Live Dealer Blackjack
Live Dealer is one of the major developments in the world of online gambling, bringing it few steps closer to the real casino experience. The popularity of live games is enormous and currently you can find various versions of Live Dealer Blackjack in many online casinos.
Here you can find reviews of various live blackjack software providers, games with the highest payouts and the best casinos to play for real money.
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Video vs Live Blackjack
The advantages of Live dealer blackjack are pretty clear, but regular (machine) blackjack has few big advantages as well. Three, to be exact.
First, the pace. Playing the regular (machine) version allows you to play dozen hands per minute, not waiting for other players or the dealer to respond. With live dealer, the game is much much slower, 1-2 hands per minute max. Basically similar to what you get in brick and mortar casino.
Second, machine blackjack allows you to play free blackjack with fun money, just to check the game or to polish your strategy and decision making. With Live dealer blackjack you don’t have this option and it can be played for real money only.
Third, since the expenses of Live Dealers games are higher, the casinos must bump the minimum bet size. Usually it’s $5 -$10 per hand. However if you wish to play low stakes blackjack for $1 or less, regular blackjack is the best choice.
Eventually, it’s up to your individual taste and mood and the great thing about online casinos is that you can switch back and forth, without going anywhere. One click and you’re there.
We do have one recommendation: if you are playing while doing other things, like watching TV or working, it’s better to play against the machine. There you can forget about the game and come back just to find your 9’s vs dealer 5 still waiting for you, while in live version you will time out and lose a nice opportunity to win some cash.
Leading Live Dealer Software Providers
Online vs Offline
There is few important difference between playing blackjack in brick and mortar casino and online live dealer game. Online, the cards are reshuffled usually when half of the cards are played. For those of you who are familiar with card counting systems, we call it 50% penetration. For card counting to be advantageous we usually need above 75%, otherwise the risk is just to high. Therefore, similar to all online blackjack games, there is no card counting. It makes a lot of sense since otherwise you would beat the crap out of the casino using a simple software.
Another thing to get used to is the tempo. With video blackjack you can play even 300+ hands per hour. At land based casinos you can get to 100+. On live dealer tables the game speed is slower. Of course it depends on the number of players and the type of players (high stakes tables tend to be faster), but generally speaking, people tend to take more time while playing online. Some might be watching TV or sitting in a meeting, so usually each hand will take longer. If it annoys you then try playing at different times of the day. Usually, you can find certain hours when the tables tend to be less crowded.