Live Dealer Online Casinos
Live Dealer Online Casinos
Nothing combines the action of casino games with the convenience of online play better than live dealer games at online casinos.
Online casinos launched live dealer games in the state of Michigan on July 22, 2021, exactly six months after the internet gaming debut. These hybrid online casino games will combine the excitement of live casino floor action with the convenience and speed of online betting.
Live dealer blackjack, live dealer roulette and live dealer baccarat were available first, and live dealer casino hold’em and other forms of poker have since been added. The games are being operated from live dealer studios inside Michigan. At launch, Evolution was the only company running live dealer games. Playtech added live dealer games through Play Gun Lake in December 2021.
You can view simulcasts of the games and quickly and conveniently bet on the action online. Starting in June 2022, operators announced deals with Evolution to open up exclusive studios in Michigan. BetMGM Casino was the first, and was followed by FanDuel Casino shortly thereafter.
Below you’ll find everything you need to know about live dealer games, including how they work and the major differences between the games you’ll find online and the games on the floor of brick-and-mortar casinos.
How do live dealer casinos work?
Live dealer casinos bring together groups of online games. These types of casinos can either stand on their own or be a part of an online casino offering computerized online slots and table games.
Either way, live dealer game action happens inside a game studio. Michigan law requires studios to be set up inside the state. Evolution has a studio in Southfield, while Playtech also launched one in the metro Detroit suburb. BetMGM opened its exclusive studio in Michigan in June 2022, with FanDuel doing the same in July of 2022.
That means real people run traditional casino games the same way they do inside Michigan land-based casinos. The casino dealers will use the same roulette wheels found in casinos to determine the outcome of each hand or spin. They’ll deal a hand of blackjack the same way you’d expect if you were sitting at the table.
The action is live-streamed from these studios to your computer along with iPhone or Android. Plus, you can bet on it using the online betting interface these online casinos implement.
The betting and payouts happen with speed and convenience not found inside traditional land-based casinos, even though the games are run the same way.
How do live dealer casinos differ from traditional games?
When talking about the games, there isn’t much difference between live dealer games and traditional casino games.
In fact, live casino games are traditional casino games. The difference is live dealer casino games are broadcast online. It is the same apart from where you might be when you’re playing one of these games, and the process of betting on it.
Live dealer games at online casinos successfully create an immersive gambling experience. They make you feel like you’re in the middle of the action at a brick-and-mortar casino, yet they allow you to enjoy the convenience and comfort of playing from home, or anywhere you are inside Michigan state lines with internet access.
You don’t have to travel to play live dealer games. Instead, these games bring the live casino experience to you when you play at sites like BetMGM Casino Michigan, FanDuel Casino or Golden Nugget Casino. Currently 13 of Michigan’s 15 online casino operators offer live dealer games.
The only thing missing is the chips and cash you use in a traditional casino. However, that just serves to make online live dealer games faster and the payouts more accurate, more often.
Having real people you can interact with spinning the wheels and dealing the cards has another effect: You’ll soon forget you’re playing on your own.
Types of live dealer games in MI casinos
Here’s a list of the casino games that are live in Michigan with live online dealers:
Live dealer casino blackjack
Live dealer blackjack is essentially the same game you find in land-based casinos in Michigan and around the country.
Basic rules include:
- Blackjack pays 3:2
- Dealers hit on soft 17
- Double down on any two cards
- Double down after split
- No re-splitting or late surrender
Michigan online casinos and live dealer blackjack games had $30 table minimums at launch.
The brands that have self-branded blackjack games through Evolution include:
- Golden Nugget Casino
- FanDuel Casino
- BetMGM Casino
- DraftKings Casino
- BetRivers Casino
- Caesars Casino
- WynnBet Casino
However, there is also live infinite blackjack where there’s an unlimited amount of players each playing one hand with a $1 minimum per hand. A drawback there is you have to wait for each of the players (and there could be thousands) to complete their hand — which means someone could spoil the card that could’ve busted the dealer.
You can also wager on blackjack side bets like 21+3 and Perfect Pairs that have become popular at land-based casinos. Perfect Pairs pays when your first two cards are a pair while 21+3 bets pay when three cards make a flush or three-of-a-kind.
Live dealer baccarat
The live dealer baccarat you find online is the same Dragon Bonus Baccarat game you find at traditional casinos.
There’s a 5% commission on all winning banker bets. Plus, there’s a bonus side bet that pays on naturals and wins by four points or more.
Live dealer roulette
Live dealer roulette is generally American roulette, which means there is both a zero and double-zero on the wheel.
Traditional roulette payouts can be painstakingly slow, which means you’ll notice the difference the online betting interface makes here more than any other live dealer game.
Live dealer casino hold’em
Live dealer casino hold’em is a table-game version of Texas hold’em poker you usually find in live and online poker rooms. The difference is you play casino hold’em against a dealer, not other players.
Outside of trying to use two-hole cards and five community cards to make a better poker hand than the dealer, you can wager on an optional bonus side bet that pays bonuses based on the strength of your hand.
Types of live dealer games coming to MI casinos
Here’s a list of the casino games that have been successfully converted into live dealer games online in other states:
Live dealer casino floor roulette
While every other live dealer game in the country runs inside a studio, Golden Nugget Atlantic City does have an exclusive online live dealer casino floor roulette game.
It’s an American roulette table you can wager on that is streamed out of the New Jersey-based casino.
This could conceivably be a part of any live dealer casino or Michigan online casino offering.
Playing on your mobile device
Most live dealer games is accessible on desktop and laptop computers, as well as iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
For mobile apps, it’s simply a matter of downloading a Michigan online casino mobile app to access whatever online live dealer games are available.
If online live dealer games are accessible, the games will be the same you find on desktop and laptop computers.
Live Dealer FAQ
Online live dealer games are traditional casino games.
The big difference is online live dealer games are traditional casino games broadcast online featuring online betting. As far as the games go, there isn’t much of a difference at all.
Live dealer games employ real people and traditional casino equipment, including cards and roulette wheels, to determine the outcome of the games. The games work the same way they do inside land-based casinos, only the betting is done with an online interface rather than chips or cash. That just makes things faster and more accurate.
There is a big difference between both live dealer games and traditional casino games and the rest of the games you’ll find at Michigan online casinos.
It’s that the online casino games replace traditional casino equipment and dealers with computerized random number generators and computer graphic interfaces.
Most real money casino games are simply computerized versions of online live dealer games and traditional casino games.
Several Michigan online casino operators launched live dealer online casino games through Evolution in July. As 2022 began, Michigan online casino operators BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, Golden Nugget and PointsBet had games.
Then, in December 2021, Play Gun Lake launched live dealer online casino games through Playtech.
Here is a list of games available at live dealer online casinos in Michigan
- Blackjack
- Baccarat
- Roulette
Outside of an expensive remodeling and licensing process, nothing is going to bring the complete live casino into your living room.
That said, online live dealer games come pretty close. The games have the same look and feel as inside land-based casinos, mostly because they are the same games.
Of course, there’s always going to be a difference when it comes to betting. Clicking buttons and moving around chips are not the same. Despite that, the experience of playing live dealer games closely resembles the one you find inside brick-and-mortar casinos.
Online live dealer games bridge the gap between online and land-based casinos and provide an online gambling experience that’s the closest to the live casino experience you’ll likely ever find inside your own home.
Payouts are faster and 100% accurate. Computers rarely make mistakes, human beings do, so you can rest assured you’ll never get shorted playing live dealer games.
Live dealer games deliver the same fun, excitement and transparency of land-based casino games with the added benefits of speed and accuracy only online gambling can provide.
These are hybrid online casino games and truly give you the best of both worlds.