Live Dealers Change the World of Online Casinos
In 1994 the internet saw its first online casino, opening up a new world to players who wanted to experience the rush of the game without leaving the privacy of their homes. Since the start of the first online casino their numbers have exploded, giving these consumers more options on where to do their business. Traditionally, these casinos run one of two ways; either offering a web based program or a download-only software.
Websites that offer players to ability to play through the web browsers allow players to get into games quicker, since they do not need to worry about setting up the software. These games are usually run through programs like Java or Flash. However, in game, web based casinos tend to run slower than their counterparts since the sound and video are being constantly downloaded through the internet. The alternative to these web based programs are downloaded software made available by some online casinos. While this software may take longer to download and access than an web based casino, they run faster since the audio and graphics are already stored in the program itself.
No matter which variety of online gambling chosen the process used to determine outcomes runs the same. Online casinos use pseudorandom number generators, also know as PRNGs to determine the random factors in their games. This includes the the numbers rolled on a die, the order of cards or results on slots. The PRNGs use algorithms to generate their results, but no algorithm can be truly random. When using online casinos, players are trusting the casino that the algorithms have not been rigged. To calm the minds of their customers, most online casinos use outside auditors to regulate their algorithms and confirm that the algorithms preform to the standard claimed by the casino.
When Playtech introduced technology to support live casino gambling in 2003, the games changed. Casinos were able to provide the true random experience for the consumers using human run games. In these games a live dealer steams from a studio-like room set up by the company. More often than not, these rooms contain one table and the dealer, though some casinos put many tables in a room to recreate the feeling of a brick and mortar casino. In these rooms the dealer is accessible to the players by a live streaming link where the players are able to place bets using controls on their computer. The players can even speak with the dealer using chat functions in these games.
Optical character recognition technology allows what the dealer does to be translated into data that lets players interact like they would in a typical online game. The cost of running these games is high to the casinos due to the number of people and the amount of equipment and technology needed to run them, meaning they usually run popular games like Blackjack, Roulette and Hold’Em. The introduction of the live casino has bridged the gap between the randomness of a brick and mortar casino and the pleasure of privacy of the online casino, allowing customers to truly experience the best of both worlds.
