If you’ve spent any amount of time on online casinos, you’ve surely seen the live game corner. Maybe you’ve just quickly glanced at the different tables, or perhaps you’ve even joined a round. If you did, it likely felt quite different from playing a classic round of poker, and whether you enjoyed that or not you might be wondering if it’s here to stay or just a passing fad.
Live poker could be the future, and be just as good as – or, possibly, even better than – a real poker game. Here’s why.
What Exactly a Live Poker Game Is
First things first, let’s define exactly what we’re talking about. Live poker is a type of game offered by online casinos that lets players take part in a real game of poker – with a physical deck of cards and a real dealer on the other side of the screen.
This gives players a convenient alternative to visiting a physical casino when they want to play a round or two. According to casino expert Alex Hoffman, it isn’t just about convenience, either. For that, a player could just play virtually. Hoffman writes that live casino games are a lot more sociable than traditional options, and are known to be fair in their operations. (Source: https://www.cardplayer.com/online-casinos/california-casinos)
It’s an experience more authentic than the one where it’s just a machine simulating the game – when you’re playing live poker, the game is physically being played out.
How Do You Join a Live Game?
To join a game, you have to sign up at a casino and make a deposit. Unlike many other online casino games, you won’t be able to test play for free – you need to make a real wager right away since the cost of running live tables is more than that of offering virtual online games that can offer demo modes.
After you join a game, you wait for the table to fill up. Then the game starts. The dealer will guide you, and you’ll see your cards on screen and make your choices by selecting options on the screen. You can also chat with other users and even the live dealer!
This Is Why Live Poker Is Just as Good as Real-Life Poker
Especially if you’ve played on many physical tables before, you might have an extra fondness for real-life games. And we want to note that the excellence of live poker does not take away from that – it’s just a great alternative. Let’s look at why and how live poker can measure up to the classic game.
Convenience
There’s no denying that live poker at an online casino is very convenient – often much more convenient than playing at a land-based casino. This convenience isn’t just about the fact that you can play online poker from literally anywhere you like, but also that you can play whenever you like as an online casino never closes its doors for the night.
Variants
In many cases, an online casino will offer a bigger variant of live games than your local casino. That’s not only because online casinos can cater to more players and because live games are cheaper to run than casinos, but also because players will often pool from different platforms to join a game of a less popular variant of poker.
Anonymity
One big benefit of live poker games is the privacy and anonymity. For those who want to stay private and just focus on the experience, the ability to play online is crucial.
While most gambling authorities require casinos to know their customers in order to, among other things, ensure they’re of legal age, this information will only be collected by the casino. When you join a table, neither the dealer nor the other players know who you are. Hence, you can enjoy all the privacy you want while playing an exciting round.
Sociability
Card games in real life are by nature more social than games you play online, but even online games can feel quite sociable when done right. Live poker games, in particular, are much more social than virtual machines.
Of course; you’re playing with a real dealer, and with real players. There’s a chat function, and the dealer responding to and interacting with players makes the whole thing seem almost like a typical game at a physical venue.
Immersiveness
A game of poker needs to be immersive to be fun. While live casinos can’t offer quite the ambiance and atmosphere that land-based casinos can, they can come pretty darn close.
And with emerging technologies like VR, it’s possible that virtual casinos will become even more immersive than they already are. Players might be able to look around the table and see other players’ avatars, talk through mics rather than just typing, and more. We’re certainly looking forward to seeing what the future of live casinos holds!
Final Thoughts – Will Physical Casinos Become Obsolete?
The fact that virtual casinos are largely catching up to land-based ones doesn’t mean the latter will be rendered obsolete, though there is no doubt that online casinos will attract at least some of their customers – that’s already happening.
But physical casinos completely becoming a relic of the past just doesn’t seem too likely. For instance, hotel casinos can add to the luxurious feeling of a trip – and while you’re at the hotel, an attached casino isn’t much less convenient than a visit to a website.
There are also a couple of things that virtual casinos just can’t provide, no matter how good they get. Think welcome drinks, a dining experience, and the buzzing feeling of excitement in the air.
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