What is a Live Casino?

A live casino is a real-time gambling experience that brings the feel of playing in an actual casino into your own home. It works by streaming tables from special studios or land-based venues directly to your desktop, tablet and mobile device, allowing you to interact with the dealer and other players.

Using the latest HD cameras and advanced software, these games are hosted by specialist companies that are specifically designed with your playing experience in mind. This means that they will run smoothly across a range of devices and will play quickly, even on older smartphones. However, everyone’s home setup is different and the quality of your video stream can differ from others so it’s worth checking this before you sign up for a casino that offers live games.

Most live casinos offer classic table games such as blackjack, roulette and baccarat. They may also include poker, Wheel of Fortune and a handful of custom games. Unlike their counterparts, these games are not powered by random number generators but rather by human dealers. They usually work in the same studio as the gamblers and interact with them through a monitor showing their nicknames.

The technology that makes this possible is called a Game Control Unit (GCU) and every live table has one of these. They are not much bigger than a shoebox and they’re responsible for encoding the video broadcast that gamblers see on their screen. The dealers can also use them to read messages from players and respond to them in the stream.