in a couple of different shapes, be it ‘Straight’, ‘Draw’ or ‘Texas Hold’em’ which is arguably the most popular in the world.
Long and short of it is, you’re playing against other people on the table, not the house, aiming to have the highest value combination of five cards according to the rules of the game. You can choose to play a hand, or fold and save yourself from losing more than you’d like.
Depending on the type of poker you’re playing it could be just the cards in your hand you’re using, or some of your own cards as well as some community cards dealt face up in the middle of the table.
Live money wheel
Spin to win at its simplest.
There are a lot of different variants of live money wheel games, but they all take inspiration from game shows like Wheel of Fortune!
You could place a wager and see where the wheel lands, or wager on the wheel landing on a particular point. The kinds of live money wheel games on offer will depend on where you’re playing, and at Casino Time we offer:
Chatting with the dealer:
A big part of the live casino experience is chatting with the dealer or other players. At Casino Time, when you join a table you’ll have access to the chat function. Send messages to start a conversation, it could be about how the game is going, a bit of banter or more! The dealer and other players will be able to see the messages you send, but of course, can’t see you in person.
Chatting with the dealer gives you the added social factor that normally comes with playing at a casino in person and makes your time playing even more fun.
Casino Time is the leading live casino destination in Ontario
If signing up and joining a table is what you’re after, Casino Time is the place to be for live dealer casino games.
We’ve partnered with Evolution and Pragmatic Play to bring you the best live dealer games available in Ontario, including Poker, Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat and more.
Start playing at Casino Time today by registering for an account and making a deposit. After that, head to the live dealer lobby and the table is yours.
